Hire a Registered Agent in Tennessee

A registered agent is the person or company named to receive legal papers and official state mail for a Tennessee entity, at a physical Tennessee street address called the registered office. It is required by Tennessee Code Annotated § 48-208-101.

Yes. Every Tennessee LLC, corporation and other registered business entity must appoint and continuously maintain a registered agent under T.C.A. § 48-208-101, from the day it files its formation document.

Yes, if you are a Tennessee resident at least 18 years old with a physical Tennessee street address where you can accept deliveries during normal business hours. Many owners hire a service instead to keep that address off the public record.

No. T.C.A. § 48-208-101 requires the registered office to be a physical street address; a P.O. box or a virtual-only mailbox does not qualify.

LLC Register charges $99 a year. Commercial registered agent services generally range from about $99 to $249 a year, based on published pricing checked 9/30/2026.

File Form SS-4534, the Statement of Change of Registered Agent/Registered Office, with the Tennessee Secretary of State for a $20 fee. It can be filed online through TNCaB or by mail.

The Secretary of State can administratively dissolve the entity under T.C.A. § 48-249-604, generally starting 60 days after notice and no later than 120 days after the due date.

No. Tennessee does not require a separate written-consent filing like some states; the person or company named agrees to serve by accepting the role, and can resign on Form SS-4420, the Statement of Resignation of Registered Agent.

Yes, as long as they are a Tennessee resident, at least 18, have a Tennessee street address, and are available during business hours under T.C.A. § 48-208-101.

Only if that company is itself authorized to transact business in Tennessee and maintains a Tennessee street address; an unauthorized out-of-state entity cannot serve as agent under T.C.A. § 48-208-101.

A registered agent must forward any process, notice or demand to the entity; LLC Register scans and emails it to you the same day we receive it.

Yes. The registered agent's name and registered office address are part of the entity's public filing with the Tennessee Secretary of State, and appear on the entity's annual TNCaB record.

Yes. A registered agent can file Form SS-4420, the Statement of Resignation of Registered Agent, which starts the process for the entity to name a replacement before facing administrative dissolution.

Yes. The LLC Annual Report, due the 1st day of the 4th month after your fiscal year closes, must show your current registered agent and registered office, and carries a $50-per-member fee ($300 minimum, $3,000 maximum).

Yes, for every filing entity: LLCs, corporations, partnerships and most other entities registered with the Tennessee Secretary of State must appoint one under T.C.A. § 48-208-101.

Yes. A foreign LLC must appoint a Tennessee registered agent with a physical Tennessee street address before the Secretary of State will approve its Application for Certificate of Authority, Form SS-4233, for a $50-per-member fee ($300 minimum, $3,000 maximum) — the same registered agent rule that applies to a domestic LLC.

No. Tennessee allows an LLC to form as a series by designating it on the standard Articles of Organization and checking the series LLC box; the registered agent named on that single filing covers every series registered under it, even though each series separately reports on its own annual report.

Yes. A PLLC follows the same registered agent rule as any other Tennessee LLC under the professional limited liability company provisions in T.C.A. Title 48, Chapter 249, Part 11, naming its agent directly on its Articles of Organization.

A registered agent must notify the entity in writing, typically by certified mail, before filing Form SS-4420, the Statement of Resignation of Registered Agent, with the Secretary of State for a $20 fee.

Tennessee law allows process to be served on the Secretary of State once reasonably diligent attempts to serve your registered agent at the registered office have failed; the Secretary of State then forwards the papers to your entity's last known address.

Yes. A nonprofit corporation must appoint and maintain a registered agent with a Tennessee street address, the same requirement that applies to for-profit entities, named on its charter filing with the Secretary of State for a $100 fee.

Yes. An LP organized under the Tennessee Revised Uniform Limited Partnership Act, T.C.A. Title 61, Chapter 2, must maintain a registered agent with a Tennessee street address just like an LLC.

Search the Secretary of State's Tennessee Central Application Business services (TNCaB) by entity name or control number; the result shows the entity's current registered agent name and registered office address.

No, not if you're keeping the same agent. The conversion filing itself carries the registered agent forward to the new entity type; a separate Form SS-4534 Statement of Change ($20) is only needed if you're also switching to a new agent.

Yes. A registered agent can update its own name or address directly with the Secretary of State without the entity filing anything — it keeps serving your entity under the new information.

Yes. A single individual or registered agent service can be named on any number of Tennessee entities at once, as long as each appointment meets the residency/authorization and physical-address rules under T.C.A. § 48-208-101.

Yes. The IRS treats an annual registered agent fee as an ordinary and necessary business expense, deductible in the year you pay it.

Yes, as long as your attorney is a Tennessee resident (or a firm authorized to transact business in Tennessee) with a physical Tennessee street address — the same eligibility rule under T.C.A. § 48-208-101 that applies to anyone else; no special bar membership or licensing is required.

No. Tennessee's Revised Limited Liability Company Act uses the term "registered agent," and "agent for service of process" describes the same role in plain language.

The Secretary of State treats that the same as having no valid registered agent on file, which can trigger the same administrative dissolution process under T.C.A. § 48-249-604, generally starting 60 days after notice and no later than 120 days after the due date.

You have to name one upfront. Tennessee's Articles of Organization require the registered agent's name and Tennessee street address before the Secretary of State will file it — you can't leave it blank and add an agent afterward.

Your registered office is specifically where your registered agent accepts legal mail and must be a physical Tennessee street address; your principal office is wherever you actually run the business and doesn't have to be in Tennessee at all.

No. T.C.A. § 48-208-101 requires an actual physical street address where the agent can personally accept delivery, and a commercial mail-receiving service or virtual mailbox doesn't meet that rule any more than a P.O. box does.

No. Tennessee's public filings list only your registered agent's name and street address; no phone number or email address is required or published.

Yes. Nonprofit corporations file their own Annual Report with the Secretary of State for $20, due the 1st day of the 4th month after their fiscal year ends (April 1 for a calendar-year nonprofit), and it must show the current registered agent.

Yes. Nothing in T.C.A. § 48-208-101 prevents an owner, manager or officer from also serving as the entity's registered agent, as long as they meet the residency and physical-address requirements.

No. Tennessee has no licensing, bonding or special registration requirement for registered agents, commercial or individual, beyond the residency (or authorization) and physical-address rules in T.C.A. § 48-208-101.

No. T.C.A. § 48-208-101 requires an individual registered agent to be a Tennessee resident; owning Tennessee real estate doesn't meet that requirement if you personally live elsewhere.

No. A registered agent's role is limited to receiving and forwarding legal notices and process addressed to the entity — it has no authority to sign contracts or act on the entity's behalf.

Yes. Nothing requires the two to be different — a small business commonly uses one Tennessee street address for both, as long as it meets the registered office's physical-address and availability rule.