How to Choose a Registered Agent

Why a New Business Needs a Registered Agent

If you're forming an LLC or corporation, every state requires the business to maintain a registered agent: an individual or company with a physical street address in that state, available during business hours to accept legal notices, like a lawsuit summons, and official state mail, like an annual report reminder. A sole proprietorship or general partnership generally has no equivalent requirement, since there's no separate legal entity for the state to serve notices on. This requirement continues for as long as the LLC or corporation exists, not just at the moment you file.

Option 1: Serve as Your Own Registered Agent

If you have a physical street address in the state where you're forming the business, and you're reliably available there during business hours, you can typically name yourself as the registered agent at no extra cost. The trade-off is that your address becomes part of the public record, and you need to be consistently present to receive a document, since a missed delivery of a lawsuit summons can mean a default judgment against your business.

Option 2: Name Another Individual

In many states, a trusted individual, such as a co-owner, attorney, or a friend with a qualifying in-state address, can serve as the registered agent instead of you personally. This works the same way as serving yourself: that person's address becomes public, and they need to be reliably available during business hours.

Option 3: Pay a Registered Agent Service

A registered agent service is a company that acts as your registered agent for an annual fee, keeping your own address off the public record and typically scanning and forwarding documents the same business day they arrive. Many services, including LLC Register's $99-a-year registered agent service, also include LLC formation in year one and annual report filing, bundling several first-year tasks into one cost.

What to Confirm Before You Decide

Whichever option you choose, confirm the address genuinely qualifies, a P.O. box doesn't satisfy most states' street address requirement, and that whoever holds the role will actually be available during business hours, not just nominally listed. If your business will register to do business in more than one state as a foreign entity, you'll need a qualifying registered agent in each of those states too.

Changing Your Registered Agent Later

If your circumstances change, you move, a service's price increases, or you decide you'd rather not have your home address public, most states let you file a change of registered agent form for a modest fee. This isn't a one-time, permanent decision, so don't let uncertainty about the long term delay choosing an option that works for your situation today.

Comparing Specific Services

If you've decided a paid service is the right option and want to compare specific providers, see how to choose a registered agent service for the factors, price, state coverage, document handling speed, and support, that distinguish one service from another.

Weigh Privacy Against Cost

Serving as your own registered agent costs nothing extra but puts your address on the public record; a service costs an annual fee but keeps that address private. Neither choice is wrong, it depends on how much you value keeping your home address out of public filings.

Being Unavailable Has Real Consequences

If a lawsuit summons is delivered to your registered agent address and no one is there to receive it, some states allow the case to proceed without your business having been properly notified. Don't choose to self-serve as agent if you travel frequently or can't guarantee availability during business hours.

Revisit the Decision if Your Business Grows

A single-state, single-member LLC's registered agent needs are simple. If you later register to do business in additional states, your registered agent arrangement needs to scale with you, which is easier with a service that already covers multiple states.

This Is a Practical Decision, Not Legal Advice

Choosing how to satisfy your registered agent requirement is a practical and financial decision. If you're unsure whether a specific address or arrangement qualifies under your state's rules, check your state's Secretary of State guidance directly or talk to a business attorney.