What is a registered agent?

A registered agent is the person or company that receives legal papers and official notices for your LLC. Every state requires one, and you name it when you form the LLC.

Key point Many formation services include the registered agent free for the first year and then charge for it every year after. It is a common reason an LLC costs more in year two than in year one.

What a registered agent does

The registered agent’s main job is to receive service of process: the papers that notify your LLC it is being sued. It also receives official notices from the state, such as annual report reminders.

  • Texas describes the agent as the one “responsible for receiving and forwarding service of process or official notices addressed to an entity.”
  • California calls it the “agent for service of process,” designated to accept court papers “if the business entity is sued.”
  • The SBA adds that “you’ll need a registered agent in your state before you file” your formation documents.

What the state requires

The rules vary by state, but the core requirements are similar:

  • A physical street address in the state. Delaware requires “a physical street address in Delaware.” Wyoming is explicit that “post office boxes, drop boxes, virtual addresses, mail forwarding locations, UPS or FedEx stores do not qualify.”
  • Someone there during business hours. Texas requires an address “where the registered agent can be personally served with process during business hours,” and Delaware expects the agent to be present “during normal business hours.”

Can you be your own registered agent?

Often, yes, if you live in the state where the LLC is formed.

  • Texas allows an “officer, owner, or employee” to serve as the agent. The LLC itself can’t be its own agent there.
  • Wyoming lets an individual serve if they are at least 18, live in Wyoming and have a physical Wyoming address (and a valid email address).
  • Florida law allows an individual who lives in Florida and whose business address is the registered office.
  • California requires an individual who lives in California or a registered corporate agent, and says a business entity can’t act as its own agent.

If you live in another state or outside the US, you’ll need someone who lives in that state or a company that provides registered agent service there.

The trade-offs of doing it yourself: your address goes on the public record (California notes the agent’s name and address is “a public record, open to all”), and you need to be reachable at that address during business hours, every business day.

What happens if you don’t have one

States take this seriously. Wyoming requires every business to “continuously maintain a registered agent.” In Texas, failing to keep a registered agent “may result in the involuntary termination” of the entity. Florida lists it as a ground for administrative dissolution.

Losing your LLC this way can mean losing the liability protection you formed it for, and reinstating it usually costs more fees.

Changing your registered agent

You can switch agents by filing a form with the state. The fee is usually small: $15 for an LLC in Texas and $5 in Wyoming, for example. If your formation service included the agent for free, check whether it renews automatically and at what price before the first year ends.

What it costs

Among the providers we compare, registered agent service typically costs about $100 to $300 a year after any free first year, and one provider bills it quarterly, which adds up to about $600 a year. Some also include it free only for the first 12 months. The calculator shows each provider’s real cost over three years, including the agent.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Registered agent rules differ by state; check your state's Secretary of State and the sources below.

Sources

Checked October 8, 2026.

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