Registered agent when establishing LLC [Expert-Advice]

Table of Contents

How much does a registered agent cost in California?
How do I become a registered corporate agent in California?
Do I need to register my business in California?
Does a general partnership need to register with the state of California?
How can I be a business agent?
Is ZenBusiness legit?
How do I find an agent for service of process in California?
Is LegalZoom worth it for LLC?
Can I register a company on behalf of someone else?
Can I be my own registered agent in GA?
Do you have to pay the $800 California LLC fee the first year?
Can I be my own registered agent in California?
Does an out of state LLC need to register in California?
What is a California registered corporate agent?
Is California registered agents legit?
What does a registered agent do?
Who can be registered agent in California?
How do I change the registered agent for an LLC in California?
Who is the organizer of an LLC?
How do I create an LLC in California?

Last updated : Aug 17, 2022

Current : 7957

How much does a registered agent cost in California?

A California Registered Agent Service specializes in receiving Service of Process (legal mail) on behalf of your LLC. Most Registered Agent Services in California cost between $100 and $300 per year.

Can I be my own registered agent in California?

You can be your own registered agent in California, but you'll have to list your name and address in the public record. Many business owners don't want the hassle that comes with this (unsolicited phone calls, junk mail offers, etc.). Hiring a registered agent keeps your information out of the public record.

What is a California registered corporate agent?

A California registered agent is someone you've designated to accept legal mail on behalf of your business. A registered agent must have a physical street address in the state of California and be present at that address during normal business hours.

Is California registered agents legit?

Yes. The business owner of the California LLC or California Corporation can serve as the registered agent. By doing so, they agree to be the contact person who will receive official legal documents on the company's behalf.

What does a registered agent do?

A registered agent is a person or service who will receive legal documents on behalf of your business, such as subpoenas, regulatory and tax notices, and correspondence. In many states, lawsuits must be served in person. Having a registered agent makes this a clear and orderly process.

Who can be registered agent in California?

Yes, any owner or employee of a business can be its registered agent in California as long as they are over the age of 18, and have a street address in California. You could also choose to elect a member of your LLC, or even a friend you trust, as long as the person meets these requirements too.

How do I change the registered agent for an LLC in California?

To change your registered agent in California, you must complete and file a Statement of Information form with the California Secretary of State. The California Statement of Information can be submitted by mail, online (corporations only), or in person.

Who is the organizer of an LLC?

An LLC organizer is involved in the formation of the LLC. The organizer signs and files the Articles of Organization. The organizer of an LLC may be separate from the members or managers of the company.

How do I create an LLC in California?

To form an LLC in California, go to bizfileOnline.sos.ca.gov, log in, select Register a Business under the Business Entities Tile, Articles of Organization - CA LLC and follow the prompts to complete and submit.

How do I become a registered corporate agent in California?

Any active corporation that is registered with the California Secretary of State can file this Form 1505 to become authorized to be a corporate agent for service of process for other business entities that are registered with the Secretary of State.

Do I need to register my business in California?

Registering Your Business LLCs, Corporations, LPs, LLPs, or GPs operating in California need to register and form their legal entity with the California Secretary of State's Office, file appropriate taxes, register as an employer, and obtain business licenses and other permits from appropriate cities or counties.

Does a general partnership need to register with the state of California?

The state of California doesn't require any official formation for general partnerships, and they're also not required to pay any formation fees or participate in ongoing maintenance filings like annual reports.

How can I be a business agent?

Research the market.
Consider pursuing education.
Understand laws and regulations.
Build your network.
Obtain a license.
Earn a permit.
Apply for a position.
Start your own business.

Is ZenBusiness legit?

That said, ZenBusiness tops our list as the best incorporation service online. They're a respectable company with excellent pricing and features â€“ for just $49. Plus, their customer feedback is almost all positive, as 10,000+ customer reviews maintain strong average rating scores.

How do I find an agent for service of process in California?

You can find a agent by visiting the California Secretary of State website. Simply enter the entity name or number to find out the registered agent's information. The results section will list the agent for service of process and the agent's address.

Is LegalZoom worth it for LLC?

Not only is LegalZoom a great option for setting up a limited liability company (LLC), but it also provides legal help for every part of your life, including personal, family or intellectual property. LegalZoom offers affordable pricing plans with the option to add on additional services.

Can I register a company on behalf of someone else?

If another person incorporates the company and signs all related documents on behalf of any of the incorporators and initial directors, a power of attorney and certified ID copy of the person is required. If a name was reserved before filing of incorporation documents, a valid name reservation document is necessary.

Can I be my own registered agent in GA?

Yes, you can be your own Registered Agent in Georgia as long as you meet the state requirements. (Unfortunately, most Registered Agent Services and LLC filing companies hide this information.)

Do you have to pay the $800 California LLC fee the first year?

Every LLC that is doing business or organized in California must pay an annual tax of $800. This yearly tax will be due, even if you are not conducting business, until you cancel your LLC. You have until the 15th day of the 4th month from the date you file with the SOS to pay your first-year annual tax.

Does an out of state LLC need to register in California?

California's LLC Act requires foreign LLCs to register with the state of California if they are transacting business within the state.

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Comment by Beau Trotman

what is a registered agent do you need a registered agent and can you be your own registered agent find out the answer in this video starting right about now hey i'm quran from life accounting the number one firm for financial education and by the end of this video you will know everything there is to know about registered agents so go ahead and like this video for me so others can find it on youtube and subscribe for the best financial content you can find if you have any questions leave them in the comments below alright enough for the intro let's get into it by first answering the question what is a registered agent a registered agent is a person or a company that is chosen to receive and accept service of process legal documents complaint notices tax documents and official notices on behalf of your business other names for register agent include a resident agent a statutory agent or an agent for service of process now depending on your state a registered agent may be called one of those names so why is a registered agent important states require some businesses to have a registered agent to ensure that you have a publicly available and reliable way for important business communications to reach you which kind of makes sense say you're being sued you will want to make sure you receive the complaint or maybe the government needs to notify you you will want to make sure you receive that notice you see a registered agent serves as the point of contact for your business they consolidate all information that needs to get to you into one destination and prevents those who need to contact you from sending important information to the wrong address all right which businesses need a registered agent all businesses registered with the state is required to have a registered agent so if your business is one of the following entity types you will need a registered agent a corporation a limited liability company or llc a limited partnership a limited liability partnership or a limited liability limited partnership now when you go to register your business with your state you will be asked for the name in the address of your registered agent so you will want to have one before you go to register your business and this is true whether you register online in person or via mail sole proprietorships and general partnerships do not need a registered agent because registration with the state is not required for these entity types so what are the requirements for a registered agent the requirements of a registered agent may differ from state to state but here are the four general requirements that are needed the first is age if your registered agent is an individual they must be at least 18 years old the second is residency if your registered agent is an individual they must be a resident of the state you are registering in if your registered agent is a company the company must be authorized to do business in the state you see most people forget this but if you are registered to do business in multiple states you will need a registered agent that is a resident of or authorized to do business in each state the third is address whether your register agent is an individual or company they must have a physical address which means po boxes cannot be used as the address of a registered agent the fourth requirement is hours the register agent must be available to accept mail and sign for documents during regular business hours which is considered monday through friday from 9am to 5pm your time all right let's discuss who can be your registered agent in general your registered agent can be a third-party company or a person including yourself but your own business cannot be appointed as your registered agent that means you your business partner your mom your lawyer a party registered agent company your best friend from high school the choice is yours when it comes to your registered agent but whoever it is be sure that they meet the requirements for age residency address and hours oh and by the way make sure that they are reliable the last thing you want is important mail to be sent to your registered agent and receive it late or never receive it at all most people tend to either appoint their lawyer as a registered agent or themselves as the registered agent to save money before you appoint yourself or someone you know remember that the name and address of the registered agent is public record and will be easily visible to someone who does a business search for your business for this reason either purchasing a physical address appointing your lawyer or third-party registered agent such as rocket lawyer could offer more protection and speaking of using a third party let's discuss a few reasons to not appoint yourself as the registered agent we just discussed this but a major reason you might consider using a third party company as your registered agent is to protect your private information remember the name and address of the registered agent is public record and will be easily visible to anyone who does a business search for your business if this is yourself your information will be easily available and connected to your business another reason to use a third party is peace of mind as a business owner there are a million and two things for you to do and worry about and your mail is likely one of the last well unless you get checks through the mail but still having the peace of mind that important communication is being seen sorted and sent to you is one less thing to worry about whether you are working hard on vacation in santorini greece and the last reason to use a third party as your registered agent is cost you'd be surprised how cheap it is to have a company act as your registered agent typical costs range from a hundred dollars to two hundred dollars per year depending on who you use one of my all-time favorite third-party registered agent companies is rocket lawyer i'll leave a link to their services in the description below alright let's discuss how to change your registered agent things change and there may come a time when you need to update the information for your registered agent whether that be their contact information or changing the registered agent altogether most states allow you to complete a change form online that will allow you to update your register agent information there is typically a cost to do this though it is pretty inexpensive and can run from as low as twenty dollars to about fifty 50 on average depending on your state well there you have it everything you need to know about registered agents if you found this video helpful do me a favor and hit that like button for me it helps others find this video on youtube and subscribe to the channel for the best business formation tips and financial education on youtube i'm quran from life accounting until next time you

Thanks for your comment Beau Trotman, have a nice day.
- Tad Knezovich, Staff Member

Comment by Shemika

hi everyone i'm attorney aidan durham with 180 law co in colorado and you are watching all up in your business on this episode of all up in your business we're going to talk about registered agents what is a registered agent what does a registered agent do and when you need one but first don't forget to like subscribe and share and check the description for links to additional information and resources i would also like to thank our very special partners for this episode our friends at atomic social atomic social is at the top of their game when it comes to website design and development search engine optimization and social media marketing they are an industry leading firm that has been around for over two years and they've built more than a thousand websites and today atomic social has an amazing offer exclusively for my all-opinion business fam they're building out entire websites a five thousand dollar value for sixty percent off that's only two thousand dollars for a whole brand new website with up to 8 pages this discount offer will only be available for my subscribers so reach out today and book an appointment with them to get started you can check them out at atomicsocial.com or visit this link to book a call today all right so let's talk about registered agents a registered agent is an individual or entity that has been appointed by an llc or a corporation to receive legal documents on behalf of the business for example if an llc is sued then the party doing the suing will have to serve the llc with court documents the registered agent will be the one who accepts service of process on behalf of the llc while the specific laws will vary by state every state requires that llcs and corporations designate a registered agent this applies to the state where your business is formed as well as any other states where you've registered as a foreign entity or you're otherwise authorized to conduct business for the most part the only requirements for the registered agent are if the registered agents individual they must be 18 years of age or older they must consent to being appointed as the registered agent and they must have a physical street address in that state so not a po box so if you have an llc that's formed in colorado you need a registered agent with a physical address in colorado and if the llc is also registered as a foreign entity in california for example then you need a registered agent with a physical address in california as well also this isn't an actual like law or statute in a lot of states but there should be someone physically present at the registered agent address during normal business hours the registered agent can be a member or manager or other person involved in the business or it can be someone outside of the business the registered agent on its own does not have any agency or authority to act on behalf of the business except as it relates to accepting legal documents on its behalf of course but aside from that the registered agent doesn't have any ownership rights doesn't have any voting rights or any other authorization to participate in the business operations so let's say you're a business owner a single member llc operating the business out of your home you can appoint yourself as the llc's registered agent and use your own home address as the registered agent address there's nothing inherently wrong or unlawful with that but sometimes we may not want to be our own registered agents the name and address of the registered agent will be part of public record and available for pretty much anybody to see so if you work from home you may not want your home address to be published to you know the whole world and remember the registered agent's role is to receive legal documents on behalf of the llc that means you know your gossipy nosy neighbor might see you getting served with a lawsuit in your pjs or your teenage son may answer the door and then run in and interrupt your zoom book club meeting or even worse announce it while you're on a call with a potential client or worse than that maybe you go on a vacation for a few weeks leaving the house unattended that could potentially mean that you miss important notices or deadlines because you're not receiving those documents so maybe you don't want to be your own registered agent but maybe your mom lives down the street from you she's retired she doesn't have anything else going on could she be a registered agent sure as long as she consents to it your mom your best friend your boyfriend whoever it is as long as they're 18 or older have a physical address in the state and consent to it any one of them can be the registered agent but usually the better idea is to use a corporate registered agent service registered agent services are business entities that accept legal documents on behalf of llcs and corporations for a fee of course registered agent services they give you peace of mind though so you can focus on running your business you don't have to worry about your nosy neighbors or making sure you're home all the time in case something gets delivered and most registered agent services are national companies that have offices in every state so you can use the same registered agent for every state where your business is registered and help keep things kind of in one spot there are a lot of registered agent services out there the fees are pretty reasonable usually it's going to be like around 100 bucks per year if you do a web search for registered agent services in your state you'll see that you have a lot of options in addition to having a physical office in the state there are a few more things that you should look for if you're comparing registered agent services for example will they help with compliance management many registered agent services will send reminders for annual report filings and other important deadlines and some of them will actually file the annual reports for you so you don't even have to think about it what about their document management how will you get notified when documents are received make sure it's a company that scans all of the documents that they receive for you so you can easily access and view them online what about their availability and customer support can you easily contact someone to answer questions these are all things that you should be looking into in registered agent services but because i'm cool like that i already did the research and i linked to some of my favorite registered agent services in the description when it comes to actually appointing the registered agent this is usually done on the articles of organization for an llc or articles of incorporation for a corporation each state's different some you know require a separate signed consent form for the registered agent something like that and then if you need to change the registered agent later on you'll do that by filing the appropriate form with the secretary of state the name of the form and the fees associated with it are gonna vary by state in colorado for example we would file a statement of change and the filing fee is like 10 or 20 bucks but pro t

Thanks Shemika your participation is very much appreciated
- Tad Knezovich

About the author

Tad Knezovich

I've studied statistical classification at Wartburg College in Waverly and I am an expert in library circulation. I usually feel peaceful. My previous job was safety inspector I held this position for 15 years, I love talking about bus riding and nftG��s. Huge fan of Kodak Black I practice badminton and collect antique.

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