Registered Agent
Somebody has to be standing at a fixed address when the state comes knocking.
What it actually is
Every state makes an LLC or corporation name a registered agent — a person or company with a physical street address in that state who can be handed legal papers during normal business hours. Not a PO box, not "wherever I happen to be." A real address where a process server can find somebody standing there on a Tuesday afternoon.
Do you need it?
You need a registered agent. That part is not optional. What is optional is paying someone to be it. In most states you can name yourself, as long as you have a street address in the state of formation and you are actually there during business hours.
What changes if you’re in uniform
That last condition is where this stops being theoretical for you. You cannot be your own registered agent from a deployment. You cannot be one from a field problem, a school, or a float. The state does not care that you had a good reason for missing service of process — if nobody is there, you can be served by publication and lose a suit you never heard about. If you are on orders, name a commercial agent and stop thinking about it. This is the one service on this list that most service members genuinely should not do themselves.
Doing it yourself
You file with
Your state's Secretary of State (or equivalent business filings office)
- Confirm your state's requirements — a physical street address in-state, availability during business hours.
- Name yourself, another member, or a commercial agent on your formation documents.
- Change it later by filing a change-of-agent form with the same office.
Cost: Naming yourself costs nothing beyond the filing you were already making. Changing agents later usually carries a small state fee that varies by state — check your Secretary of State's fee schedule.
Our call
Worth paying for if you are in uniform and moving. The whole point of the service is being reachable at a fixed address, and being reachable at a fixed address is the exact thing the military takes away from you.
If you’d rather pay someone
Bizee lists registered agent at $119 as of 11 August 2026. You still pay any state fee on top of that.
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