Your spouse can be a great choice to be your Registered Agent. And using your spouse (or yourself) as the Registered Agent is a great way to save money. That said, there are some risks, as mentioned above, and Registered Agent information is public record.
If you’re comfortable with that, then making your spouse your Registered Agent is a great idea. If not, we recommend hiring a Registered Agent Service.
No, a Trust can’t be a Registered Agent. That’s because a Registered Agent needs to be a person or business entity, and a Trust is neither (a Trust is a legal agreement). However, a Trustee can be a Registered Agent (as long as they meet the state requirements).
Yes, a CPA (Certified Public Accountant) can be a Registered Agent for your LLC. Some CPAs offer Registered Agent service, and this can be useful if you already have a CPA.
That said, you have a few options for who can be your Registered Agent, and there may be some downsides to using your CPA to fill that role.
Yes, a lawyer can be a Registered Agent for your LLC. However, you have a few options for who can be your Registered Agent. And hiring a lawyer to fill that role may not be the best choice. We’ll explain the pros and cons so you can choose the best Registered Agent option for your LLC.
Pros: If you’re already paying a lawyer, they may offer Registered Agent services at a reasonable price (or for free). Using a lawyer as your Registered Agent can keep your address off public records.
A Registered Agent is responsible for receiving legal mail on behalf of an LLC.
An LLC Manager runs the day-to-day operations of the business.
Sometimes the same person can serve both roles, but a Registered Agent isn’t automatically an LLC Manager, and an LLC Manager isn’t automatically a Registered Agent.
Good news – a Statutory Agent is the same thing as a Registered Agent.
And a Registered Agent is a person or company who agrees to accept legal mail on behalf of your LLC.
You can think of them as a “receiver” and “forwarder” of important documents.
A Registered Agent and an Incorporator are two different roles.
One forms a Corporation.
The other receives legal mail (called “Service of Process”) on behalf of a Corporation.
Note: While someone can be both the Incorporator and the Registered Agent, these are two distinct roles. Becoming one doesn’t automatically make someone the other.
You may have seen the words “business to serve as RA” in the Florida LLC filing.
In the online filing for your Florida Articles of Organization (called Sunbiz), you’ll find the following section for “Name and Address of Registered Agent”.
A Registered Agent is a person or company who agrees to accept legal mail or state notices on behalf of your LLC. If you hired a Registered Agent, you’ll put their name in the field marked “business to serve as RA”.
A Registered Agent is a person or company who agrees to accept legal mail and state notices on behalf of your Corporation.
You can think of a Registered Agent as a “receiver” and “forwarder” of important documents on behalf of a business, like a Corporation or an LLC.
Note: A Registered Agent is also known as a Statutory Agent, Resident Agent, or Agent for Service of Process. Some states use different terms, however they all mean the same thing.
No, you don’t need a Registered Agent for a Sole Proprietorship (aka Sole Prop).
While formal business entities (like an LLC) are required to have a Registered Agent, informal business entities (like Sole Proprietorships) aren’t required to have one.
