Can I be my own registered agent?
Registered agentPrivacy
In most states you can name yourself, as long as you are over eighteen, live in the state the company is registered in, and have a street address there. Plenty of founders do it, and for a business run from a commercial office with a receptionist it is a reasonable choice.
The reasons people stop doing it are rarely legal. They are practical, and they show up later.
Your home address becomes public
The registered agent's address goes on the state's business register, which anyone can search. If you work from home, that is your home address, searchable by name, published for as long as the company exists.
You have to be there
Business hours means business hours. A process server who cannot find anyone is a problem that does not go away, and being on a plane, at a client site, or simply out is not a defense. This is the requirement that quietly breaks for anyone who travels.
You get served in front of whoever is there
Service of process is a person handing you a lawsuit. At home that happens in front of your family, and at your office it happens in front of your team or a customer.
Moving means filing
If you are the agent and you move, the state's record is wrong until you file a change. Every house move becomes a compliance task, and a stale address is how companies miss the notice that matters.
One thing you cannot do anywhere: name the company itself as its own registered agent. The agent has to be a separate person or company.
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Written by the lawyers who built Arabella. This is legal information, not legal advice for your situation, and reading it does not make us your lawyers. For a real dispute or a high-stakes decision, talk to a licensed attorney. More questions.