How to Change Your LLC's Registered Agent

Changing your LLC's registered agent is a single state filing. The form is usually called a statement of change of registered agent, the fee is small or nothing, and in a handful of states the annual report does the job. What trips owners up is not the form but the order of operations: the new agent has to consent before you file, the old agent stays on the record until the state accepts the change, and the company's other records need the new address too.

This guide has the steps in order, then every state's form, fee, consent rule and portal in one table. Of the 49 jurisdictions whose fee we read on an official page in November 2026, 9 charge nothing and the rest charge $5 to $100; 6 states (Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon and Utah) let the annual report name the new agent with no separate filing.

When you have to change agents

• The agent resigned. Every state lets an agent file a resignation, and the agent's duty ends a set number of days later whether or not the company has a replacement. Commercial agents resign when the bill goes unpaid.
• You were your own agent and moved. The address on the record is now wrong, and papers served there may never reach you. A mail forward does not help: process is handed to a person, not posted.
• You want your home address off the record. The agent's address is public and copied by data brokers. Switching to a commercial agent replaces it.
• You are switching providers. A cheaper renewal, better forwarding, or one agent for every state you operate in.
• The agent can no longer serve. An individual agent who died, moved out of state, or stopped keeping business hours; an agent company that dissolved.
• The state told you to. A notice that the agent could not be found, or that the agent's address is undeliverable, is a deadline in disguise.

The five steps

1. Choose the new agent and confirm they qualify. Pick an individual resident of the state with a street address there, or a company authorized to act as agent in the state. Confirm the address is a staffed street address, not a PO box, and that someone will be present in business hours.
2. Get the new agent's consent. The new agent must agree to serve. In some states that consent is signed or affirmed on the change filing itself; everywhere else keep the written consent in the company's records. A commercial agent provides it when you sign up.
3. File the statement of change with the state. File your state's change-of-agent form (the table below names it) online or by mail and pay the state's fee, or, in the states that allow it, name the new agent on the annual report. The old agent stays on the record until the state accepts the change.
4. Update the IRS, your bank and your licenses. If the old agent's address doubled as the company's address of record anywhere else, update it: IRS Form 8822-B for a change of responsible party or address, the bank's records, state tax accounts and any licensing agency.
5. Confirm the state's record and release the old agent. Look the company up on the state's business search and check that the new agent and address appear. Then cancel the old agent's service so it does not renew, and tell them the change is recorded.

Two details in step three matter more than they look. First, in the 13 jurisdictions that put the agent's consent on the filing (Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Washington and Wyoming), a change naming an agent who has not signed or affirmed is rejected, so get the consent in the state's format first. Second, if the annual report is due within a few weeks and your state lets the report name the new agent, waiting for the report saves a filing and a fee; if a lawsuit is pending or the old agent has already resigned, do not wait.

Forms, fees and portals in every state

Each row is read on the state's own form, fee schedule or statute in November 2026 (50 change forms, 49 fees and 48 portals confirmed so far). A cell that reads "see the state's portal" was not confirmed on an official page at our last review; the link opens the state's filing site, where the current form and fee are. "Consent" says whether the state wants the new agent's signature or affirmation on the filing. The state name opens that state's registered agent page.

Fees are the state's own, for a domestic LLC, as published at our review; some states charge a different amount for paper or add a card convenience fee. Confirm on the state's page before you pay.

New York and West Virginia do not require an agent on the formation filing at all. In New York the Secretary of State is the agent for service of process for every LLC, and the company lists the address the state forwards papers to; the filing that changes that address is the one in the table. A New York LLC that chose to name an optional registered agent changes it the same way.

Changing the agent on the annual report

6 states let the annual report itself appoint a new agent, with no separate form or fee: Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Michigan, Oregon and Utah. If your report is due soon, that is the cheapest route. If it is months away, file the change now; the company should never sit with an agent who has resigned or an address that is wrong. In every other state the report shows the agent of record but cannot change it, and a separate statement of change is the only way.

How long the change takes

The state's processing time for a change of agent is whatever the state publishes for that filing method, and it differs by state and by whether you file online or by mail. Online filings in many states are recorded the same or the next business day; mailed forms wait in the same queue as every other paper filing. We do not promise a date for any state. Until the state records the change, the old agent is still the agent of record and any papers served on them are validly served, which is why the old agent's service should not be cancelled until you have seen the new name on the state's business search.

What the old agent must do

Nothing, in most cases. The change filing replaces them on the record; they do not sign it and cannot block it. Their duty to forward papers continues until the state records the change, and a professional agent will forward anything that arrives in the gap. Two things are worth doing anyway: tell them in writing that the change has been recorded, so they stop the renewal, and keep a copy of their last forwarded items in case something was served in the final days.

If the old agent has already resigned, the sequence reverses. The resignation starts a clock (commonly 30 or 31 days) after which the company has no agent, and the state may treat the company as out of compliance from that day. File the change before the clock runs out.

Changing the agent's address but not the agent

If the same agent moves, most states use the same statement of change, ticking the "registered office" box instead of the agent box, and some let the agent file it for every company they represent at once. A commercial agent handles its own address changes. An owner who is their own agent and moves house files the same form as a change of agent, often for the same fee.

Having the switch filed for you

We can do the whole sequence: our registered agent partner is set up as your company's agent in your state, we prepare and file the state's change-of-agent form, and from the day the state records it every legal and state letter is forwarded to you the same business day. The service is available in 36 jurisdictions, everywhere our partner has an office on file with us; New York is not among them because its Secretary of State accepts service for every LLC, so there is no agent to switch. Start at change your registered agent.

Whichever way you file, the change is complete only when the state's record shows the new agent. Check the business search, save the stamped copy of the filing with the company's records, and put the agent's renewal date on the same calendar as the annual report. For what the agent does and who may serve, see What is a registered agent?; for your state's full rules, open its page from the state list.