Changing your registered agent: how, what it costs, and what to check first

A registered agent is a service, and you can change it the way you'd change any supplier: with a form, a fee and a bit of care over the handover. Founders switch because a renewal went up without warning, because an agent lost a notice, or because the provider that formed the company turned out to be a subscription. Here's how to do it, and what to check first.

• Is the company in good standing? If it's behind on state filings, sort that out first, because a state can refuse filings from a company that's behind.
• Has the new agent agreed? Wyoming requires the new agent's written consent to the appointment, and in both states the new agent needs a street address in the state.
• Do you owe the old provider anything? Some providers' terms charge for leaving early, so read them before you decide.
• Where do state notices go now? The old agent's address stays on the state's record until the change is recorded, so ask the old agent to forward anything that arrives in the meantime.

In Wyoming, you file a change of registered agent with the Secretary of State, with the new agent's consent, for a $5 fee. In Delaware, an LLC files a certificate of amendment that changes only the agent, for $50, with the Division of Corporations. Wyoming takes the change on paper, by post, and it's recorded up to 15 business days after it reaches the office; Delaware's is uploaded to the Division of Corporations and usually takes two to three weeks. Delaware will record it by the next business day for $100 more. The new agent's address then replaces the old one on the public record. Nothing else about the company changes: not its name, file number, formation date or EIN.

• Tell the IRS, if its mailing address for the company was the old agent's, by sending Form 8822-B by post.
• Tell the bank and payment processors, if they have the old agent's address for the company.
• Collect your documents. Ask the old agent for every notice it received, and confirm it has sent you everything.
• Check your calendar. The annual report date doesn't change, but make sure a reminder for it still comes from somewhere.

A transfer makes us your registered agent, brings your papers into your Documents and puts your yearly dates on a calendar. The company keeps its name, file number, formation date and EIN. You pay your plan's normal price plus what the state charges to record the change of agent, $5 in Wyoming and $50 in Delaware, at cost. There is no fee of ours for the move. Move your company has the details.