Registered Agent Laws by State - Anonymousllc.co's 2026 reference. Covers the rule, the controlling statute or regulation, common questions, and how Anonymousllc.co handles it in practice. Primary-source citations linked throughout.
Every US state requires an LLC to name a registered agent with a physical street address in the state of formation, available during business hours to accept legal service of process. No state permits a P.O. box or a purely out-of-state agent. The requirement flows from each state's LLC Act. Wyoming's is Title 17, Chapter 29; Delaware's is 6 Del. C. § 18-101 et seq.; Nevada's is NRS Chapter 86; New Mexico's is NMSA § 53-19-1 et seq. Each statute names the registered agent as the entity's mandatory point of contact for lawsuits and official state correspondence. For an anonymous LLC, the registered agent's name and address are the only entity-side details on the public Articles. That is why the agent requirement, a compliance rule in most states, doubles as the privacy mechanism in Wyoming, New Mexico, Delaware, and Nevada.
Registered agent laws affect every LLC owner: new founders naming an agent at formation, existing owners renewing or replacing an agent, and non-US residents who cannot serve as their own agent because they hold no US street address. Anonymousllc.co's intake covers all three. New founders name the agent on the Articles of Organization, so the choice is locked at formation and shapes whether the LLC is anonymous. Existing owners face the laws again each renewal and any time they move or change agents. Non-residents rely on a commercial agent by necessity - the statute demands an in-state physical address, which a founder living abroad does not have. Anonymousllc.co supplies that address in all four anonymous states for founders in 80+ countries.
The four anonymous states share the core rule - an in-state agent with a physical address - but differ on statute and change-of-agent fee. Wyoming charges $5 online to change agents, New Mexico $20, Delaware $50, and Nevada $60. Wyoming (Title 17 Ch. 29) and New Mexico (NMSA § 53-19-1) keep members and managers entirely off the public Articles, so the agent is the sole public name. Delaware (6 Del. C. § 18-101) and Nevada (NRS Ch. 86) do the same for members, though Nevada's annual list names managers. Across all four, the agent must consent to the appointment and maintain a registered office. Anonymousllc.co holds agent partnerships in each state and files the required consent and office record as part of formation.
Yes, all four anonymous states let an LLC owner serve as their own registered agent - but doing so lists your personal name and street address on the public Articles, which erases the anonymity that Wyoming, New Mexico, Delaware, and Nevada otherwise provide. Beyond privacy, self-serving means being present at the registered address during business hours every business day, receiving legal mail such as summonses at your home, and filing a change-of-agent form each time you move. For an anonymous LLC, the statute's requirement is met more cheaply and privately by a commercial agent. Anonymousllc.co's agent at $100/year keeps your name off the record while satisfying the in-state-address rule in every state it serves.
Registered agent service is $100/year with Anonymousllc.co, and it is included free for year one in every formation package - Anonymous LLC $397 all-in, Wyoming $397, New Mexico $347, Delaware $407, Nevada $722. The agent is appointed the moment the Articles file. Because the agent is named on the Articles themselves, coverage begins as soon as the state accepts the filing, within 1-3 business days. The full formation - agent, EIN, operating agreement, and bank applications - completes in 5-10 business days end-to-end. Related services are priced separately: EIN $99, ITIN $299, BOI initial filing $150. From year two, the agent renews at $100/year, billed 60 days before the anniversary date.
Changing a registered agent requires filing a Change of Registered Agent with the state SOS, and the incoming agent files it for you. The state processes it in 1-3 business days. State fees run $5 online in Wyoming, $20 in New Mexico, $50 in Delaware, and $60 in Nevada. Anonymousllc.co files the change at no service charge for incoming customers and passes the state fee through at cost. The new agent must consent to the appointment, and the old agent's record is superseded once the state records the change. Timing matters: change agents at renewal rather than mid-cycle, and never let the old agent lapse before the new one is on file, or the LLC risks falling out of good standing.
An LLC without a valid registered agent falls out of good standing and can be administratively dissolved by the state after a grace period. Service of process may go undelivered, which exposes the LLC to a default judgment it never had a chance to contest. States learn an agent has lapsed when the agent resigns, when the annual report is not filed, or when mail is returned undeliverable. Reinstatement then costs a reinstatement fee plus back-owed annual fees on top of the missed obligation. Anonymousllc.co bills the $100/year renewal 60 days early and sends a WhatsApp reminder 45 days before any lapse, so a monitored in-state address is always on file and good standing is never lost to a quiet expiration.
The most costly registered agent mistakes are self-listing as your own agent and voiding anonymity, letting the agent lapse and losing good standing, and ignoring the change-of-agent filing after a move so legal mail goes to an address no one watches. A related error is treating the agent as a mailing convenience rather than a legal contact. The agent receives lawsuits and state notices - miss one and a default judgment or an administrative dissolution follows. Anonymousllc.co's onboarding checklist covers each mistake on the WhatsApp thread, and the reminder system catches the lapse-and-good-standing errors that surface months after formation, once the initial paperwork is long finished.
Verify registered agent laws in the state's own LLC Act and Secretary of State site, both linked in the Authority Sources block. Wyoming publishes Title 17 Ch. 29, Delaware 6 Del. C. § 18-101, Nevada NRS Ch. 86, and New Mexico NMSA § 53-19-1. The Secretary of State site also lists the current change-of-agent fee and the filing form, which is the authoritative source when a fee changes. Anonymousllc.co links the primary sources on every reference page rather than asking you to take the summary on trust. For the tax treatment that follows formation, IRS Publication 3402 is the umbrella reference. Read the statute for the agent rule and the publication for how the entity is taxed once the agent is in place.
Anonymousllc.co appoints a commercial registered agent in your formation state as part of every package, satisfying the statute while keeping your name off the public record. Start the intake on WhatsApp, confirm scope, and the Articles file the same business day. The agent forwards state, IRS, and FinCEN mail scanned within one business day, sends a compliance reminder 30 days before the annual deadline, and renews at $100/year from year two. Customers who formed elsewhere use the same standalone service. The sister resources linked below compare commercial agents head to head and walk through renewal, for founders who want to check each detail against the underlying filings before committing.
Government, regulator, and primary-source documents underpinning this page.
5-minute WhatsApp intake. 5-10 day turnaround.