Registered Agent · What a Connecticut LLC needs in a registered agent, and how ours is handled, all year.
Registered Agent for Your Connecticut LLC: What It Is and Who Can Serve
Every Connecticut LLC must name and keep a registered agent. This page explains exactly what the agent does, who qualifies under Connecticut law, the real trade-offs between naming yourself and hiring a service, and what actually happens if the agent designation lapses.
One price: $199.00/yr covers your formation, your registered agent, and your annual report, plus the $120.00 state filing fee, at cost.
State agency: Connecticut Secretary of the State, Business Services Division
Annual report due: March 31 · Processing: Varies
✓ No hidden fees ✓ No second-year price hikes ✓ No missed filings
State facts
Connecticut LLC
Already formed and only need the agent? Mainstay serves as your Connecticut registered agent for $149 a year, and it renews at $149.
Connecticut registered agent service ($149/yr) →What a Registered Agent Is and Why Connecticut Requires One
A registered agent is the official recipient of legal and government correspondence for your LLC. Connecticut law requires every limited liability company to appoint one at formation and to maintain one continuously: the moment your LLC exists, it needs an agent, and it needs one for as long as it stays in business.
The reason is practical. When someone sues your company, the courts need a reliable, publicly listed address where the lawsuit can be delivered so the case can proceed fairly. The registered agent guarantees that address exists and that a real person is behind it. The same channel carries official notices from the Secretary of the State, including annual report reminders and any warning that the LLC is falling out of good standing.
What the agent actually receives
- Service of process: the formal delivery of lawsuits, summonses, and subpoenas naming your LLC.
- State compliance mail: annual report notices and any administrative correspondence from the Secretary of the State.
- Government correspondence: tax and regulatory notices that are routed to the agent of record.
The agent's job is narrow but important: receive these documents promptly and get them to you fast. A missed lawsuit is the nightmare scenario: if you never learn you have been sued because the papers went to a dead address, a court can enter a default judgment against your LLC without you ever appearing.
Who Can Be a Connecticut Registered Agent
Connecticut sets clear qualifications in section 34-243n of its LLC Act. An individual agent must be a natural person who resides in Connecticut, and the Certificate of Organization asks for that person's business address (or "none"), a Connecticut residence address that cannot be a P.O. box, and a Connecticut mailing address, which can be. Process servers cannot hand papers to a box, which is why the residence address matters.
Your options
- An individual Connecticut resident: You (as a member or manager), a co-owner, an employee, or a trusted friend or attorney, as long as they live in Connecticut.
- A business entity: A Connecticut corporation, LLC, LLP, or statutory trust, or an out-of-state one registered to do business in Connecticut. Commercial registered agent services fall here.
Two rules apply either way. The agent must sign the filing accepting the appointment, and, as the state's form puts it, "The Limited Liability Company may not be its own agent."
The public-record consideration
Whatever address you list as the registered agent's becomes part of the public business record, which is searchable through the Connecticut online business search. If you name yourself and use your home address, that address is now findable by anyone: customers, competitors, or a process server who shows up at your door. For a home-based business, that is often the deciding factor in choosing a commercial agent instead.
Being Your Own Agent vs. Hiring a Service
Both paths are legal in Connecticut. The right one depends on your situation, not on any rule.
Serving as your own agent
The appeal is that it costs nothing extra. If you live in Connecticut and do not mind your information being on the public record, naming yourself is perfectly fine. The downsides are real, though. You have to be findable when someone shows up to hand-deliver legal papers, which is hard if you travel, work from client sites, or run the business part-time. Your address is public. And being served with a lawsuit at your place of business (potentially in front of customers or staff) is not how most owners want to find out they are being sued.
Using a commercial registered agent service
A commercial service keeps its own professional Connecticut address on the public record, so yours stays off it. Receiving legal papers is the service's whole job, so nothing gets missed while you are away. When documents arrive, the service scans or forwards them to you quickly, often the same day. And because the service handles this for many companies, it is set up to catch and route time-sensitive legal papers without dropping anything.
For most owners (especially home-based businesses, out-of-state owners, and anyone who is not sitting at a fixed Connecticut address every business day) a service removes a real point of failure. That is exactly why registered agent service is included when you form your LLC through us.
What Happens If Your Agent Lapses
A registered agent is not a one-time formality. It has to stay valid for the life of the LLC, and Connecticut treats a lapse as a compliance problem.
Common ways the designation breaks
- Your agent moves and the listed address is no longer where they are.
- The individual you named leaves the company, moves out of state, or simply stops agreeing to serve.
- A commercial service is not renewed and drops the appointment.
When the agent of record is no longer valid, your LLC is technically out of compliance even if your annual report is current. Worse, if a lawsuit is served on a dead agent address, you may never receive it, and a default judgment can follow.
Fixing it
If your agent changes or you need to switch, you file a Change of Agent (Form BUS-009) with the Secretary of the State so the record reflects a valid, reachable agent. The state fee is $50. Do it promptly rather than letting the gap sit. A dedicated page on this site walks through the change process in detail.
How Mainstay Filing Handles This for You
When you form your Connecticut LLC with us, registered agent service is part of the package. We serve as your agent of record, which keeps your home or business address off the public record and puts a professional Connecticut address in its place. When legal documents or state notices arrive, we receive them, and we get them to you quickly so nothing critical slips past a deadline.
If you already have a Connecticut LLC and want to move your registered agent to us, that is a straightforward $50 change filing with the Secretary of the State. We can prepare and submit it. Either way, the goal is the same: a reliable agent address that keeps your LLC compliant and keeps you informed the moment something important lands.
We are a filing and agent service, not a law firm. We receive, scan and upload your legal documents; we do not advise you on how to respond to a lawsuit. For that, you will want a Connecticut attorney. What we guarantee is that the documents reach you fast and that your agent designation stays valid.
Companies already on file with Connecticut can add us as their agent without forming anything new.
Frequently asked questions
Can I be my own registered agent in Connecticut?
Yes, if you are a Connecticut resident. A member or manager can serve as the agent individually, listing a Connecticut residence address (not a P.O. box) and signing to accept the appointment; the LLC itself cannot be its own agent. The trade-offs are that your information becomes part of the public business record and you have to be reachable when documents are hand-delivered. Many owners use a commercial service to keep their address private and avoid missing anything.
Can a P.O. box be my registered agent address?
Not as the main address. An individual agent's Connecticut residence address can't be a P.O. box, because service of process has to be handed to a person. A P.O. box is allowed only as the agent's Connecticut mailing address. A commercial registered agent supplies its own Connecticut address.
Does my registered agent have to be located in Connecticut?
Yes. An individual agent must reside in Connecticut, and a business entity acting as agent must be a Connecticut entity or one registered to do business there. That is the case even if you, the owner, live in another state. A commercial registered agent service with a Connecticut address satisfies the requirement for out-of-state owners.
What happens if my registered agent resigns or moves?
Your LLC is out of compliance until you appoint a valid agent again, and you risk missing a served lawsuit if the old address no longer works. You fix it by filing a $50 Change of Agent with the Secretary of the State so a reachable agent is on record. Do it promptly rather than letting the gap linger.
What does a registered agent actually receive?
Service of process (lawsuits, summonses, and subpoenas), compliance mail from the Secretary of the State such as annual report notices, and official government correspondence routed to the agent. The agent's role is to receive these promptly and digitize and upload them for you so you never miss a legal or compliance deadline.
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