New Hampshire Registered Agent Service Under RSA 304-C:36

New Hampshire uses the terms registered agent and registered office, and the rule lives in RSA 304-C:36. The Secretary of State's Corporation Division, part of the Department of State in Concord, keeps the record. Article THIRD of the Certificate of Formation, Form LLC-1, asks for the registered agent and registered office, and says a street or physical address must be provided. Filing costs $100, or $102 online because of a $2 handling charge.

Under RSA 304-C:37 the registered agent is the LLC's agent for service of process, notice or demand required or permitted by law to be served on the LLC, and the Secretary of State describes it as the person designated to receive official documents and accept service of legal process for the business. Form LLC-1 has its own box for an email annual report reminder, so reminders do not depend on the agent.

This page follows the LLC statute, and the same agent service is open to corporations, LPs, LLPs and nonprofits.

Section I of the statute allows an individual who resides in New Hampshire whose residential or business office is the registered office. It also allows a corporation, an LLC or PLLC, or an LLP formed or authorized in New Hampshire whose business office is the registered office.

The Secretary of State answers the obvious question directly. Can I be my own registered agent? Yes. Individuals, business owners, managers or employees can be listed, as long as they can be located at the registered agent address in the state. The Secretary of State also keeps a list of companies willing to serve as agent.

An individual who moves out of New Hampshire can no longer serve, since an individual agent has to live in the state.

The Secretary of State's page says a registered office is the physical business address in New Hampshire of the registered agent, and that it cannot be a post office box. Form 10 adds that if a post office box is given, the physical location must also be given.

The Secretary of State's guidance says the registered agent should generally be available at the registered office address during regular business hours. That is guidance rather than a statutory requirement.

The statute ties the office to the agent: a residential or business office for an individual, a business office for an entity. It is not an address you can borrow from somebody else.

You can be your own agent at no cost if you meet the rules. The cost is not in dollars. Papers are delivered to your listed address, and the Secretary of State's guidance expects the agent to be available there.

If you work in the field, travel or take a two-week vacation without updating anything, a delivery can be missed, and the case does not wait. A court can enter a default judgment when nobody responds.

A commercial agent puts its own New Hampshire address on the public record instead, and because that address stays constant, your own moves do not trigger a filing with the state.

The change is made on Form 10, the Statement of Change of Registered Office or Registered Agent or Both, and the fee is $15 under RSA 304-C:191. You can file on paper by mail or online through QuickStart, where a $2 electronic handling charge makes the total $17. An officer, manager, member, partner, founder or agent signs the form, and it has no line for the new agent.

The statement has to recite that after the change the street addresses of the registered office and the business office of the registered agent will be identical. Form 10 needs the new agent's name and its physical New Hampshire street address.

Moving to Mainstay, we prepare and file Form 10, with the state fee passed through at cost. Look the company up in the QuickStart business search afterward. Do not cancel an outgoing service until the state has processed the change.

A New Hampshire agent resigns by signing and filing a written notice of resignation with the Secretary of State. The Secretary of State mails a copy to the LLC at its principal office. Under RSA 304-C:36 the appointment terminates 31 days after the notice is filed, or on the appointment of a successor registered agent, whichever occurs first. So you have about a month, and the way to use it is to file Form 10 with the replacement.

If an LLC has no registered agent, or the agent cannot with reasonable diligence be served, RSA 304-C:37 allows service by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, addressed to the LLC at its principal office. Service is perfected at the earliest of receipt, the date on the return receipt, or five days after the mail is deposited.

An empty seat can end the LLC too. An LLC that is without a registered agent or registered office for 60 days or more, or does not notify the Secretary of State within 60 days that its agent has resigned or been changed, is subject to administrative dissolution under RSA 304-C:136. The Secretary of State's page says failure to maintain an agent may result in administrative suspension or dissolution.

Form LLC-1, filed under RSA 304-C:31, opens with the name and optional details: the principal office, a mailing address, a phone number, an email and a box for an email annual report reminder. The second item asks for the nature of the primary business. The Secretary of State says it cannot accept a general clause such as any lawful activity, and that you need a descriptive word. A NAICS code is optional.

The third item is the registered agent and registered office, and it repeats that a street or physical address must be provided. The fourth says whether management is or is not vested in managers, and a manager or member list is optional. A manager signs, or a member if there is no manager. The form also carries a pre-printed securities statement under RSA 421-B.

The annual report, filed online through QuickStart, may not say no change. It states the name, the registered agent and office, the principal office, the managers or at least one member and the nature of the business.

Mainstay's New Hampshire agent service costs $149 a year, renewing at the same $149, and includes compliance reminders. The annual report, due April 1 with a $100 fee, which is $102 when paid online, is filed by you under this service. The $199 formation package files it for you, and it also covers the agent, the Certificate of Formation and your EIN application.

Mainstay's New Hampshire address replaces yours on the record. Service of process is scanned and uploaded the same business day, at no charge. Government mail gets three free scans a year, and every piece after that carries a per-piece scan or shipping fee. Free physical forwarding is not offered on any tier.