Mississippi Registered Agent

A Mississippi Registered Agent or Mississippi Registered Agent Service is required by law for every business entity in the state of Mississippi. A registered agent is an individual or business entity that will accept legal papers (documents) on your behalf if it is sued. The registered agent or registered agent service must have a physical street address in Mississippi and be available during regular business hours.

In my Mississippi Registered Agent guide, I’ll walk you through the detailed process of when you should get a registered agent or registered agent service for your Mississippi business, how to pick one, if they are required and how to change one if needed. Typically you’re getting a registered agent when you setup your Mississippi LLC. Check out my guide on how to setup a Mississippi LLC so you can make sure you’re following all the right steps in the process. If you are just looking for the professional service to help you – use Northwest Registered Agent or ZenBusiness.

Best Mississippi Registered Agent Service

ZenBusiness will be the best option for setting up a registered agent service in Mississippi. They can also help you with getting your LLC formed so if you’re looking for the best option, check them out today!

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The best option that you can start with for a Mississippi registered agent is using ZenBusiness or Northwest Registered Agent. Typically I recommend using one of these services because they do a fantastic job with their customer service and making sure you get what you need while forming your LLC. You’ll also find that it’s possible for you to have the first year of the registered agent service included when you’re forming your LLC with them.

Both of these companies are national services and typically when you go that route you’re going to get a better experience overall. It is possible to go with a local law firm who only works in Mississippi but you’ll want to keep in mind that with larger national providers that you’ll have a better experience (typically).

What is a Mississippi Registered Agent?

A Mississippi Registered Agent is no different than any other type of registered agent in any other state. One of the things you’ll find with any registered agent is that they are required to do three or four main things for you (depending on how you look at their service).

The main items a Mississippi Registered Agent is responsible to help you with are:

– Forwarding important documents to you in a timely manner

– Keeping track of your annual report dates

– Maintaining your good standing with the state

– Acting as a point of contact for the state

A registered agent is also going to need to:

Have a business address in Mississippi
Be available during regular business hours
Accept service of process (legal paperwork) if you’re sued and notify you immediately

A Mississippi Registered Agent is someone who helps you keep your business compliant with the state by performing these key tasks. This is not something where you go down to the UPS Store and get a box where you can have mail accepted on your behalf. If the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office finds out you’re using some type of PO Box service your business will most likely be dissolved and you’ll need to go through the LLC formation process all over again. It’s not an OK solution to do this.

Why do I need a Mississippi Registered Agent?

The main reason you need a registered agent is because it’s legally required. It’s required by the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office because it helps business owners have legal protection when something does come up. Whether you’re going to spin up an LLC, foreign LLC, domestic LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp or any other type of business entity (including a Limited Liability Company) – it’s important to remember that it’s legally required.

The other thing that you need to keep in mind is that all registered agents are searchable through a public business name search portal at the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office. When you look up a business name on the portal you’re going to see the registered agent’s name and registered agent’s address.

This is important because if you decided to be your own registered agent (which I don’t recommend) – anyone in the world will be able to find your home address (if that’s what you use). We’ll get into being your own registered agent a bit later but it’s something important to keep in mind.

When should I obtain a Mississippi Registered Agent?

The best time to obtain your Mississippi registered agent is when you’re forming your business. If you’re going to be forming a business it requires a registered agent. It’s not enough to just say I have an LLC without a registered agent. It really isn’t possible to set it up that way. If you just use Northwest Registered Agent or ZenBusiness for your registered agent service, you’re most likely going to have the first year of their registered agent service covered for you with the LLC formation you’ll need too. It’s a pretty simple decision once you understand all the ramifications of trying to do this yourself. The cost of trying to keep track of all the deadlines and annual reports you’ll need to file vs. just hiring someone to help you – you’ll see it’s just not worth the effort to do this on your own.

Can I Be My Own Registered Agent In Mississippi?

So can you actually do this on your own? Yes you can be your own registered agent but the better question is not can you but should you. I always recommend that anyone starting a business should NOT be their own registered agent because of all the requirements and time commitments you’ll need to make.

When I think about the requirements of a registered agent and what you need to do as a business owner, I always recommend using a service like ZenBusiness that is built specifically to help you with this.

The main things you’d be responsible for if you decided to be your own registered agent are:

Making yourself available during business hours year round
Having a physical street address (an office) that anyone can go to in case they need to deliver legal paperwork on your behalf
Keep track of the renewal date and make sure that doesn’t lapse because it’s an annual renewal.

Rather than being your own registered agent, the best thing to do is just focus on building your business in Mississippi and not get distracted by all the legal stuff. Hire someone to help you. By doing that, it’s an important skill you’ll learn to outsource the things you really don’t need to spend much time thinking about.

How Much Does a Registered Agent Cost?

A registered agent cost can range pretty substantially depending on what you decide to do. If you do try and be your own registered agent, it’s typically going to be close to $0 but like we’ve talked about there are going to be costs in other places you’ll need to deal with if you do this.

The best and most cost effective option for the service provide is ZenBusiness or Northwest Registered Agent where you’ll get the first year included with your LLC formation (typically – check with them first) and the annual renewal is typically in the $125-150 range per year.

After this you can look for a local law firm where the annual cost will be lower but they are going to have this be one of their services (typically) vs. the only thing they do which is what the national providers focus on 100% of their time and have 1000s of customers they service every day.

How Do I Elect A Registered Agent In Mississippi?

In Mississippi you’re going to be required to elect your registered agent at the time of the LLC formation like we’ve talked about. You will need to fill out the Certificate of Formation from the Mississippi Secretary of State’s office. To get this doc, you’ll need to login to the portal.

How Do I Elect A Registered Agent Online in Mississippi?

If you want to elect this electronically you can do so but it’s going require accessing it through the link above and setting up your account. I believe the cost is going to be ~$50 but check with them at the time because it may change.

How Do I Change My Registered Agent In Mississippi?

If you want to change your Mississippi registered agent you’re going to need to go back to that online filing system we’ve talked about and enter the new information for your registered agent. There is also going to be a $10 filing fee you can pay by CC or check.