New Hampshire Registered Agent

A New Hampshire Registered Agent or New Hampshire Registered Agent Service is required by law for every business entity in the state of New Hampshire. 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 New Hampshire and be available during regular business hours.

In my New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire LLC. Check out my guide on how to setup a New Hampshire 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 New Hampshire Registered Agent Service

ZenBusiness will be the best option for setting up a registered agent service in New Hampshire. 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 for your registered agent service in New Hampshire is going to be ZenBusiness or Northwest Registered Agent. Typically when I look at options and recommend a service is after considering their customer service and support along with their ability to be competitive from a pricing perspective. The thing I love about ZenBusiness and Northwest Registered Agent is that you typically get the first year of their registered agent service included when you form your LLC with them.

There may be a lower cost solution going with a law firm in New Hampshire but remember they only work in that state and may be one of the many services they offer to residents in New Hampshire. I like the national providers because they are able to have 1000s of clients and make sure you are going to be legally compliant.

Whether you’re looking for a new registered agent service in New Hampshire or you’re trying to change your registered agent from another service – Northwest Registered Agent and ZenBusiness are going to be your best options.

What is a New Hampshire Registered Agent?

A New Hampshire registered agent is no different than any other state’s registered agent. All the states in the United States are going to be required for you to have some type of registered agent associated to your Limited Liability Company, nonprofit, S-Corp, C-Corp, foreign LLC or any other type of business entity (which includes a domestic LLC).

Your registered agent or registered agent service is going to provide three main things to you:

A physical address in New Hampshire where they can receive legal documents and official state communications on your behalf.
Be available during normal business hours in case somebody hand delivers legal papers to their office.
Receive, scan and then forward any legal papers or official state communications to you electronically or by mail.

Your registered agent is not something where you go to the UPS Store and get a mailbox that is not a PO Box on paper. If you do that and the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office finds out that you’ve used a PO Box or some type of virtual mailbox solution your business will be dissolved (most likely). It’s best that you get a registered agent to help you legally and your time is best spent growing the business as a business owner should do.

Why do I need a New Hampshire Registered Agent?

The biggest reason you need a New Hampshire registered agent is because it’s required by law. This is the shortest answer but remember there are reasons why it was created into a law. This is not a law that was created just to make your life harder – it is actually useful.

One of the main reasons why I like to tell people not to act as their own registered agent is because it’s possible to search the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s business name search portal. If you search through this portal you’ll be able to find the registered agent’s name and registered agent’s address.

If you are acting as your own registered agent anybody in the world is going to be able to find your home address (if that’s the address you registered with the state).

Think about how that may impact your life in New Hampshire if you do this. Besides the fact that you’ll be required to be there during normal business hours but anybody will be able to come to your house and serve you legal papers that your business is going to be responsible for.

This is the reason why I always tell people (specifically in New Hampshire) NOT to act as their own registered agent. The monetary cost up front may be lower but it’s really just not worth it long term.

When should I obtain a New Hampshire Registered Agent?

The best time to elect your registered agent is when you are forming your own LLC business. If you for whatever reason don’t do this up front then your business will most likely be null and void. According to the Secretary of State’s office in New Hampshire, this is the law and you need to follow what the state says in regards to obtaining a registered agent for your business entity.

If you just use a national provider that covers New Hampshire like ZenBusiness or Northwest Registered Agent, you’re going to be ok and have the first year of the service covered as you’re forming your LLC with them. Check out the latest pricing with them but long term it’s going to make more sense to work with a service like this that will have you covered.

The other big thing to consider that we haven’t really touched on is the annual compliance piece and setting up deadlines that you’re going to need to keep track of. You’ll be able to use a registered agent or registered agent service as a business owner in New Hampshire vs. trying to spend time thinking about how to keep track of all of it on your own.

Can I Be My Own Registered Agent In New Hampshire?

Yes it is something you can do in New Hampshire like we’ve talked about earlier but really think about whether you should do this – not if you can.

Do you really want someone to have the ability to come to your house and serve you papers during normal business hours?

When you think about all the requirements in New Hampshire for your LLC business, it’s important that as a business owner you’re focused on the right things. The New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office didn’t put a law in place for having a registered agent to make your life difficult. The law is there to make sure you have legal coverage for anything that comes up related to your business.

I always recommend going with a registered agent service because you’re going to need a team that can help you vs. being your own registered agent.

Remember the three main things a registered agent is responsible for are:

Receiving and sending important documents on behalf of the business
Having a physical address in New Hampshire and be available during normal business hours
Filing the necessary annual reports

The annual reports and compliance dates are big things too because if you don’t follow them your business may be dissolved. As a business owner in New Hampshire the last thing you need to worry about is legal compliance deadlines. I would rather focus on growing my business than worrying about the legal ramifications of not filling out the necessary paperwork in the right period of time.

How Much Does a Registered Agent cost in New Hampshire?

The cost of a New Hampshire registered agent is going to vary depending on how you’re going to run this early on. The cost in New Hampshire can range depending on how you want to do this and the type of business entity that you have.

The cost range is between $0 and $300 per year depending on whether you do this yourself or find a registered agent locally in New Hampshire.

I recommend going with the national providers because that first year is typically included when you form your LLC and the ongoing annual cost is ~$150/year. I would check with the national provider you decide to go with to understand their current pricing structure that should be right in the range of what to expect.

If you don’t go that route, you can find a law firm in New Hampshire that has services and it may be a bit lower cost but make sure you understand their customer service and support process to ensure you’re getting top quality service.

How Do I Elect A Registered Agent In New Hampshire?

In order to elect a registered agent in New Hampshire you’re going to need to go through the standard process that New Hampshire has. Typically this means that you’ll go to the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office where you’ll pull down the LLC Certificate of Formation. This form is used as the main LLC formation document for your business. The filing fee for getting this done is going to be $100 at time of writing.

How Do I Elect A Registered Agent Online in New Hampshire?

If you want to get this Certificate of Formation filled out electronically you can do that through the New Hampshire Department of State portal. From there you’ll be able to find the right documents and form your LLC online directly with the Department of State.

How Do I Elect A Registered Agent by Mail, Fax or In Person in New Hampshire?

It is possible to ill this form out after downloading it and submitting it to the New Hampshire Department of State. The required form is above and the filing fee for doing it through this avenue is $100.

How Do I Change My Registered Agent In New Hampshire?

In order to change your registered agent in New Hampshire you’re going to fill out the Statement of Change of Registered Office or Registered Agent or Both form and submit it to the New Hampshire Department of State (Filing Fee: $15). This is something that you can do online or mail it in directly.

Submit it online here

Mailing Address

Corporation Division

NH Dept. of State

107 N Main St, Rm 204

Concord, NH 03301-4989

Physical Location

State House Annex, 3rd Floor, Rm 317

25 Capitol St, Concord, NH