Utah Registered Agent

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

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

ZenBusiness will be the best option for setting up a registered agent service in Utah. 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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One of the most powerful things you can do when starting your business is outsource the things you need help with like a registered agent service. The best registered agent service is ZenBusiness. Their team will be there for you every step of the way and typically they will include the first year of a registered agent service for you when you form your LLC with them.

There are other options you can look at but if you’re looking for the best option – they are it. If you’ve setup a business in the past and are looking for a way to change your registered agent to another provider, they will help you with that too. Later in this guide you’ll see some details on how to do it on your own but you can also ask them for help to make sure you’re following the right process.

What is an Utah Registered Agent?

A Utah Registered Agent is no different than any other state’s registered agent or the Utah Registered Agent service. There are three or four main things that a registered agent service will provide for you and your business:

A physical street address in the state of Utah where legal papers can be served if your business is sued
The ability to receive, scan and send documents to you electronically
An annual report service that will remind you when it’s time to file your annual report with the state
In some cases, they may also provide a corporate kit for you which includes templates and information on how to run your business

A Utah Registered Agent is typically going to be an individual or a business entity that has a physical street address in the state of Utah. This is important because if you are ever sued, the legal papers will be served to your registered agent at their physical address. If you are going to think about going to get a PO Box or a mailbox service like UPS or Fedex – that’s not legal. You need to have a service that will accept legal papers on your behalf and is open during normal business hours which means that you must have a registered agent service to accept legal papers on your behalf that is in Utah.

Why do I need an Utah Registered Agent?

The simple answer is because it’s legally required to setup a registered agent service associated to any legal business entity that’s formed in Utah. It’s also very important to realize that in Utah you’ll have the registered agent’s name and registered agent’s address associated to the public record when you go searching through the public business name search portal in Utah. You can find the Utah Secretary of State’s business portal here.

This means that if you decide to act as your own registered agent, you’re going to see your name and address on file at the Utah Secretary of State’s web portal. This also means that you’re going to have to show up and be available during normal business hours too.

I highly recommend thinking about using a Utah registered agent service to help you figure out how to handle this. If you don’t, you’re going to have your home address showing up on public record.

When should I obtain an Utah Registered Agent?

The best time to setup a registered agent is going to be when you’re forming your Utah LLC. It is something that’s required when you’re going through a business formation in Utah so it’s best to do this from the beginning. Whether you’re going to setup a domestic LLC, foreign LLC or any other type of business entity – you’re going to have a Utah registered agent or registered agent service associated to it.

You should use a Utah registered agent service and get that associated to your business as you’re forming it in the beginning stages of your business journey in Utah. If you’re going to use a service, Northwest Registered Agent is exactly what you should be doing because they will include the first year as a part of your LLC formation.

Another big reason to do this is because the registered agent service will help you with annual compliance that you’re going to be responsible for. There are annual compliance deadlines in Utah that you’re going to need to really think through as you form your LLC business.

You’ll have help from your Utah registered agent service with this but realize that it’s really important.

Can I Be My Own Registered Agent In Utah?

Technically yes. It is possible to be your own registered agent but that completely defeats the purpose of what Utah is trying to do. Being your own Utah registered agent will require you to have your Utah registered agent’s name and registered agent’s address in the public record. If you pull on that thread and think about it long term – that will also be one of the biggest challenges because you’re going to have to deal with:

Receiving legal papers on behalf of your business
Being available during normal business hours Monday through Friday
Dealing with Utah’s annual compliance filings (more on that in a bit).

If you want to be your own registered agent, the state of Utah says that you can but I think it’s a really bad idea.

How Much Does a Registered Agent Cost?

The cost ranges from $0 (if you are going to be your own registered agent) all the way up to $300/year. It just depends on what you’re going to be doing and which service you use. If you use Northwest Registered Agent, the cost will be included for the first year and you’re going to really love the cost around $125/year but double check with them and make sure that’s still the case.

How Do I Elect A Registered Agent In Utah?

As you’re thinking through the process of electing your Utah registered agent, you’re going to need to follow the standard process that Utah’s Secretary of State’s office provides you.

The first thing you’ll need to do is pull the paperwork to get filled out and filed in person or you can think about doing this through the Utah web portal.

The paperwork you can pull down is on the Utah site here.

How Do I Change My Registered Agent In Utah?

If you want to change your Utah registered agent it is a pretty simple process. You’ll need to complete the Certificate of Change form and send it into the Utah Secretary of State’s office with the filing fee.

You can do that through the Registered agent Change Portal here.

Here are a few other forms for changing business information if that’s needed too.

Registration Information Change Forms