Washington registered agent

Do you need a registered agent in Washington?

Yes. Every Washington LLC has to designate and keep a registered agent in the state. Lawsuits are served on the agent, and the Secretary of State sends filing confirmations and rejections only to the agent's email and your filing's return address. If your LLC has no agent, or the agent can't be found, a plaintiff can serve the LLC by certified mail to the principal office on your latest annual report. That service can count five days after it's mailed, even if nobody signs for it.

If your agent resigns, the resignation takes effect 31 days after it's filed, or sooner if you name a new agent. The agent has to tell you and warn you that the LLC can be administratively dissolved if you don't appoint a replacement within 60 days. Going 30 days in a row without an agent gives the Secretary of State grounds to start dissolution, and you then have 60 days after the notice to fix it. Reinstatement within five years costs $140 plus every annual report fee you missed.

Can you be your own registered agent?

You can be your own agent if you have a physical Washington street address where you're available during business hours, plus an email address. In CCFS, choose Noncommercial and enter yourself. If you're the one filing online and you're also the agent, you don't need a separate signed consent. It's free.

You don't have to serve yourself, either. A friend or relative with a Washington address can be your agent if they sign a consent, and you can name an office title, such as Member, instead of a person, so the job follows whoever holds that role. If you file online and name someone else, you swear you have their signed consent and must produce it within 10 business days if the state asks. Get the signature before you file.

The cost is privacy and availability. The agent's address is public in CCFS, and someone has to be there during business hours to accept a summons. If that address is your home, anyone who looks up your LLC can find where you live. If you have a Washington office or shop that isn't your home, use it and skip the fee.

What a paid registered agent costs in Washington

A commercial agent gives your LLC a Washington street address, accepts lawsuits and state notices, and forwards them to you. Mainstream providers charge $50 to $200 a year. Washington's commercial agents file a listing statement with the Secretary of State and appear on a public list on the CCFS login page. When you pick one in CCFS, you search its name and skip the address, because the state already has it.

Northwest charges $125 a year with no per-document fees, and its Washington address goes on the public record instead of yours. It scans the mail it receives. Your principal office address is public too, so if you work from home, pair the agent with a principal office that isn't your home. If you live in Washington and already have a business address, you don't need it.

How to change your Washington registered agent

File a Statement of Change/Designation of Registered Agent with the Secretary of State. There's no fee, and you don't need the $100 expedite. File it online in CCFS or mail the form to the Corporations & Charities Division in Olympia. The new agent signs the consent on the paper form; online, you confirm you have their signed consent. If you're within 180 days of your Annual Report due date, you can make the change on the Annual Report instead. Outside that window, use the free statement of change rather than the $10 Amended Annual Report.

Sign up with the new agent first so you have their consent. A commercial agent only needs its name on the form, not an address. Don't cancel the old agent until CCFS shows the new one on your LLC's record.