In today's Freedom Friday blog and email newsletter, I want to answer a question I get a lot from people wanting to start a new small business, and form an LLC, and that is, “Why does my small business need a registered service agent?”  The short answer is the law requires your LLC to have a registered service agent.  However, there's a slightly longer answer which I want to talk about today.

If you're forming any kind of business entity, be it an LLC, corporation, or something else, the Oklahoma Secretary of State will require you to name a registered service agent as part of the application process.  The registered service agent you choose will be a person or entity which can receive service of process on behalf of your business if your business gets sued or needs to be served with other important documents.  There are several options in choosing a registered service agent, and you can even choose yourself, but the two primary requirements are the person or entity must be located within the State of Oklahoma, and the registered service agent must have a physical address (can't use a PO Box address).

As a small business owner, you have options as to who can be your registered service agent.  You or your small business can be your own registered service agent, if you want to do so.  Another option is to choose a company or law firm that offers registered service agent services, often for a small annual fee.  There is nothing wrong with choosing to be your own registered service agent.  Merely being your own registered service agent does not expose you or your business to any legal risks or liability.  However, there are a few disadvantages to being your own registered service agent.  One disadvantage is that if you have a home office, the process server will knock on your front door, and you might not want that inconvenience.  Another disadvantage is that if you have a store front business, your business might get served while you have clients or customers around, and that might be embarrassing.  A third disadvantage is that many small business owners do not want to be bothered being their own registered service agent.  For them it's a waste of their time, and so they choose to invest in hiring someone else to be their registered service agent.

It's very important for you as a small business owner to choose a reliable registered service agent.  I recently had a prospective client call me to ask about my firm becoming a registered service agent, and the reason they needed a new one is that their current registered service agent was not reliable.  The person or entity you choose to be your registered service agent needs to be a company or person who you can trust, because if you choose someone other than yourself, you need to trust them to be able to contact you and let you know that your small business was served, as well as to deliver the documents that were served on your small business.  If you do get served with a lawsuit, you only have a limited time to hire an attorney to file a response to the lawsuit.

At Liberty Legal Solutions, LLC, we offer a registered service agent program for our small business clients.  For an annual fee of $150.00, we will serve as the registered service agent for your small business, and if your small business is an LLC, we will file the annual certificate for you, as well as keep you advised of any service of process.

If you are interested in starting a small business anywhere in Oklahoma, or you are interested in taking your small business to the next level, please contact me at [email protected] to schedule a FREE strategy session.

For more information about Liberty Legal Solutions, LLC, please visit our website at http://www.libertylegalok.com/