Registered Agent New Hampshire: The Best Services Reviewed

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Having a New Hampshire registered agent is a requirement of every registered business in the state.

You can’t complete the formation of your LLC (or other company structure) in New Hampshire (and other states) without having designated a registered agent.

A registered agent provides:

  • An official registered office address for the business
  • A postal address to receive correspondence
  • A physical address for receiving any service of process (in a lawsuit for example)

Who Can Be a New Hampshire Registered Agent?

In simple terms, a New Hampshire registered agent is a person or business entity that has a physical address in the state (a post office box is not sufficient).

So that means that you can:

  • Serve as your own registered agent (if you are resident in New Hampshire)
  • You can designate a friend or family member – or your lawyer or accountant – as your registered agent
  • OR … you can do what most people do and hire a reputable online business services company to provide registered agent service.

Requirements of a New Hampshire Registered Agent

There a number of stringent requirements to be a registered agent in New Hampshire, which is why most people choose to go with a registered agent service.

According to New Hampshire corporations law, a New Hampshire registered agent can be either:

  • an individual who resides in this state and whose business office is identical with the registered office
  • a corporation whose business office is identical with the registered office
  • a limited liability company whose business office is identical with the registered office
  • a limited liability partnership whose business office is identical with the registered office

No matter who you choose to be your registered agent, they need to be physically present at the address provided to the state during standard business hours.

What will my New Hampshire Registered Agent do For Me?

Aside from allowing you to form your LLC or other company structure in the state of New Hampshire, your New Hampshire registered agent service supports you business in three main ways: administrative, legal and compliance. It also offers a couple of advantages in terms of privacy and discretion, which we will detail below.

Administrative

Your New Hampshire registered agent service will receive all your mail and either forward it on to you, or scan it and upload it to a portal where you can view it.

This includes all correspondence with the state of New Hampshire relating to your business.

The registered agent provides a physical address to receive hand-delivered service of process (SOP) paperwork regarding any legal action being taken against your company. We all hope this doesn’t happen, but it is always a possibility and a registered agent is required to fulfil this function for your company. If your registered agent receives any legal documents, they will let you know and forward the documents to you promptly.

Compliance

Your registered agent helps ensure that your business files any required paperwork on time. Each state has its own schedule of required corporate filings – annual reports, tax payments or documents etcetera.

A registered agent service keeps track of these dates (which are subject to change) and emails your to remind you when filings are due. This ensures your business remains in good standing and doesn’t receive any fines or other actions including dissolution.

As an example, all businesses in New Hampshire must file an annual report by April 15. Your New Hampshire registered agent service will advise you in advance that this filing is due and you complete it online with the New Hampshire Secretary of State’s office.

Privacy & Discretion

Having a registered agent service as opposed to using your own address gives you more privacy. For example, if you use your home or private office, that will become publicly available on the New Hampshire business register.

There’s also the additional discretion that a registered agent service provides – no one wants their neighbour, employees or clients to be present when a business has to accept service of process in the event of legal action.

National Coverage

The other key advantage using an online registered agent service (we reviewed our favourites below) as opposed to going it alone or using a local company is that a national firm allows for expansion to other states.

If you are setting up in another state, then you’ll need a registered agent there too. Doing it with a service means you can pay a little extra and add that state to your account and they will deliver documents for that entity via the same online account dashboard that you are familiar with.

Our Top New Hampshire Registered Agent Services Reviewed

We recommend choosing one of the five national registered agent services below to be your New Hampshire registered agent (hint, sometimes it is simplest and best to choose the same service to form your New Hampshire LLC and be your New Hampshire registered agent as there are savings to be made and it is simpler that way).

Each service has it’s own pros and cons, which we have summarized below. Once you have chosen, click on the Get Started link on the corresponding service and get the best available price to set up your New Hampshire Resident Agent.

ImageProductFeaturesPrice
Best value
ZenBusiness

ZenBusiness

Price: $99 per year

  • Popular and solid value for money
  • Bundled deals on LLC formation ($39 LLC formation includes one year of registered agent service)
  • Good customer service
9.4
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Best customer service
Northwest Registered Agent

Northwest Registered Agent

Price: $125 per year

  • They scan all docs from their local offices
  • Long-standing company
  • Great customer service with personalized support
9.3
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Great value
Incfile

Incfile

Price: $119 per year

  • Free LLC formation is tempting
  • Good customer reviews
  • Digital dashboard
  • Automatic forwarding of all correspondence
9.1
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Best no frills
Incorp

Incorp

Price: $99 per year

  • No frills but effective
  • Equal cheapest prices
  • Reliable
9
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Strong brand
LegalZoom

LegalZoom

Price: $299 per year

  • Big name and brand power
  • Partnerships with lawyers
  • More than just LLC formation
  • $159 for registered agent fee if you form an LLC with them

 

8.9
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Forming a Business (LLC) in New Hampshire

Of course choosing a registered agent is just one part of forming a business entity in New Hampshire.

We’ve summarised the other main steps for forming an LLC (the appropriate entity for most situations) well as showing you where appointing a registered agent fits in the process.

  1. Choose a business name. Be sure to choose something that’s unique to your business, is easy to pronounce (helps with word of mouth) and fits with your business. It also needs to not be an business name that is already in use in New Hampshire. You can check this with the New Hampshire State Department via its Business Entity Search.
  2. Appoint your registered agent. We discussed this throughout so won’t repeat ourselves here other than to say we recommend a registered agent service.
  3. File your formation documents: The main document you need to file initially is the Articles of Organization. Annual filings will include the annual report, but you don’t have to do that until your LLC (Limited Liability Company) is up and running.

New Hampshire Business Fast-Facts

  • Size of New Hampshire economy: $77bn in Gross Domestic Product (based on Ibis World estimates)
  • Business Formation Speed: up to 3 weeks for standard filings; most expedited processing requires 7 business days
  • Cost (state fees) to Form a Business: $100 for an LLC
  • Annual Reports: Due each year by April 15th; costs $100 to file

New Hampshire Registered Agent Service FAQs:

How much does a Registered Agent Service Cost?

A registered agent service is typically around $50 to $100 per year (although some can cost several hundred dollars per year).

What about a New Hampshire-only (as opposed to national) registered agent service?

There are local firms that offer a registered agent service and they are perfectly fine for some people. The only area in which these local firms suffer in comparison to the four services that we prefer is their dashboards are usually not as user friendly and these firms can’t service your needs if you need to expand into another state.

How to Change Your New Hampshire Resident Agent?

It is possible of course to change your New Hampshire registered agent if you have an existing service. To do this you need to fill out the Resolution to Change Principal Office or Resident Agent form and submit it to the New Hampshire State Department.

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AUTHOR

Rick Wallace is an investor who has established several LLCs in different states. He writes about starting businesses via LLCs including topics such as choosing a registered agent.