Statutory Agent Services
Statutory Agent Services
The State of Arizona requires every corporation or LLC to have a designated statutory agent (also sometimes called a registered agent). The statutory agent is the person or business that can accept service of process (legal documents, such as notification of a lawsuit).
Unlike some states, in Arizona a company cannot be its own agent. It must designate either an individual or another business as its statutory agent.
Your corporation can be âadministratively dissolved if it does not have a statutory agent or known place of business for sixty days. Thus, it’s important to take this requirement seriously.
Eligibility to be a Statutory Agent
Any of the following can serve as a statutory agent:
- An Arizona corporation
- An Arizona LLC
- A foreign corporation or LLC registered to do business in Arizona
- An individual who must:
- Be a permanent, full-time Arizona resident
- Have a permanent, full-time physical address in Arizona (Any mailing address must also be in Arizona)
A corporation or LLC can appoint one of its own employees or owners as statutory agent.
Using an Attorney as Statutory Agent
There are several reasons to consider using an attorney as your statutory agent:
- You don’t have a business address in Arizona.
- You don’t want to use your home or business address in public records such as with the Arizona Corporation Commission.
- You don’t want to worry about process servers showing up at any time of the day or night to serve you with legal papers.
- An attorney can also make sure you comply with any changes in the laws regarding your corporation or statutory agent.
A statutory agent must accept the appointment in writing. There are separate forms for the appointment and acceptance of statutory agent status.