All business entities in Nebraska are legally required to maintain a registered agent, but it’s also just a smart business move for several reasons.
A registered agent is such a pivotal part of the business formation process that you almost can’t complete it without one. Registered agents are also massively beneficial when it comes to compliance concerns because they issue compliance alerts that keep you from missing important filing deadlines and encountering legal trouble.
If you’re overwhelmed already, keep reading. This guide will help you understand everything you need to know about Nebraska registered agents.
What Is a Registered Agent in Nebraska?
The legal definition of a registered agent is an individual or business entity that receives service of process, mail, and legal documents on your company’s behalf at your registered office address during normal business hours.
It may sound ludicrous to have your mail sent to a different person at a different address, but that’s where the other half of registered agent duties comes in: document delivery. Your registered agent makes sure you receive your mail and documents either through online document management systems or mail forwarding.
If your business operates in multiple states, you’re legally obligated to maintain a registered agent in every state your company operates in. That means you need to either designate someone who’s already at each local branch as your registered agent or hire a national registered agent service to cover all your registered agent needs.
Sometimes a registered agent is also called either a statutory agent or a resident agent, but they all mean the same thing.
What Is the Purpose of a Registered Agent in Nebraska?
You’ve probably read the definition I’ve provided for a registered agent and concocted a scheme where you set up a PO box for your company and check it periodically for mail and service of process. Nice try; that won’t work for a couple of reasons, and here’s why.
The address at which your registered agent is required to be physically present must be a physical address. That means that you can’t use a PO box and that someone actually has to show up to the address you list for your company on the formation documents during normal business hours.
The other reason this won’t do is that your registered agent can do a lot more than just show up to receive service of process and mail.
Compliance
As a business owner, you’re expected to meet several compliance obligations, like filing your annual reports on time. But keeping track of these filing deadlines is a job for your registered agent. Many registered agents will send you compliance alerts to remind you about important filing deadlines.
Your registered agent is your legally designated point of contact, which means that it’s a go-between for your business and government agencies (like the Secretary of State). You need a registered agent that will notify you about important filing dates so that you don’t miss one by accident.
Management of Important Documents
Your address is significant for more than simply meeting the physical street address stipulation of the Secretary of State. This is also the location where your mail, service of process, and legal documents will be sent.
Many reputable registered agent services offer online document management portals that allow you to view your mail and documents the same day they’re received as well as providing you with a place to electronically store them. This is faster than basic mail forwarding, and electronic storage prevents you from having to deal with loads of filing cabinets full of legal documents.
Who Can Be a Registered Agent in Nebraska?
Most of the requirements for registered agents are universal nationwide. Here are just a few of the requirements you can expect your registered agent in Nebraska will need to meet:
- State requirements. Some states have legislation that spells out the requirements for registered agents. So to make sure that your registered agent in Nebraska meets all of its legal requirements, you should double-check registered agent laws in Nebraska.
- 18+ years old. Every registered agent in Nebraska is required to be at least 18 years old.
- Physical address. The Secretary of State has stipulated that your registered agent in Nebraska must have a physical street address. This means that you aren’t allowed to use a PO box, as convenient as that would be.
- Who you can designate. You’re allowed to designate anyone you want as your registered agent in Nebraska. They just have to meet the requirements. You’re allowed to designate a family member, close friend, or trusted professional (like your lawyer). But consider your choices carefully because your registered agent needs to be reliable and available during business hours.
What Happens If My Business Operates Without a Registered Agent?
If your Nebraska registered agent isn’t present at your business address during regular business hours when a process server delivers a service of process, the process server will deliver the service of process to the Nebraska Secretary of State instead.
If this happens, you won’t have any clue about the legal actions being taken against your company and you won’t be able to mount an effective defense. In such cases, a judge could issue a default judgment against your business.
Another consequence of missing a service of process is that the Nebraska Secretary of State could revoke your company’s good-standing status. Lots of nasty legal and financial issues could result from this. Your business may become ineligible for loans and financial assistance and no longer allowed to expand to other states. In fact, you could no longer be able to legally transact business in the state at all.
Limited liability companies are particularly devastated by the revocation of good-standing status. They could experience “administrative dissolution,” which is when the Secretary of State automatically dissolves a limited liability company because it isn’t meeting its legal obligations, like filing annual reports or maintaining a registered agent in Nebraska.
Once a limited liability company has been dissolved, it loses the legal rights to use its name in the state. So while your Nebraska LLC is scrambling to restore its legal status, another company could swoop in and take it. So even if you quickly restore your good-standing status, you might permanently lose your business name.
If the state revokes your limited liability status, you’re legally and financially responsible for the company. In the event of a lawsuit, your personal and financial assets would be up for grabs.
Of course, negative consequences of failing to maintain a registered agent in Nebraska aren’t limited to LLCs. Any business entity must maintain a registered agent, which means that a Nebraska corporation, sole proprietorship, or partnership could also experience many of the repercussions listed here.
Can I Be My Own Registered Agent in Nebraska?
Nothing says you can’t be your own Nebraska registered agent. But you should learn more about the pros and cons of being your own agent before you take on that responsibility.
Cons of Being Your Own Registered Agent
Liability
The biggest fly in the ointment of being your own registered agent is dealing with the serious repercussions of missing a service of process. This could result in you losing your company’s good-standing status or a judge issuing a default judgment against you—without you knowing anything about the litigation or being allowed to defend your company in court.
Lack of Privacy
One major drawback of being your own Nebraska registered agent for most people is that essential portions of your personal information will be listed on the public record for everyone to see and access. This opens you up to things like cybercrime and identity theft.
It’s also just creepy to think that anyone who wants your phone number or address could easily get their hands on it and use it for their own agenda. Yikes!
Time
Another downside of being your own Nebraska registered agent is the significant amount of time it takes up. You’re legally required to be present at your registered office address during normal business hours to receive service of process and legal mail.
But it’s safe to assume that your business also probably operates during normal business hours, so that’s going to cause a major scheduling conflict. Because of this, it’s nearly impossible to be both a business owner and your own registered agent in Nebraska. You can’t be in two places at once!
Pros of Being Your Own Registered Agent
The silver lining of being your own registered agent is that you won’t have to pay fees to a registered agent service.
But many business owners agree that paying registered agent fees is a small price to pay to ensure that they don’t miss a service of process, have their personal information listed on the public record, or have to essentially work two jobs (business manager and Nebraska registered agent).
And most registered agent services are so inexpensive that it’s not worth it to take on the extra risk and hassle yourself.
Should I Use a Registered Agent Service?
There are lots of reasons to choose a Nebraska registered agent service:
- You won’t miss important filing deadlines with the Nebraska Secretary of State because your registered agent provider will issue compliance alerts.
- Because your trustworthy Nebraska registered agent will be stationed at your registered office address during standard business hours, it’s a lot less likely that you’ll miss a service of process.
- You can more easily manage your business because you won’t be stretched thin also performing the duties of a registered agent.
- You can choose a national registered agent to meet all your legal compliance needs if your business operates in multiple states.
- Business owners that don’t keep normal business hours (restaurants, bars, cinemas) can use a Nebraska registered agent service so that they aren’t working night and day.
- If your business doesn’t have a physical location or physical street address, a Nebraska registered agent service will help you meet the physical address stipulation without listing your personal info on public record.
- If you use your actual address rather than a registered agent’s address, you’ll soon find out that businesses get loads of junk mail. If you’re your own registered agent, you’ll have to figure out what to do with it all.
- Some Nebraska registered agent services offer premium services, like certain specialty insurances or payment of state fees.
- If you haven’t established your business yet, then it’s prime time to seek out a Nebraska registered agent service that also offers LLC formation services. Many times these dual-purpose companies offer bundle deals where you can get a year of free registered agent service when you sign up for LLC formation service.
At the end of the day, only you can determine whether a registered agent service is right for your business. But I will say that I always recommend new businesses use registered agent services.
What Is the Best Registered Agent Service?
There are a lot of factors involved with choosing the best registered agent service. Here are some of the things you should look at when choosing your company’s registered agent service:
Service Features
Some Nebraska registered agents send out compliance alerts so that you don’t forget to file your annual report while others will only give you a compliance calendar, which you can easily toss aside and lose.
Some Nebraska registered agent services offer online document management systems which allow you to view and store your legal documents online, and others only offer mail forwarding through snail mail.
Be sure that the Nebraska registered agent you choose supplies all the products and services your company needs.
Value
A good way to figure out whether a Nebraska registered agent service is worth it is to compare its registered agent services list to its fee. If it offers a variety of quality registered agent services and a low fee, you’re probably dealing with a quality registered agent service.
While we’re on the topic of pricing, I should warn you to steer clear of “budget agents.” These sneaky companies use promises of low rates ($39–$59) to draw in new customers and then charge them loads of ludicrous additional fees for basic services (like compliance alerts and online document management systems). So, be sure that you avoid these budget agent services.
Easy Sign-Up
No business owner seeks out companies that waste their time, and this is true of registered agents too. Some Nebraska registered agents have sign-up processes that take weeks or even months to complete, and they make you fill out mountains of paperwork too. To make sure you’re not waiting to complete the sign-up process, choose a registered agent in Nebraska that has a streamlined sign-up process.
User-Friendly Interface
You’ll frequently use your registered agent’s system, so unless you want to deal with a lot of frustration and headaches, it’s important that it be easy to use. Some registered agent service companies have systems that are slow and laden with technical issues. To ensure a streamlined user experience, find a registered agent service with a simple interface.
Customer Service
You could choose a Nebraska registered agent service that does everything right, but you’ll still need to call customer service with a question or technical problem eventually. This is why quality customer service is crucial.
I took all these factors into consideration and used a four-stage investigative process to Northwest Registered Agent as the best registered agent service. If you’d like to learn more about what the best registered agent services provide or how to choose your company’s registered agent, read the Best Registered Agent Services.
Conclusion
Most business owners have to hit the ground running to learn tons of stuff, from business management techniques to proper use of business software, business and legal terms, as well as the laws and regulations of the state. But registered agent services can take some of the burden off of their shoulders.
If you haven’t nailed down your company’s business structure and you’d like to learn more about the LLC formation process, read my guide on How to Start an LLC. If you’d like to benefit from expert guidance throughout the formation process, then read my guide to the Best LLC Formation Services.
Nebraska Registered Agent FAQs
What’s the Difference Between a Commercial and a Noncommercial Registered Agent?
Essentially, a commercial registered agent service is any professional registered agent service that registers itself as a commercial registered agent with the Nebraska Secretary of State. Some states require all professional registered agents to register themselves as commercial registered agent services.
A noncommercial registered agent is any business entity or individual that hasn’t registered itself as a commercial agent. So, if you’ve designated a family member—like your retired grandpa—as your registered agent, then congratulations! Your grandpa is officially a noncommercial registered agent (and you’ve provided him with a task to occupy his free time)!
How Do I Change the Registered Agent for My LLC?
To change your registered agent, you typically have to file a form. This form is called a Registered Agent Acceptance/Statement of Change in Nebraska, and you’ll need to submit it to the Nebraska Secretary of State.
You need to include your registered agent information, like your registered agent’s address and name, then submit it along with a payment of $60 to cover the state fees.
How Much Does a Registered Agent Cost?
Nebraska registered agent cost can vary depending on several different criteria, like the registered agent company you choose, the services you require, etc. But ordinarily a registered agent will cost somewhere between $39 and $299 per state per year. If you want more information about registered agent pricing, read the Best Registered Agent Services.
