The State of Texas requires all incorporated businesses to designate a Registered Agent. Meaning if you don’t maintain a Registered Agent, you will be prohibited from doing business within the State of Texas.

A Registered Agent serves as the primary point of contact between the company and any other entity that would need to send important documents to the company, including the State of Texas, federal governmental agencies, such as the IRS, and the courts.  It is the Registered Agent’s job to forward court, state, and other official documents to the business entity and notify them immediately.  Registered Agents are responsible for receiving paperwork such as:

• Service of process documents regarding disputes and litigation;
• Tax documents and notices;
• Annual Reports; and
• Wage Garnishment Notices.

Aside from ensuring the foregoing communications are properly received and that you are promptly made aware of them, designating our firm as your Registered Agent is particularly important if you do not have a physical location in the State, since PO Boxes do not fulfill this requirement.

The purpose of a Registered Agents, includes:

• Ensure you receive official letters and notices in a timely manner;
• Provides the freedom to be away or unavailable during normal business hours;
• Provides privacy and anonymity; public records show the registered agency’s address, instead of yours;
• Provides peace of mind, you don’t have to be responsible for receiving office mail, staying at the business location, or receiving lawsuits or tax documents in front of employees, customers and others; and
• You can change you locations without filing a change of address with the Secretary of state. Wage garnishment notices

Conversely, if you don’t have a Registered Agent (which is required by the State of Texas and most other states), it might cause you to drop out of “good standing” with the State, which may result in the loss of your business license, among other fines and penalties.

The Registered Agent of your choice must have a physical street address (no P.O. boxes) in the State of Texas and be available at that address during normal business hours.  Ideally, you want a Registered Agent that is reputable and responsible in getting documents unto your hands promptly to avoid state and court sanctions, default lawsuits and judgments, among other fines and penalties.

Generally, a business owner may designate himself or herself as the Registered Agent for the business. Many of our clients choose to name our law firm as the Registered Agents of their businesses for several reasons.  As a business law firm with a fully-staffed office, we have staff available to accept service of court documents and other notices we may receive as Registered Agents.  We employ processes and procedures to ensure our clients are promptly made aware of any such documents we receive. As we often serve as outside general counsel for our business clients, many of our clients prefer that we are the first ones to receive and review any such notices served on their businesses, thereby ensuring the attorney-client privilege applies.

In addition to our Registered Agent services, for an additional fee, we can manage your business’ corporate minute book, prepare consents or minutes for all requisite meetings required to be held by boards or committees of the entity, and handle the preparation of the entity’s annual report to the Texas Secretary of State and your Franchise Tax return with the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts.  These services help ensure that the company remains in good standing with the State of Texas and helps prevent a lapse in organizational documentation from threatening any limited liability shield the entity may provide to its owners.

At PLG, we provide professional Registered Agent services, with attorney-client privilege.

This means that if you receive a subpoena to produce information about your corporation, LLC, Partnership or other entity because of alimony, child support, bankruptcy, debt collection, foreclosure, IRS, tax collection, government enforcement action, criminal matter or anything else, Pratt Law Group is duty bound NOT TO DISCLOSE any information contained in any client communications whether oral or written. This is powerful legal precedent to have working for you and you can only obtain it from a lawyer.  A non-lawyer Registered Agent service does not and cannot offer this valuable confidentiality protection.

We charge a flat $180 per year for our Registered Agent services, which we will bill annually, on your business’ incorporation anniversary date.  You won’t be hit with forwarding fees, cancellation fees or end-of-the-year fees.  The first-year payment includes any pertinent change fees, and as long as you keep or maintain our law firm as your Registered Agent, we will do everything legally possible to ensure that your fee remains the same.

Not included in this fee is the cost of filing a change in Registered Agent form with the Texas Secretary of State, or the cost of for late filing the tax forms with the Texas Comptroller of Public Account.

At Pratt Law Group, PLLC, we provide more than just legal services to our clients. We are also trusted advisors and counselors committed to helping business owners succeed.  To learn more about enlisting our firm to serve as Registered Agent for your company, please contact us at (888) 517-4575.

No matter the reason you need a registered agent, Pratt Law Group will meet your needs. Our strong track record supports our claim to offer reliable, low-cost registered agent services.   See why many businesses have chosen our firm to represent them when they need it the most. Call us today so we can get started on dealing with the legal aspects of your business.