Delaware Registered Agent Requirements for an LLC

Updated September 6, 2026. Quick answer: In Delaware, this role is called a registered agent, governed by 6 Del. C. Section 18-104 (registered office and registered agent), Sections 18-202 and 18-1105(a)(11) (change of agent). Delaware is the only one of the states compared here whose statute expressly bans a registered agent from operating solely through a virtual office or mail-forwarding service, and it pairs that with the shortest cure-to-cancellation window (30 days) of any state researched. Delaware’s separate reputation for owner privacy comes from its formation-certificate rules, not from the registered-agent statute itself.

What the address rule requires

Delaware’s statute requires the registered agent’s address to include the street, number, city, and postal code, and states directly that a registered agent “may not perform its duties or functions solely through the use of a virtual office, the retention by the agent of a mail forwarding service, or both.”

Who can serve as your registered agent

The LLC itself; an individual resident in Delaware; a domestic entity (LLC, corporation, limited partnership, or statutory trust); or a foreign entity of the same types. Commercial registered agents serving more than 50 entities face heightened requirements, including a Delaware business office and identity-verification duties.

What happens if you don’t have one

If the LLC fails to obtain a new registered agent within 30 days after notice, its certificate of formation is canceled; a comparatively short, explicit cure window rather than an SOS-as-agent default. The certificate of formation is canceled if a new registered agent is not obtained within 30 days after notice; the shortest cure window found among the states compared here.

How to change your registered agent

$50.00 to file the Certificate of Amendment changing only the registered office or agent, plus $50.00 for a certified copy. (source: Delaware Division of Corporations, official amendment form)

This page covers what Delaware’s own law requires. For the general question of whether you should pay a commercial service or serve as your own agent, see registered agent: do you actually need to pay for one.

Every citation on this page was read directly from the state’s own statute, Secretary of State site, or official filing form this session (or, where that site could not be reached, from an independently cross-checked legal-database mirror of the same codified text, disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; fees and specific procedures can change, and your state’s Secretary of State has the final say for any individual filing.