LLC Registered-Agent and Registered-Office Requirements in Indiana
At a glance
| Governing law and terminology | Indiana Business Flexibility Act plus Uniform Business Organizations Administrative Provisions Act; 'registered agent,' commercial or noncommercial (IC 23-18-1-1; 23-0.5-1-1; 23-0.5-1.5-23, -36) |
|---|---|
| Continuous designation duty | Domestic LLC is a domestic filing entity and must designate and maintain Indiana registered agent; articles state registered-office street address and agent name (IC 23-0.5-4-1; 23-18-2-4(b)(2)) |
| Eligible individual | Any individual may serve with required Indiana street address; no separate Indiana-residency, age, citizenship, license, or exact-hours test (IC 23-0.5-4-2, -3) |
| Eligible entity and self-service | General partnership, domestic filing entity, registered foreign entity, or listed commercial agent may serve; represented LLC is not expressly excluded, so self-service is not expressly barred (IC 23-0.5-4-3; 23-0.5-1.5-11, -40) |
| Registered office, address, and hours | Noncommercial filing gives Indiana street address; P.O. box alone is not accepted unless accompanied by rural-route number; commercial agent uses listed Indiana business address; no exact daily hours (IC 23-0.5-4-2 to -4; SOS forms) |
| Consent and initial filing | Registered-agent filing states agent consent or representation of consent; articles/form name commercial or noncommercial agent, give noncommercial street address, and include consent checkbox plus organizer signature (IC 23-0.5-4-3(d); 23-18-2-4; SOS 49459) |
| Change, resignation, and replacement | Entity files signed change with successor consent/representation; agent may update and notify entity; resignation ends day 31 or earlier new-agent designation after prompt recorded notice (IC 23-0.5-4-6 to -9) |
| Agent duties and service | Agent forwards process/notices/demands, gives statutory notices, and keeps its filing/listing current; entity supplies and updates communications contact; service on agent serves entity (IC 23-0.5-4-3(e)-(g), -10(a), -11) |
| Lapse consequences and fallback service | No agent/unservable agent triggers tracked delivery to principal office, then person in charge; no automatic Secretary-agent step; 60-day agent lapse or reporting failure supports notice, 60-day cure, and dissolution (IC 23-0.5-4-10; 23-0.5-6-1 to -2) |
Requirements one by one
Governing law and terminology
IC 23-18-1-1 names Indiana's LLC statute the Indiana business flexibility act. Its registered-agent rules now sit in the Uniform Business Organizations Administrative Provisions Act, which applies to IC 23-18 LLCs under IC 23-0.5-1-2. Indiana distinguishes listed commercial registered agents from noncommercial registered agents.
Continuous designation duty
IC 23-0.5-4-1 requires a domestic filing entity, including a domestic LLC, to designate and maintain an Indiana registered agent. IC 23-18-2-4 requires the articles to state the registered office's Indiana street address and the agent's name at that office.
The later 60-day dissolution threshold does not replace the continuous duty. It states when the Secretary may begin administrative-dissolution proceedings.
Eligible individual
IC 23-0.5-4-3 allows an individual to serve. Unlike many states, Indiana does not say the person must be an Indiana resident. A noncommercial agent filing instead supplies the agent's Indiana street address under IC 23-0.5-4-2.
The current chapter states no separate minimum age, citizenship, professional-license, or fixed daily-hours qualification.
Eligible entity and self-service
A general partnership, domestic filing entity, or registered foreign entity may serve as a noncommercial agent. A person separately listed with the Secretary may serve as a commercial registered agent.
A domestic LLC is a domestic filing entity, and IC 23-0.5-4-3 states no represented-entity exclusion. The represented LLC therefore is not expressly barred from serving as its own noncommercial agent. A member or manager may also serve as an individual without relying on that internal role as a separate eligibility category.
Registered office, address, and hours
The articles state an Indiana street address for the registered office. A noncommercial filing gives the agent's name and address; a commercial filing uses the listed agent's name because the agent's Indiana delivery address is in its commercial listing.
Current State Form 56367 says a P.O. box is unacceptable unless accompanied by a rural-route number. The statute and forms state no exact 9-to-5 or other daily-hours interval.
Consent and initial filing
Every registered-agent filing must state the agent's consent or represent that the agent consented. Current State Form 49459 implements that rule with a checkbox representation. It separately asks for the commercial agent's name or the noncommercial agent's name and Indiana street address; electronic- service email is optional.
The organizer signs the articles and verifies the statements under penalties of perjury. The agent need not separately sign when the filer makes the consent representation.
Change, resignation, and replacement
The entity may file a signed statement changing its agent information. A new agent requires the same consent statement or representation. A noncommercial agent that changes its own information files a signed statement for each represented entity and promptly gives the entity notice in a record.
An agent resigns by a signed filing and promptly sends the represented entity recorded notice of the filing date. Under IC 23-0.5-4-9, resignation takes effect on the earlier of the 31st day after filing or designation of a new agent. The official resignation form also lets a person state that the person never consented and asks to be removed from the record.
Agent duties and service
IC 23-0.5-4-11 expressly limits the statutory duties to forwarding received process, notices, and demands to the latest entity-supplied address; giving the notices the article requires; and keeping the noncommercial filing or commercial listing current.
The LLC has a matching information duty. It must give the agent and update the name, business address, and business telephone number of an officer, director, employee, or designated agent authorized to receive communications. The registered agent retains that communications-contact information.
Lapse consequences and fallback service
If the LLC has no agent or reasonable diligence cannot serve the agent, IC 23-0.5-4-10 permits registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or similar commercial delivery to the principal office. Service is effective on the earliest of receipt, the signed return-receipt date, or five days after proper deposit. If that route also fails, a copy may be handed to the person in charge at a regular place of business or activity. Indiana does not make the Secretary of State an automatic fallback agent here.
IC 23-0.5-6-1 makes 60 consecutive days without an agent a dissolution ground. It also covers failure for 60 days to report an agent/office change, resignation, or discontinued office. After written notice, § 23-0.5-6-2 gives another 60 days to cure or disprove the ground. Administrative dissolution limits activity to reinstatement and winding up, but does not terminate the authority of any remaining registered agent.
What trips people up
Consent can be represented rather than separately signed by the agent. The filing still must state consent or represent that it was obtained. The organizer's checkbox is not permission to appoint someone who never agreed.
Indiana does not require individual residency. The address rule is an Indiana street-address rule. Do not convert it into a statutory claim that the individual must live in Indiana.
The Secretary is not the no-agent service shortcut. Indiana uses a layered principal-office delivery route and then permits delivery to the person in charge at a regular business location.
Common questions
Can an Indiana member be registered agent? Yes. The member may qualify as an individual with the required Indiana street address. The Act also does not expressly exclude the represented domestic LLC from the domestic-filing-entity agent category.
Must the registered agent sign the articles? No separate agent signature is required when the filer checks the representation that the named agent consented.
Can a P.O. box be used? Not alone. The current change form permits one only when accompanied by a rural-route number, and the statute requires an Indiana street address.
How long does the LLC have after resignation? The resignation ends on day 31 or earlier replacement. The separate 60-day no-agent period is a ground for administrative dissolution, not a safe operating window.
Statutes and sources
- IC 23-0.5-1, 23-0.5-1.5, 23-0.5-4, and 23-0.5-6. Current 2026 Uniform Business Organizations Administrative Provisions Act text. Accessed July 27, 2026.
- IC 23-18-1 and 23-18-2. Current 2026 Indiana Business Flexibility Act title and formation requirements. Accessed July 27, 2026.
- Indiana Secretary of State Forms 49459, 56367, and 26285. Current articles, agent-change, and resignation fields. Accessed July 27, 2026.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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