Alabama registered agent requirements
Check Alabama’s rules for receiving legal notices and keeping the public contact record current. The local role may be called a registered agent, resident agent, statutory agent, or agent for service of process.
Open official agency forms and instructions ↗Who can serve in Alabama?
An Alabama registered agent must be eligible under Title 10A and maintain a registered office in Alabama where process can be served. The agent may be an individual resident of Alabama or an eligible domestic or foreign entity authorized to transact business in Alabama, subject to statutory exclusions and the entity-type rules. The registered office is a physical street address, not merely a post-office box, and agent name/address information is public in the SOS record. The agent must reliably receive service and official notices; using an unreliable nominee creates litigation and status risk.
Alabama agent changes: forms and fees
$100.00. File the SOS Change of Registered Agent or Registered Office by Entity form, generally in duplicate for paper submission, or use the online business filing workflow. The verified form page is https://www.sos.alabama.gov/node/1395. The filing must identify the entity, current agent/office, and replacement information; changing an agent on an amendment form does not substitute for the dedicated change filing.
Resignation, notice, and effective dates
The current agent files the Alabama Registered Agent Resignation Notice and must provide notice to the entity as required by statute. The SOS downloads page states that the resignation notice must be received within 11 days of notice to the entity. The reviewed Alabama materials state no filing fee for the resignation notice. Resignation does not itself appoint a replacement; the entity must maintain a valid agent or face service and compliance consequences.
Consequences of a missing agent or address
An Alabama entity must continuously maintain a registered agent and registered office. If the record becomes invalid, the entity can miss service of process, lose the practical ability to receive official notices, become subject to status or termination action under Title 10A, and expose organizers, officers, or managers to avoidable default-judgment and compliance risk. The SOS may serve process in limited statutory circumstances, but that is not a substitute for maintaining the agent and does not eliminate the entity's duty.
Confirm the change reached the public record
Keep the accepted filing and confirm the agent or service address shown for the business. Arrange forwarding of legal notices during the change, and check which contact information will be public before supplying a home address.
Look up the Alabama entity record →