Registered office
The physical Delaware street address at which the registered agent is reachable during business hours.
Definition
The registered office is the physical Delaware location where the registered agent maintains presence to accept service of process. Required by 8 Del. C. § 132 for corporations and 6 Del. C. § 18-104 for LLCs. The office and the agent are inseparable: an agent without a Delaware office cannot legally act as registered agent.
Context
Most non-resident founders use a registered agent service whose office address is the registered office. Harvard Business Services, Anchorage successor providers, Northwest, and others all maintain registered offices in Delaware that they share across many client entities.
Example
A Pakistani founder's Delaware LLC has Delewarellc as registered agent. The registered office is Delewarellc's Delaware address, which appears on the Certificate of Formation. Delaware state correspondence arrives at the registered office and is forwarded to the founder.
Common pitfalls
- A Delaware PO box does not satisfy the registered office requirement; must be a physical street address.
- Changing registered offices requires a Certificate of Change filing with Delaware ($50 state fee).