How to cancel a formation service or change your registered agent

What does cancelling a formation service actually stop?

Cancelling ends the service contract, not the company. Your LLC stays registered with the state, and the formation filing the provider already sent stays valid.

What stops is whatever still bills. After formation, those charges fall into three kinds.

• A registered agent subscription, which several plans include for a first year and then renew.
• A compliance or annual report plan, such as ZenBusiness's Worry-Free Compliance or Swyft Filings' ComplianceGuard.
• Trial items bundled in the plan, which start billing when the trial ends.

The trial items are the ones people miss, because nothing about the LLC reminds you of them. Swyft Filings' plans include a 14-day free trial of ComplianceGuard, which then bills $199/year. LegalZoom's middle plan carries a Business Advisor Plan that auto-renews at $49/mo after 30 days, and Tailor Brands includes bookkeeping as a trial on its plans, after which you’ll be charged $39/month unless you cancel first. Rocket Lawyer's membership pricing reads "Billed yearly after free 7-day trial". Cancelling any of these leaves the LLC untouched, though if the item was the one filing your annual report, that job comes back to you. The package contents guide shows which items each plan keeps for good and which are trials.^{5, 6, 7, 8}

The registered agent is different from everything else on this list. Florida lists a failure to appoint and maintain a registered agent as a ground for administrative dissolution, and Georgia and Delaware have similar rules covered below, so cancelling the agent without naming a replacement can put the company out of compliance. The rest of this guide covers that order of steps.⁹

How do providers handle cancellation and auto-renewal?

Each provider sets its own cancellation method and renewal terms in its published terms of service. Some let you cancel online, some only by phone, and several want proof that a new agent is on file first.

The table follows our rating order, with ties ordered as the method describes.

Deadlines that come before the renewal date

Timing is where a cancellation most often goes wrong. Harbor Compliance wants notice of non-renewal at least 90 days before the end of the current term; a request sent a month before the term ends is too late under its terms. Rocket Lawyer's agent must be canceled prior to the renewal date to avoid recurring annual charges. For the compliance service its agent customers are enrolled in, Northwest's auto-pay terms say customers must cancel at least one business day before next charge date.^{3, 4, 22}

BizFilings sends notice approximately a month before auto renewal, which gives a window to act. Inc Authority's terms allow a $50 late penalty on missed renewal payment, so letting a renewal lapse unpaid there isn't a free way out.^{18, 21}

Who wants proof of a new agent

Several providers won't stop agent service until the state shows someone else in the role. Bizee asks you to assign a new agent with the state and tell it of the change, and its policy adds one detail: Cancellation requests not accepted by phone or email. BizFilings requires written proof of the new agent. LegalZoom notes that proof of new RA may be required. Swyft Filings says the agent must be changed, or the business dissolved, before it cancels. Rocket Lawyer's terms say you must file change-of-agent paperwork with the state.^{12, 13, 22}

Price changes at renewal

A renewal isn't always at the price you first paid. ZenBusiness's terms say ZenBusiness may increase its fees for RA Services effective the first day of a RA Service Term. doola's recurring fees renew at the rates then in effect. Swyft Filings lists its agent at $149 per quarter on one page while its FAQ describes yearly renewal, so check the billing schedule in your own account before the date arrives. The pricing pages list each provider's renewal figures.^{14, 23}

Can you get a refund after cancelling?

Refunds are narrow and mostly tied to a time window or to work not yet done. Providers such as Northwest and BizFilings don't return state filing fees once paid.

Here is what each provider's terms say, in our rating order.

• Tailor Brands' terms say all fees are non-refundable, with a $29 service fee deducted from any refund issued. Its general terms describe account cancellation as self-service (You can cancel your account at any given time by visiting your account settings.)^{10, 11}
• LegalZoom's agent terms refund prepaid fees only when LegalZoom ends the service. Its general guarantee covers subscription refunds within 30 days of initial subscription purchase, without saying whether that includes the agent.¹²
• Bizee orders are generally refundable until payment is forwarded to a government entity, which happens typically within twenty-four hours after an order is placed.¹³
• ZenBusiness gives an agent refund on request only if the service has not yet been used. For annual subscriptions its terms read "After 30 days, we can cancel your subscription but no prorated refunds will be issued."¹⁴
• Swyft Filings looks at each refund by charge type and order status; there is no published time window.²⁴
• doola says that if you cancel before it sends the application to the state, you may be able to receive a refund. Its terms also say "We may deny any refund at our discretion."¹⁷
• Inc Authority has a 60-day money-back guarantee on initial online purchase, less state/third-party filing fees; its terms add that cancellations are not retroactive and no pro-rated refund of the previous payment.¹⁸
• InCorp's terms say refund requests must be made within sixty (60) days of the issuance of services. Discounted services are excluded (discounted services nonrefundable).¹⁹
• Northwest treats purchases as final and non-refundable after 90 days. Its terms also state, "All state filing fees are non-refundable."³
• BizFilings refunds formation orders less a $70 processing fee, with no pro-rata refunds.²¹
• Rocket Lawyer says all refund requests must be made within 30 days of purchase.²²
• Harbor Compliance's terms carry a No Refunds section, which says all Fees paid for the Services are non-refundable.⁴

Across these terms, a refund is most likely before the provider files anything, and least likely for a renewal that has already been charged. Cancelling ahead of the renewal date does more to save money than a refund request afterwards.

How do you switch registered agents without a gap?

Name the new agent with the state first, confirm the state has accepted it, and only then cancel the old service. That order keeps an agent on record every day.

1. Choose the new agent. It can be another service, or you or another person if you meet your state's rules on who may serve; the registered agent guide explains those rules and what services charge.
2. File the state's change form, listed by state below, by a filing method that state accepts.
3. Wait for the state to accept the filing, then save the stamped copy or the updated record.
4. Send that proof to the old provider and cancel, using its required method from the table above.
5. Check your next annual report. Colorado lets you update the agent on the Periodic Report, and Georgia accepts the change on an annual registration or amended annual registration, so the report there should show the new name.^{25, 26}

The order is the point. A provider that stops service before the new agent is on record leaves the LLC with no one to accept legal papers, and states such as Nevada treat that as a default.

When the old agent resigns first

Sometimes the provider ends the service itself, for example after a missed payment. The agent then files a resignation with the state, and the state's rules decide how long the LLC has to name a replacement. In Delaware, the agent's resignation takes effect 30 days after the certificate is filed. If the LLC does not designate a new agent within 30 days of the agent's resignation, its certificate of formation is canceled. In Texas, the resignation takes effect on the 31st day after the SOS receives notice.^{27, 28}

Other states put the consequence in their dissolution or default rules. Georgia's statute lists, as a ground for administrative dissolution, an LLC that is "without a registered agent or registered office in this state for 60 days or more." In Nevada, an LLC that does not file a statement of change of registered agent before its agent's resignation takes effect is in default. Each state guide gives that state's resignation rule.^{29, 30}

What does it cost to change your registered agent in each state?

The state charges a filing fee for the change. Among the fees our records hold, it runs from $0 in Oregon to $100 in Alabama, and it is owed whoever files the form.^{31, 32}

49 of 51 states publish this in the official sources we checked. Each state's page has the full detail.

State examples worth knowing

The fee often depends on how you file. Massachusetts charges $25 by paper or fax, $0 if filed electronically, so only the paper or fax route costs money. Idaho's change is $0 online, and Wisconsin's is $10 online. Minnesota runs the other way: $35 by mail, $55 online or in person, so the mailed form costs less than the $55 online or in person option.^{33, 34, 35, 36}

Some states don't use a separate change form at all. California updates the agent through the Statement of Information (Form LLC-12), which is free when filed between required filings. Georgia lets you change it on the annual registration, or for $30 on an amended registration filed between annual ones.^{37, 38}

Others add a step. Louisiana's change needs a filing with a notarized acceptance by the new agent, so the new agent signs before a notary. In New York, a registered agent is optional; every LLC designates the Secretary of State to receive service of process, and a Certificate of Change costs $30.^{39, 40}

Wyoming charges $5, Florida $25 and Nevada $60. The Wyoming, Nevada and Florida guides add the filing method and the agent's address rules.^{41, 42, 43}

If your LLC is also registered as a foreign LLC in another state, that registration has its own agent, and changing it means a second filing in that state. The foreign LLC guide covers registering in a second state.

Should you cancel the agent or keep it and drop the extras?

You can cancel trial items and compliance plans while keeping the agent, or the reverse. At some providers each piece bills on its own schedule.

Keeping the agent and dropping the extras is the smaller change. It needs no state filing, and it removes charges such as a bookkeeping trial or an advisor plan. Swyft Filings, for one, says the trials bundled in its packages are separate subscriptions.

Dropping the agent saves its renewal, which is $129 per year at InCorp and $249/year at Inc Authority, but it needs the state filing above. Serving as your own agent removes the service fee, though your address then appears in the state record.^{44, 45}

A compliance plan is the one to think through before cancelling. If it files your annual report, the deadline becomes yours; Northwest's registered agent customers, for instance, are auto-enrolled in Compliance Services billed in annual auto-pay, so ending the agent there may also end the filing service. The annual report guide lists each state's due date and fee.³

To compare the cost of switching, the cost calculator adds each provider's plan to a state's fees, and services with an agent included shows how long each first-year agent lasts.