The 5 steps to change your registered agent in Tennessee. Source: Tennessee Secretary of State.
How to File
1
Choose Your New Registered Agent
Select a new registered agent who is either a Tennessee resident with a street address in the state, or a business entity authorized to do business in Tennessee. The agent must be available during normal business hours to receive legal documents.
2
Obtain Written Consent
Get written consent from your new registered agent before filing the change. This ensures they agree to serve as your agent and understand their responsibilities for receiving official documents and legal notices.
3
Complete the Statement of Change
Fill out the Statement of Change of Registered Agent form. Include your LLC's name, the name and address of your current registered agent, and the name and address of your new registered agent.
4
File with Tennessee Secretary of State
Submit the completed Statement of Change form to the Tennessee Secretary of State. You can file online at https://sos.tn.gov or mail the form to the Division of Business Services. The filing fee is $20.
5
Update Your Records
Once the change is processed, update your LLC's internal records and notify your bank, insurance companies, and other business partners of the new registered agent information.
Ready to file your annual report?
Go directly to the Tennessee Secretary of State portal.
Your current registered agent is no longer available or has moved out of Tennessee
You want to switch from being your own registered agent to a professional service
Your registered agent's business has closed or they're no longer providing the service
You need better service reliability or privacy protection from a commercial registered agent
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It reports what each state publishes about filing deadlines, fees, and the consequences of missing them, with the sources this page cites. It cannot tell you what your own company owes: the date turns on when and where you formed, states change these rules between our reviews, and in several states an entity-level tax falls due in a year when no report does. Confirm your own dates with the filing office named on this page before you rely on one here, because the penalty for missing a deadline can be administrative dissolution of the company.
Frequently Asked Questions
Changes filed online with the Tennessee Secretary of State are typically processed within 1-2 business days, while mail filings may take 5-10 business days. You'll submit Form SS-4031 (Statement of Change of Registered Agent) through the Secretary of State's online filing system or by mail to the Division of Business Services in Nashville. The change becomes effective on the date the Secretary of State accepts and processes your filing, not the date you submit it. This matters because your old registered agent remains legally responsible for receiving service of process until the new agent is officially active. A critical gap if you need immediate protection. To avoid service delays, file online rather than by mail, and confirm the change has posted on the Secretary of State's website before notifying your new registered agent to begin their duties.
The filing fee to change your registered agent in Tennessee is $20, payable to the Tennessee Secretary of State. You'll submit this fee alongside Form SS-4307 (Statement of Change of Registered Agent and/or Registered Office) through the Secretary of State's online filing system or by mail to their Nashville office.
This $20 fee is a one-time cost regardless of how many registered agent changes you make in a single filing. If you're changing both your registered agent and registered office address simultaneously, the fee remains $20. You don't pay separately for each change.
For LLC owners, this relatively low cost makes it practical to update your registered agent promptly if your current agent becomes unavailable or you need to switch to a professional service. Processing typically takes 5 to 10 business days through online filing.
To proceed, visit the Tennessee Secretary of State website, complete Form SS-4307 with your new agent's information, and submit it with your $20 fee online or by mail.
Yes, you can serve as your own registered agent in Tennessee if you meet two requirements: you must be a Tennessee resident and maintain a street address (not a P.O. box) where you can receive legal documents during normal business hours. This means your registered agent address on file with the Tennessee Secretary of State must be a physical location accessible for service of process.
However, this creates a practical liability. As your own registered agent, you personally receive all lawsuits, regulatory notices, and legal documents. Missing a deadline because you were unavailable could result in a default judgment against your LLC. Additionally, your registered agent address becomes public record, exposing your personal address to potential solicitation.
To change your registered agent in Tennessee, file Form SS-4308 with the Secretary of State and pay the $20 filing fee. If you decide a professional registered agent service better protects your privacy and ensures compliance, you can update this information immediately.
No, changing your registered agent won't affect your LLC's good standing in Tennessee, provided you file the change correctly with the Tennessee Secretary of State. However, failing to maintain a registered agent at all can trigger administrative dissolution of your LLC.
To change your registered agent, file Form SS-4308 (Change of Registered Agent) with the Tennessee Secretary of State's office in Nashville. The filing fee is $20 if submitted by mail or $15 online through the Secretary of State's portal. There's no statutory deadline, but you must have a registered agent in place continuously. Gaps in representation can jeopardize your standing.
The practical implication is significant: your LLC remains compliant as long as the transition is smooth with no lapse in agent coverage. Tennessee requires your registered agent to maintain a physical office address within the state; missing this requirement can result in administrative dissolution notices.
Next step: File Form SS-4308 immediately to ensure your new agent's information is recorded before your current agent's appointment ends.
Yes, Tennessee allows you to file registered agent changes online through the Tennessee Secretary of State's website at https://sos.tn.gov. You'll submit Form SS-4307, the "Change of Registered Agent" form, via the online filing portal, which processes your request within 1-2 business days at no additional charge beyond Tennessee's standard $50 filing fee. Online filing eliminates mail delays and provides immediate confirmation of submission, allowing you to update your LLC's official records without visiting an office or waiting for postal delivery. The online system generates a timestamp-stamped receipt, which serves as proof of filing for your records and satisfies compliance requirements. This method is particularly valuable if your current agent is resigning or relocating, as you need the change effective immediately to avoid potential legal liability. To proceed, gather your LLC's entity number, your current and new agent's complete addresses, and access the Secretary of State's online portal to complete and pay for Form SS-4307 today.
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Tennessee sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so.
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Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.
