Start with the entity record
Service of process means the formal delivery of court papers. For a Florida business, the service plan starts with Chapter 48, the Florida law chapter that governs who may serve process, where papers may be delivered, and how the result is recorded.
A registered agent is the person or company listed to receive legal papers for a business entity. A registered office is the official address tied to that agent record. When that listed address is a house, condo, apartment, private mailbox, virtual office, executive office, or mini suite, the address type matters, but it does not erase the rest of the statutory checklist.
This page is a narrow child guide to serving Florida LLCs and corporations. It is for legal teams that already have a business-entity serve and need the field work carried out according to attorney direction.
Practical tip: send the exact entity name, documents, service address, service ZIP, deadline, written attorney instructions, and any Sunbiz or annual-report details available.
What the LLC checklist says
Section 48.062(5) is the Florida LLC address-type provision involved here. An LLC, or limited liability company, is a business entity type that Florida treats separately from a corporation for service rules. For this residential-address scenario, the listed address must be for the registered agent, member, manager, or person listed publicly by the latest annual report as most recently amended.
The address also must be one of the listed address types: a residence, private mailbox, virtual office, executive office, or mini suite. The approved checklist says service may be made by serving the registered agent, member, manager, or publicly listed person in accordance with section 48.031. If such service cannot be made, the checklist points to service on any person listed in section 48.031(1)(a) at that address.
That is a sequence of conditions, not a shortcut. It does not say the papers can simply be left with anyone at the house after one visit. If the correct route is uncertain, the method should be confirmed with counsel before dispatch.
What the corporation checklist says
Section 48.081(5) is the Florida corporation address-type provision involved here. A corporation is a business entity type with a separate Chapter 48 section from an LLC. For this scenario, the listed address must be for the registered agent, officer, director, or person listed publicly by the latest annual report as most recently amended.
The listed address must again be a residence, private mailbox, virtual office, executive office, or mini suite. The approved checklist says service may be made by serving the registered agent, officer, director, or publicly listed person in accordance with section 48.031. If such service cannot be made, the checklist points to service on any person listed in section 48.031(1)(a) at that address.
The practical routing question is not just "private server or sheriff?" It is whether the server is authorized for the type of process and the county or circuit where service will happen. That is why the documents, deadline, service ZIP, and written instructions matter before a field attempt starts.
What section 48.031 adds
Section 48.031 is Florida's general service section for delivery to the person to be served and related individual-service methods. It includes a usual place of abode route, meaning a residence-based route involving copies left with a resident who meets the statute's age condition and who is informed of the contents.
For this guide, those conditions stay separate from other 48.031 topics. Section 48.031 has separate provisions for employers, spouses, sole proprietorships, service notation, specified mailbox or office address types, gated residential communities, and witness subpoenas. Those separate routes should not be borrowed into a registered-agent home-address plan unless legal review approves the exact use.
If the job involves substituted service, uncertainty about the service method, or service outside the server's listed county or circuit, PLS should flag the job for attorney review instead of making a legal call. Pro Legal Serve can carry out and document the attorney-directed plan with GPS and photo proof and a notarized return of service, the proof document showing when, how, where, and by whom service was made.
Sources and next steps
For statute text, review Florida Legislature sections 48.062, 48.081, and 48.031. For service execution, Pro Legal Serve accepts documents online or by email and can route eligible work to a vetted local process server.
For broader context, see the Florida Chapter 48 guide, the server-authority guide, and Pro Legal Serve's Florida coverage page.