Legal way to move a company out of Maine

---

Start Your Redomestication Now

The Redomestication Process in a Nutshell

1. Enter your biz name HERE.

Then click "get exact price" and follow the steps.

Takes less than five minutes.

Submit payment securely online then sit back and relax.

24-48 hours

2. We prepare the legal docs.

Our dually-licensed attorney+CPA prepares the legal documents and sends them to you via DocuSign.

You sign. We take it from there.

Same Day

3. We submit the legal filings to the states.

We monitor the status closely, respond to inquiries from their offices, and send you weekly updates.

No extra charge. 100% success rate.

1-3 months

4. Approved! ✅

We send you a checklist of go-forward obligations and simple steps for your tax pro to follow.

120% money-back guarantee if we do not succeed.

Did you know? The average business that moves to a state without state-level income tax saves over $12,500 in taxes per year.

Still have questions? Schedule a free meeting with our attorney and CPA.

Redomestication, also known as redomiciling, refers to the lesser-known legal process of transferring or moving the "home state" of an existing Corporation, partnership, or LLC, from Maine to a new state. It means keeping your existing company name, credit, and federal employer identification number (FEIN) without wasting time and money creating a new business entity, applying for foreign registration, or moving assets between companies.
— Prof. Chad D. Cummings, Esq., CPA

Start Your Redomestication Now

Choosing a legal way to move a company out of Maine: the strategic case for redomestication

When business owners ask for a legal way to move a company out of Maine, they typically want two outcomes that are often in tension: (1) a clean change of the entity’s “home state” and (2) continuity of the same operating company. In practice, the optimal solution is the one that relocates the company’s legal domicile while preserving the company’s identity for contracts, banking, licensing, and federal tax administration.

For many established entities, redomestication (statutory conversion) is the most direct legal way to move a Maine company out of Maine without the operational disruption that accompanies forming a new entity or transferring assets between companies. To begin the process with clear pricing and a guided filing workflow, business owners may use a legal way to move a company out of Maine through redomestication.

As an attorney and CPA, I view this topic through a dual lens: legal continuity and tax and compliance risk control. The primary objective is not merely “moving addresses”; it is repositioning the company’s legal jurisdiction to a state that better aligns with the company’s long-term operating footprint and administrative priorities, while ensuring that the entity remains the same entity for practical business purposes.

Why leaving Maine’s tax environment and compliance footprint can be a decisive advantage

A legally sound way to move a company out of Maine should be evaluated against the company’s current and projected compliance burden. Many businesses that have substantially relocated operations find that continuing to maintain Maine as the home state invites ongoing filing obligations, annual administrative requirements, and needless complexity in coordinating multi-state compliance. The cost is not merely monetary; it is managerial bandwidth that could be better deployed toward revenue-generating activity.

Redomestication is frequently pursued when Maine is no longer the company’s true operational center of gravity. In that setting, the business may be better served by relocating the entity’s domicile to a state that is more consistent with where the company now operates. A properly executed redomestication helps align the company’s governing law and administrative maintenance with its actual business reality.

It is also important to separate two concepts that are often conflated: changing domicile and ending Maine tax exposure. A company can change its domicile while still having Maine tax nexus if it continues meaningful Maine activity. However, when operations have permanently ceased in Maine, selecting a legal way to move a company out of Maine that also reduces duplicative state-level compliance is often a primary motivating factor, and redomestication is designed to achieve that kind of streamlined structure.

Redomestication as the best legal mechanism: preserve contracts, preserve FEIN, preserve operations

The defining virtue of redomestication is that it is designed to maintain continuity. Specifically, the company does not “start over.” Instead, it changes the company’s home state while generally preserving key business identifiers and relationships. From an operational standpoint, this is precisely what most owners mean when they request a legal way to move a company out of Maine: they want the same entity to keep doing business, simply under a new state’s domestic statute.

In contrast, other approaches often introduce avoidable friction. Forming a new entity and transferring assets can trigger lender consent issues, contract assignment requirements, and administrative rewrites. Even when those hurdles are ultimately manageable, they are time-consuming and risk-prone. Redomestication, by comparison, is typically structured to allow the company to keep its existing contracts in place, maintain its federal employer identification number (FEIN), and, in most cases, keep its name.

For business owners who prioritize continuity, this is not a minor convenience; it is a substantive legal and practical advantage. The best legal way to move a Maine entity out of Maine is the method that minimizes opportunities for counterparties, banks, or licensing bodies to treat the transaction as a disruption requiring renegotiation or re-underwriting. To review the filing-based approach in detail, see the legal way to move a company out of Maine via redomestication.

Common misconceptions that create expensive mistakes when moving a Maine company

One recurring misconception is that “moving the business” is as simple as registering in a new state and later closing Maine. In reality, foreign entity registration often leads to dual compliance: the company remains domiciled in Maine while also registering elsewhere, thereby creating multiple annual reporting calendars, registered agent arrangements, and state administrative maintenance obligations. If the company has truly left Maine, foreign registration may be the opposite of the intended solution because it can institutionalize unnecessary complexity.

A second misconception is that dissolution is an acceptable shortcut. Dissolution is not a legal way to move a company out of Maine; it is a legal way to end the company. Dissolution may trigger contractual defaults, licensing interruptions, banking complications, and other adverse consequences. It is often recommended by those who are not focused on continuity or who are relying on generic information rather than entity-specific analysis.

A third misconception is that a merger is the “standard” solution for relocation. While mergers can be appropriate in certain sophisticated structures, they are frequently overbuilt for a straightforward change in domicile. Mergers also tend to require more complex documentation and sequencing. Redomestication, by design, is typically the cleaner legal way to move a company out of Maine when the goal is continuity without unnecessary transaction architecture.

Procedural and documentation considerations: what a compliant relocation must address

Any legitimate legal way to move a company out of Maine requires attention to formalities. Internal approvals must be handled correctly (for example, member or shareholder consent where required), and the company’s governing documents should be reviewed to ensure the action is authorized. The entity must also be evaluated for practical constraints such as lender covenants, franchise agreements, regulated licenses, and key customer contracts that may contain change-of-domicile or similar notice provisions.

From a compliance perspective, one must also coordinate the state filings in a manner that supports uninterrupted operations. A common procedural failure is treating the filings as generic paperwork rather than as an integrated sequence that must be aligned across jurisdictions. A properly managed redomestication process reduces the likelihood of administrative gaps that can create downstream issues with banks, payment processors, or vendor onboarding systems.

Finally, business owners should consider how the relocation interacts with ongoing obligations: state annual reports, registered agent continuity, and the company’s forward-looking compliance calendar. A well-structured approach does not merely “get approved”; it sets the company up to operate efficiently after the move. For that reason, businesses seeking a reliable legal way to move a company out of Maine should prioritize a method designed around continuity and administrative simplicity, such as moving a company out of Maine legally through redomestication.

Practical examples of continuity benefits after redomestication

Consider a service company that has long-term customer agreements, recurring billing arrangements, and vendor master service agreements. If the company forms a new entity and attempts to “transfer everything,” it may need formal contract assignments, customer notices, and, in some instances, counterparty consent. Each of those steps introduces delay and the possibility of renegotiation. A legal way to move the company out of Maine that maintains the same entity is therefore not merely administratively appealing; it is a risk-reduction strategy.

Similarly, companies with established payroll systems, insurance policies, and financing relationships benefit from continuity. Where the company can keep the same FEIN and generally maintain the same identity, the post-move transition is more likely to be procedural rather than operational. That translates into fewer interruptions and fewer “re-onboarding” events with third parties that do not have incentives to make the transition easy.

For brand-sensitive businesses, name continuity is also crucial. Rebranding to accommodate a new entity or re-registering a different name may undercut existing goodwill and dilute search visibility. A legal way to move a company out of Maine that preserves the company name in most cases is therefore directly aligned with protecting intangible assets that are expensive to rebuild.

Conclusion: the most defensible way to relocate a Maine entity without disrupting business

The legal way to move a company out of Maine should be measured by one standard: whether it accomplishes the change in domicile without forcing the business to re-create itself. Redomestication is structured to preserve the practical identity of the business—its contracts, its FEIN, and its operating continuity—while repositioning the company under a new state’s domestic statute.

When Maine is no longer the company’s true operating base, remaining domiciled there can create unnecessary compliance and administrative drag. Redomestication offers a disciplined, filing-based mechanism to align the company’s legal home state with the company’s actual operational reality. For businesses that want a clean relocation without avoidable transactional complexity, it is frequently the superior approach to foreign registration, merger, or dissolution.

To proceed with a clear, continuity-focused legal way to move a company out of Maine, use the redomestication process for moving a company out of Maine legally and ensure the filings are handled correctly from the outset.

Start Your Redomestication Now

Domestication vs. Foreign Registration vs. Merger vs. Dissolution: A Comparison

Domestication is, in many circumstances, far preferable to registering an LLC or corporation as a foreign entity, especially where the LLC or corporation has permanently moved its operations and will not be returning to the prior state in the near future.

Some attorneys, unfortunately, confuse their clients by recommending a foreign entity registration in the new state, or worse, a merger, where a redomestication™ would have accomplished the goals of moving their business to a new state efficiently and effectively.

The top seven benefits of moving your company (LLC, corporation, or partnership) to a new state via redomestication™ to transfer your business include:

1. Maintaining your existing federal employer identification number, eliminating the tax headaches of forming a new company or transferring assets between companies (and inadvertently triggering a hefty tax bill from the IRS) when you move your business to a new state;
2. Keeping your existing business credit history and track record, safeguarding your reputation with clients, vendors, and creditors when moving your LLC or corporation to a new state;
3. Continuing your existing business name (in almost every case), protecting your most important assets when moving your company to a new state: your brand, reputation, and time you have already invested in search engine optimization;
4. Maintaining your existing contracts with customers and vendors because moving your business to a new state via redomestication™ does not create a new company: it maintains your existing company, saving you dozens (or even hundreds) of hours re-writing (and re-negotiating) contracts and changing banks;
5. Eliminating the need to continue paying registration fees and taxes in your prior state (assuming you have discontinued your operations there and have permanently relocated to a new state), potentially saving you tens of thousands of dollars (or more) in state taxes every quarter when you move your business to a new state;
6. Avoiding unnecessary IRS scrutiny because moving your LLC or corporation to a new state via redomestication™ is a tax-free transaction under the Internal Revenue Code; and
7. Reducing the amount of time you spend on administrative filings, saving you untold hours annually, by moving your company to a new state.

Before taking the "penny wise and pound foolish" approach of foreign entity registration or spending countless hours and exorbitant legal fees (and possibly taxes) on a merger or merger-gone-wrong to move your company to a new state, ensure you understand your options.

In most circumstances, redomestication™ (and not a foreign entity registration or costly and complicated merger) is the best route to achieve a change in company domicile to a new state.

Start Your Redomestication Now