I’m in the military. Where I currently live is Louisiana. I want to change my place of residence to Florida. What are the requirements to make this change? Also, I will be going to a 3 month school in Florida regarding a PCS order to Puerto Rico. Will this help me?
Answer: in order to obtain your preferred domicile in a new place, two things must happen:
(a) You must be in a state and
(b) while you are there and before you leave, you must intend to make it your permanent home.
Only those two requirements are needed. You don’t have to buy property in a new state, open a bank account there, vote, get a driver’s license, file legal notices in the paper, or anything else. Physical presence, combined together with appropriate mental intent, is all that is required.
So your time in Florida will meet the attendance requirements.
Unfortunately, proving mental intent is sometimes difficult. So to prove that you really intend to make the new country your domicile, it may be a good idea to do some or all of the things listed below, with the understanding that it’s not the act that makes you a legal resident; it’s just proof that you really intend to make your SLR status.
You don’t have to live in the state for a long time, own a home in the state, or have an address in the state to live in it. You only need to be physically present in the state at the time you decide to make it your permanent home. For example, you may pass through a state and be so captivated by its beauty that you immediately adopt it as your permanent home, but if you had no feelings for it before you left, your domicile has not changed.
Domicile is primarily a state of mind that a certain place is your permanent home. These are mental attachments that you carry around with you. Once you obtain a domicile, it remains your domicile, even if you leave it, unless your state of mind changes while you are elsewhere.
If you change your residency status, you may have to prove it. You may, for example, have decided to stop paying state income taxes because you changed your domicile to a state with no income taxes. Your old domicile, a state that lost tax revenue, may question the change. Or your spouse, for example, may have filed for divorce where you previously lived, and you may not like the divorce laws there. If you can prove that your domicile changed, you may be able to get the case dismissed. In tax matters, if you can’t prove that your residency has changed, you may owe taxes to two or more states, and require a court to rule on the matter.
The best evidence of your state of mind is the visible contact others have with your particular state. For the types of actions to help prove your residency status, see the list below. You cannot prove successfully that your residency has changed unless you demonstrate that the contact is more than just benefiting from the legal consequences that the change of residency will bring to you. You should have all your contacts with the one state you call your permanent home. If you have contacts with multiple states, it may be difficult or impossible to prove your residency.
Actions to show intent:
1. Expressed intention, verbal or written and physical presence, past and present (including duration) [Prerequisite to establishing domicile].
2. Voter registration [Important Factor]
3. STNK as military non-resident deputy resident [Important factor, but you have a choice.]
4. Motorized Vehicle Operator License [Important Factor]
5. Location of bank and investment accounts.
6. Explanation for change of temporary residence.
7. Submission of Form DD 2058 (Change of domicile form).
8. Payment of taxes – personal income and property [Important Factor]
9. Payment of non-resident tuition to higher education institutions
10. A statement of residency on legal documents such as wills, deeds, mortgages, leases, contracts, insurance policies, and hospital records. [Important factor]
11. Declaration of domicile in a statement or litigation[Important Factor]
12. Close family residence.
13. Membership in church, civic, professional, ministry or fraternal organizations.
14. Ownership of burial plots.
15. The burial place of close family members.
16. Location of recipients of charitable donations.
17. The location of the school attended by the children.
18. Ownership of real property. [Important factor. However, ownership of property in another state will not disqualify.]
19. Home notes upon entering the service.
20. Wedding venue.
21. Spouse’s domicile.
22. Place of birth.
23. Business interests.
24. Source of income.
25. Outside work.
26. Address given on federal income tax returns.
Generally, unless you have taken at least some of these steps, it is doubtful that your Country of residence/legal domicile has changed. Failure to resolve doubts regarding your State of residence/official domicile may adversely affect certain legal privileges that depend on your legal residence/domicile including, inter alia, eligibility for resident tuition rates at State universities, eligibility to vote for or be a candidate for public office , and eligibility for various welfare benefits. If you have any doubts regarding your Country of residence/legal domicile, you should see your Legal Aid attorney for legal advice before deciding to change your domicile.
