Does your driver's license match your vehicle registration?

wanderingbob wrote:
I do not believe drivers licence has any thing to do with domicile ! Many jobs will require you to have a D.L. for the state the job is located in . Domicile is the place that you say is " home ". I have domiciled in Florida for over seventy some years and have spent over twenty years with out setting foot in Florida . I think that you worry to much !
I am always confused with the love affair with So. Dakota ?

As far as Domicile, the issue is there is not a single checklist where if you meat A, B & C, you are officially domiciled in the state. You "claim" a domicile. If no one questions it, you have effectively changed your domicile. If one of the states question it, they look at the preponderance of the evidence.

Example: If you get a drivers license in SD and then claim to be domiciled in SD but you keep the house in CA, pay your utilities in CA and you are spending most of the year in CA (as evidenced by things like credit card purchases at CA establishments)...good luck getting CA to agree that your domicile is in SD.

Particularly if moving out of heavily taxed states, you need to develop clear evidence that you really changed your domicile.
- For traditional folks who change their D.L, get insurance, buy/rent a house/apartment, pay utility bills, new job location, pay state taxes to the new state...while selling or discontinuing the same in the old high tax state...it's pretty clear cut and you are unlikely to get push back. D.L. is one of the key pieces of evidence.
- As a full timer, you don't have a house/apartment, utilities, your job may be with the same company (or no job at all), your spending may be spread across many states and you may spend significant time in the old state visiting friends and family...High tax states may take a guilty until proven innocent approach because they would be giving up lots of tax dollars.

Now if moving away from a low tax state, they may not care, so even though the evidence doesn't support it...there is nothing to gain by fighting it.

Also, your financial situation will impact if a state is ready to fight over your domicile. If your income puts you down around the poverty line, you are likely paying next to nothing in state taxes and may be hitting the state for welfare. They may be happy to see you leave. If you would be paying 10s of thousands in taxes to the old state, very good chance, they question your domicile change if the evidence is weak. In a state with no income tax, they probably won't care as there is nothing to gain by fighting over it.

PS: I'm pretty sure it's illegal to require a D.L. from a particular state to hold a job (gets them into trouble with interstate commerce rules). You may need a valid D.L. but one from a neighboring state that has the same limits is perfectly acceptable. There was a time when commercial drivers would obtain multiple licenses to game the system if they got too many tickets but I believe those loopholes have been closed.

Thanks for your assistance everyone!

Phyllig,

I think that you will find that not every state uses the same words their codes.

To get back to the original question. Vehicles are registered in the state where they are garaged. Just as you can own property in several states, you can own cars in several states and have them registered in those states where they spend most of their time. Lots of people have cars that stay at their winter homes, whether that is in CA, AZ, TX, of FL, and they fly back and forth. Their drivers licenses match where they vote, do jury duty, etc.

Barb

If you want to know the "FACTS" contact this lady she has all the answers and is great to deal with!!!

Terri Lund
My Dakota Address
110 E. Center St.
Madison, SD 57042
www.mydakotaaddress.com
Phone: 605-427-5863
Fax: 605-427-9626

BarbaraOK wrote:

wanderingbob wrote:
Do not confuse " domicile state " with " residence state" !

And what is the difference? This gets real tricky because there is no accepted legal definition all across the country.

Barb

The diff is significant and residence and domicile are well-defined in Black's Law Dictionary, and I'm unaware of different interpretations among the states. In one year, for example, you can reside in one state or many states, or overseas, but you generally have only one domicile, even though you might split your time at your residences (in your RV).

Typically, your domicile is the place you call home, pay taxes, have your vehicle(s) titled and registered, library card, do jury duty, have professional contacts/licenses, etc. And that's what causes issues for us vagabonds, because we often inadvertently create ties where we're residing at the time.

The caution here is that you want to ensure no state you reside in, even temporarily, tries to consider you a domicilary, especially for tax purposes. While any state having income tax has a claim on your wages earned in that state, working while at your temporary location, in and off itself, does not make you a domicilary of that state or pay other taxes, such as for personal property.

As always, I make no claim my comments are accurate and are npt legal advice.

Second Chance wrote:
Many states (Texas included) require that you do things like register your vehicles there before you can get a driver's license.

Are you sure about having to register your vehicle before getting a driver's license in Texas?

You're supposed to register vehicles in Texas within 30 days.

http://txdmv.gov/motorists/new-to-texas

And you can get a Texas driver license if you've lived in Texas for at least 30 days, but that 30-day requirement is waived if you're surrendering a valid, unexpired driver license from another state.

http://www.dps.texas.gov/DriverLicense/residencyReqNonCDL.htm

Also, at the site is a list of the documents that are valid for proving your address, and a vehicle registration is only one of more than 20 listed.

Is there some other provision I missed that requires registering a vehicle before getting a driver license? What if a person doesn't own a vehicle?

Spend much time in the same place in CA and you may get questioned on why you don't have CA plates.

Look at medical coverage available before you make a decision. SD seems to not have many choices. Most folks are trending to TX or FL for better health care options.

I have had SD as my domicile for 13 years and this year when checking my Medicare Medigap plan F with AARP United Health Care found it is not offered in SD at my zip code anymore. I panicked but later found out once you have the Ins they must continue it for you. So be aware even Medicare Medigap (Supplemental) plans are being discontinued in some areas.

Your vehicle needs to be licensed in the state where it is 'garaged' or spends most of the time. We know a lot of people that have cars that they leave in AZ over the summer when they return northward. Their DLs are from whatever state they 'reside' in, the cars used mainly in AZ are licensed in AZ. Like property, you can have vehicles licensed in different states where they are used. DL should match where you vote, do jury duty, etc.

Barb

wanderingbob wrote:
Do not confuse " domicile state " with " residence state" !

And what is the difference? This gets real tricky because there is no accepted legal definition all across the country.

Barb