State of residence for full timers

OP stated....

but if there are other considerations I'd like to hear them

-----We're in a medical plan that is great, except for one thing. They can only have customers from their coverage area. And didn't find out about that until wife got sick. We could of traveled anywhere but ER coverage only. Other long term care is at their place only. So we're keeping our address for awhile

RoyB:
THANKS for insinuating that Full Time RVrs are illegal......
You should have just stopped with the "I am not a full timer RV'er" statement.

When you don't know........shush!

The post by 'jrp' lays it out nicely.

And although under 65 medical insurance is a bit limited with SD domicile that issue should be resolved. Muti-state plans are required within 4 yrs. of ACA being implemented.

RoyB: You stated you're not a full-timer so don't spew false words about how to be 'legal'. Nothing you said is correct.

We've full-timed 16 years using the Escapees RV Club's mail forwarding service which gives us a very legal address. It's been tested in the courts. We also have the driver's license - legally, and have had absolutely no problems. We have always voted in the national elections using our Texas mail forwarding address. It's not a problem for the IRS or Medicare or anything else.

We use Fidelity for our finances and they accept our address.

When we went full time and sold our property in Illinois we decided to stick with an Illinois mailing address (our son's). Illinois is one of the states that will not let you use a P.O. box for an address on your registrations or DL's.

We both have spent most of our adult life in our home state. With 5 kids and 11 grandkids in our home state we still spend time there.

For us it just didn't "feel" right going to another state to get a mail service and address. We also were not 100% sure of how Medicare could be effected with all the changes it is going through.

As I have said in other comments on a similar post relating to this address subject, everyone has to make their own decision on the address/mail issue with full timing.

Anyone getting ready to sell their home and full time should make a list of everything that revolves around your address. Don't leave anything out, consider everything.....will you have to switch doctors, income tax issues, vehicle insurance costs, etc.

Like jrp reported if you're under 65, SD has lost most of its previous options for private medical insurance with national coverage. SD was going to be our state but because of a lack of coverage, we're now leaning towards Florida. We still have a number of years yet and hopefully this changes.

ChemistJason wrote:
Thanks a lot guys. Lots of good stuff here. I'm a few years out from doing anything like this myself, but I'm a curious person and forums like this are a great place to get a multitude of valid and well thought out opinions.

When you're about six months out, that's when you want to begin the transfer of your "stuff". We decided to go full time when I retired. Remember California probably has the strictest rules in the nation about giving up a taxpayer so I did lots of research. Now I own property in several different states that I could use as a 'home' address. FEDERAL guidelines allow you to use whatever State you INTEND to call your residence state. That said, they look at steps you've taken to establish that "intent". Since we were going to buy a larger coach, the almost 10% sales tax California wanted was significant. After many days of research, we decided on South Dakota...3% sales tax, no income tax, low licensing fees etc. So 6 mos before my retirement, we began establishing our intent to make SD our residency state. There is NO REQUIREMENT anywhere that you must OWN property in your residency state. We established our intent by opening an account with Americas Mailbox. They're in Pennington county which has no 'wheel' tax like many of the other SD counties so our licensing fees are less. After opening the account, we began transferring everything to them, bank accounts, savings accounts, voter registration, insurance etc. By the end of the six months, we had established our "intent" to make SD our resident state. Once I no longer worked in the State of California, there was no legal reason for them to be able to claim me as a resident. I was then able to purchase my current motor home. It took us about another four months or so to finally sell the stix n brix, dispose of all the unnecessary 'junk' we had accumulated and get on the road..

Because of the Patriot Act, many banks and stock brokerages require a physical address. Some will not accept a PMB as a physical address. Scottrade is one who will not. I just transferred all my accounts to Merrill Lynch who will.... there's lots of good information on the internet relative to residency requirements. Google IRS and State Residency....hope this helps....Dennis

sdianel wrote:
Florida. We used myrvmail.com for our address. They assign your own address with a number that is like an apartment number. Once you get the address, the requirement is that you have identification and bills that go to that address. You can check the DMV site for drivers license requirements for each state you are considering and see the requirements are. http://www.dmvflorida.org/drivers-license-identification.shtml#us

X2.

Thanks a lot guys. Lots of good stuff here. I'm a few years out from doing anything like this myself, but I'm a curious person and forums like this are a great place to get a multitude of valid and well thought out opinions.

Florida. We used myrvmail.com for our address. They assign your own address with a number that is like an apartment number. Once you get the address, the requirement is that you have identification and bills that go to that address. You can check the DMV site for drivers license requirements for each state you are considering and see the requirements are. http://www.dmvflorida.org/drivers-license-identification.shtml#us

motorcycle jack wrote:

RoyB wrote:
I am not a full timer RV'er but in reading up on how to do it is interesting and all sounds quasi-illegal to me...

You read about residency fraud coming from States like Texas and South Dakota... Using the street address of a mail forwarding business sure sounds fishy to me...

States will not accept a PO BOX NUMBER for drivers license for example.

Roy Ken

Roy - Sounds like to me your research has been faulty. For example, in Texas the SKP's organization took the state to court and their Personal Mailbox service (not a PO Box) is LEGAL address for any and all functions - voting, car registration, driver's license, etc.



Also in S.D. the state excepts the mail services PMB's as legal addresses for License, voting and registration. One only needs to sign a legal document stating you are a full time RV'er and PLAN to return to the state when you settle down. I plan to do that but my needs may change when I eventually do get off the road. Nothing illegal about that, people are free to move anywhere they so desire.

Sounds fishy? Hmmm... using a friend or family members address is the fishy one. And most probably illegal as a drivers license address, voting address, etc.

Do more research in the mail services in Texas and SD and get informed about the state's laws.

X 2
research "Domicile" in this and other forums. We have been legal residents of Rainbow Drive in Livingston TX for 5 years complete with voting rights etc. - its a mail forwarding service. Nothing illegal or fishy about it.