State Residency Question?

bluegrass smokers wrote:
Yes all the vehicles are registered in Florida, Florida DL, and registered to vote. Mail goes to both places depending on what it is and where it's from. So basically in Florida, I would just use a mail service and get a new address from them if we sold our place?

Yes... Florida is already your state of domicile.

You can file a "Declaration of Domicile" in Florida at the County Clerk.

So that, a Florida Divers License, and a Florida Voter Registration should qualify you a Florida Resident.

Thanks

Also - You really should be asking this on the full timer's forum. There's always lots of discussion about this question.

First - there is a very good article in the current issue of the Escapees magazine about the differences between 'residence' and 'domicile'. Maybe call Escapees and see if you can get a copy of the article.

You are really asking about 'domicile'. I filed domicile papers with the state of Florida when I went full time. Your domicile state is basically defined as where you intend to return when you are finished traveling, etc.

You do not have to own property in a state to claim it as your domicile. But you should do certain things to reinforce the fact that you are claiming a state as domicile - like using a location in the state for mail delivery, getting your vehicles licensed and registered, voter's ID, driver's license, etc. And you should at least visit the state every year (no requirement for 183 days).

Where things can get messy is when you own property, have a mailing address, vehicle registration, DL, in one state, but want to claim another as your domicile. If push came to shove, a judge MIGHT decide that you are really a resident of the first state.

Yes all the vehicles are registered in Florida, Florida DL, and registered to vote. Mail goes to both places depending on what it is and where it's from. So basically in Florida, I would just use a mail service and get a new address from them if we sold our place?

As said , you do not need to own anything in Florida except a mailing address to claim domicile , I once went thirteen years without touching Florida .
But , yes , ain't nuttin wrong with having real property but not necessary !

bluegrass smokers wrote:
We are already Florida residents since we have a winter condo there. The second home is in Kentucky now that we have retired. So we wouldn't have to establish a residency. I just want to keep it if we decide to sell the condo in Florida and RV more.

Where does your mail go now? Where are you registered to vote? Are your vehicles registered in Florida and you have a Florida driver's license? It sounds like since you are Florida residents already all this is taken care of already and the Kentucky house is just another property, not your domicile.

As to switching your mailing address to the RV lot in Florida there would be no issue if the RV facility will handle your mail when you're gone. Would you switch your registration and driver's license address to the RV lot?

You have two states involved so you need to make one choice for your domicile and do all your business within that one state.

bluegrass smokers wrote:
We are already Florida residents since we have a winter condo there. The second home is in Kentucky now that we have retired. So we wouldn't have to establish a residency. I just want to keep it if we decide to sell the condo in Florida and RV more.

Since you'll need a mail forwarding service anyway, just sign on with one of the Florida based services and use it as your "home" address. That will keep your domicile Florida based and be nothing more than a routine address change to the state and other legal entities. You can have only one domicile, but many residences in many places.

We are already Florida residents since we have a winter condo there. The second home is in Kentucky now that we have retired. So we wouldn't have to establish a residency. I just want to keep it if we decide to sell the condo in Florida and RV more.