Question of Legal residence in Texas.

Old Biscuit, yours is a wonderful answer to my question. "KNOWN to be a mail forwarding service and one that provides a LEGAL FL address." That one sentence nails it. They are KNOWN and legal. If they (licensed mail forwarding agencies) can give a legal address that is accepted by the state of Texas and no one actually lives at that address, having another address is just legal even if one only stays there for a few days each year. Thank you.

Old-Biscuit wrote:

RVUSA wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Must be really cramped for all those 'legal' FL Full Time RV folks that have to reside in their little mail forwarding box.

Cramped? No, just a lot of people gaming the system. You know, law breakers. :)

The State of FL doesn't think it's illegal. They issued DLs, Voter Registration, Vehicle Registration etc.
The Federal Gov. doesn't think it's illegal....they accept tax returns.

St. Brendan's Isle (a very well know mail forwarding service in FL) and all the other mail forwarding services are licensed by State of FL to conduct the type of business KNOWN to be a mail forwarding service and one that provides a LEGAL FL address.
Filing a ‘Declaration of Domicile’ with your county clerk completes the legal process.

You may think there is a legality issue but the STATE of FL and the FEDERAL Gov. do not. They ARE the governing bodies that matter.

Exactly for Texas, also. It's legal according to the state government of Texas. We've been absentee Texans for 18 years with absolutely no problems, as have millions of others.

RVUSA wrote:

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Must be really cramped for all those 'legal' FL Full Time RV folks that have to reside in their little mail forwarding box.

Cramped? No, just a lot of people gaming the system. You know, law breakers. :)

The State of FL doesn't think it's illegal. They issued DLs, Voter Registration, Vehicle Registration etc.
The Federal Gov. doesn't think it's illegal....they accept tax returns.

St. Brendan's Isle (a very well know mail forwarding service in FL) and all the other mail forwarding services are licensed by State of FL to conduct the type of business KNOWN to be a mail forwarding service and one that provides a LEGAL FL address.
Filing a ‘Declaration of Domicile’ with your county clerk completes the legal process.

You may think there is a legality issue but the STATE of FL and the FEDERAL Gov. do not. They ARE the governing bodies that matter.

orfsotr wrote:
It seems strange to me that a full-timer who dots all the i's and crosses all the t's (Dl, vehicle registartion, taxes, etc) is questioned because they do not physically live at a particular address! Especially when these requirements are not "forced" on the homeless! (and no this is not a cut at the homeless)

How can you say on one hand that people are dotting i's and crossing t's and yet on the other hand they are basically lying about their identities. They are claiming under the penalty of perjury (I think thats it when you lie to a govt. body) that they physically reside at the address given. Thats not crossing the t's and dotting the i's in any stretch.

It suks to be sure. But until enough full timers petition a senator or house member of the respective state they want to claim residency in they will be breaking the law. Texas and SD may view the identity requirements differently, but full timers really need to find it out before just blindly going along because someone says it's worked for them.

It seems strange to me that a full-timer who dots all the i's and crosses all the t's (Dl, vehicle registartion, taxes, etc) is questioned because they do not physically live at a particular address! Especially when these requirements are not "forced" on the homeless! (and no this is not a cut at the homeless)

Go ahead and spend the extra money and use Escapees for your address. Your SIL doesn't really want to do this for you. Do you really want to have them handling your mail if they really don't want to do this for you?

Barb

To take advantage of Texas residency, just file for Texas state income taxes. Or you could go to the Aransas pass drivers license office and get an identity card which allows you to get an instate fishing license.

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Must be really cramped for all those 'legal' FL Full Time RV folks that have to reside in their little mail forwarding box.

Cramped? No, just a lot of people gaming the system. You know, law breakers. :)

RVUSA wrote:

hitchup wrote:

janefairlight wrote:
I know Escapee's Club gives a street address as a legal residence. Do you have to live at your legal residence for any period of time?

DH has both vehicle tags and his DL, plus he votes in FL. We got a middle size box at a FL UPS Store. It's too small to live in, so we live in a campground wherever DH's employer sends us. Perfectly Legal and more comfortable than a tent down by a River.

"Perfectly Legal"

Unfortunately no, that is not the case. In Florida you must reside at the address you give. They are several ways to circumvent proving that, but the law is still very clear. You must reside at the address.

It's not Florida at blame, they are simply complying with the patriot act without wavering. Blame congress for writing a law without considering all of it's ramifications.

Must be really cramped for all those 'legal' FL Full Time RV folks that have to reside in their little mail forwarding box.

Would suggest that if you are going to full time, have your vehicles and RV titled in Texas that you go ahead and budget the funds to get your address at Escapees in Livingston, Texas. Contrary to those who reference the Patriot Act you are not breaking any Texas Laws by being an absentee resident. When you receive a summons for jury duty you just call the county clerk's office in Livingston and let them know you are unable to report and they will take you off that jury summons and advise you to let them know when you are in the area so you can fulfill your jury duty requirements. If you still take part in the election process you can receive an absentee ballot be sent to you so you can vote. You receive a notice your mail has been sent to your on record address and you maintain a postage fund to cover the postal cost. There is no requirement that you live at the Escapees Address, it would be hard to fit you into the 5x8 file folder, the volume of postal needs at Escapees even lead the postal department to assign them their own zip code.

Check it out, it's well worth the investment.