How to Establish Your Domicile in Florida
The location of your domicile is incredibly important for estate planning. The state in which you reside determines the laws under which your last will and testament will be interpreted and whether your will was validly executed in the first place. It also determines whether your estate will be subject to a state estate taxes. This makes it incredibly important to establish your Florida domicile, as Florida has no estate tax. Thus, if you create a Florida estate plan, then you should take steps to ensure you are domiciled in Florida.
What does “domicile” mean in Florida?
In Florida, your “domicile” is your permanent home or usual dwelling place. Typically, it’s just your residence. However, if you have multiple residences, then your domicile will be the place where you are most established as a resident. (See below for how someone goes about doing that.) If you are a new resident of Florida, there is no waiting period. However, the longer you living in Florida, the better argument you will have that you are in fact a resident of the state.
How to Establish a Domicile in Florida
There is no single way to establish your domicile in Florida, but there are steps you can take that collectively create a very strong case of your Florida residency. Those steps are:
Registering your car in Florida,
Getting a Florida driver’s license,
Registering to vote in Florida,
Updating your estate plan in compliance with Florida law,
Opening bank accounts in Florida,
Letting all state or local tax agencies where you used to live know that you no longer lice there,
Applying for the Florida Homestead Exemption, if you bought a house or residence in Florida,
Living in Florida for more than 6 months in the year, and
Filing a Florida Declaration of Domicile.
Each of these steps will make it more and more difficult for anyone to deny your Florida residence. Notice that these are the kinds of actions that a person would normally take when living in Florida. And the more of these actions that you take, the more likely it is that your Florida domicile will not be I doubt.
The last step listed is filing a Florida Declaration of Domicile. This is often an unnecessary step, but it can be useful for those who foresee residency problems. The declaration of domicile shows that you intend to make Florida your permanent home. The declaration is filed with the clerk of the circuit court in the area where you intent to reside and signed under penalty of perjury (usually with the aid of a notary public). The process of filing this declaration is found in section 222.17 of the Florida Statutes.