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How to change your Domicile when you full time RV


Medico

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Finally a description that is easy to understand. Thanks Medico for that. I have a better understanding of the process which can be intimidating and confusing to most. The problem I have with Texas is the vehicle inspection so I'm looking at South Dakota. Does anyone know the details there?

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What do you think is so onerous about the Texas vehicle inspection? 15 Minutes are so and you pay $14.50 and you are on your way. We had a clearance light out - they fixed it while doing the inspection, cost about $25.00 cause they had to run down the street to get the right size. All of the things are just normal safety items that you should want to be working.

 

Barb

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834

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Wow, a bunch of nice replies that are appreciated. We are both over 65 (ugh) and will need to purchase a TV and 5er. What is important to me is a guide to help through the trials and tribulations of getting DL, vehicle registration, voter registration etc. If it costs a bit more for convenience I'm willing to do that. Texas is preferred just because I expect to spend more time out west. Thank you all for your help and spending a few minutes leading me down the knowledge road.

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If you are going to go with Texas and with Escapees as your mail service, it couldn't be easier - in fact you can usually get everything done is a 2-3 day stop at Livingston and be on your way, though it is a good idea to start the mail service about 3 months before so that you can get everything going to the new mail address. Use this clicky to download the How To Become A Real Texan brochure.

 

Barb

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834

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....... Texas is preferred just because I expect to spend more time out west.

Barb is correct as many here can attest. And I do not believe that you will ever find a more RV friendly community than Livngston, TX. As far as I know it is the only place where no professional person, elected official, or business person will ever ask what a fulltimer is or how we live. There are many reasons for this but among then are that Escapees RV Club is one of the larger employers there, the members contribute a lot to the local economy, and they make up a major share of the voters in the county. I was told by a county official a few years back that Escapees are about 20% of the registered voters & more like 30% of those who vote. As a result they are sought out by business people and political candidates alike. I doubt that there is anywhere that the resident RVer is heard politically or has as much impact upon the political system as is the case in either Livingson or Texas.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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The choice of a domicile is a rather personal one. Income tax rates, health insurance rates, vehicle insurance rates, drivers licenses, etc. all are part of the equation, as is where you plan to spend your time. Also, as this discussion points out, it is possible to change your domicile. We chose SD, although so far all we've done is set up the mail service. That will be changing soon, though, as our S&B is finally under contract. Since the plates on the MH expire at the end of April, we'll make the switch before then. Our mail service will handle the change for us (for a fee, of course), but we'll still have to go up there to get our new licenses. SD fits us because of where family is. At some time in the future we may decide that TX is a better choice, and if so, we'll move.

 

Look at ALL of the factors for the States you are considering and make the choice that fits you best. What fits me may not fit you.

David Lininger, kb0zke
1993 Foretravel U300 40' (sold)
2022 Grand Design Reflection 315RLTS

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jmicheal, I know some have I think useing a mailservice out of I think Crossville. I believe there are some that access escapees forum sometimes or have in the past. If any of them see your question they will likly respond and have the most up to date information. You might post your question as a new topic so it is more apt to be seen. Double check your answers as there are a few that respond that as full of stuffing as a Christmas goose. Not me of course. :)

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Has anyone got suggestions on setting up domicile in Tn?

I think there was a mail service that went out of business and I remember there was a flap about some county(ies) taking Fulltimers off of voter rolls.

 

Barb

Barb & Dave O'Keeffe
2002 Alpine 36 MDDS (Figment II), 2018 Ford C-Max HYBRID
Blog: http://www.barbanddave.net
SPK# 90761 FMCA #F337834

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Well, we got all our ducks in a row and we are now officially Tennessee residents! Really wasn't that hard. The RV park where we are currently staying has a lot of full time residents. We made a deal with them to always stay here when we are in the area and they helped us by listing us on their full time rolls. Tags are on the truck, TT and insurance is changed over. Even got a new bank account. Tomorrow, we get our driver's licenses (just needed a couple of documents that we didn't have with us). A major relief to me getting all this done. I so wanted away from Virginia's never ending personal property taxes!!! While southwest Virginia was indeed beautiful and held a lot of promise for us when we moved there 11 years ago, the economic decline of the area really was not a pretty sight.

Photographer on the go! Visit my website @ www.jmhillphoto.com or visit my blog

@ http://jmhillphoto.blogspot.com/ to see what we've been up to lately!

 

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Well, we got all our ducks in a row and we are now officially Tennessee residents!

Good to hear that things are working out! The old saying, "where there is a will there is a way" applies to pretty much all of life, it just takes a little effort to find it. We would still love to have you join Escapee's RV Club as there are many benefits for RV folks that come with the membership and using the mail service is not vital. Whether you do that or not, do stay around and become a regular contributor to the forums. :D

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Good to hear that things are working out! The old saying, "where there is a will there is a way" applies to pretty much all of life, it just takes a little effort to find it. We would still love to have you join Escapee's RV Club as there are many benefits for RV folks that come with the membership and using the mail service is not vital. Whether you do that or not, do stay around and become a regular contributor to the forums. :D

Actually, Kirk, I did become a member last month. One of the first places we stayed was an SKP rainbow park in Heiskell, Tn. Stayed a little over a week and made the choice to move to another RV park in Pigeon Forge so that I could spend some time closer to the Great Smoky National Park for some winter photography there while we got everything ironed out for the change of domicile. (I have been shooting in the Smokies for many years, but mostly in spring, summer and fall. Wanted to add winter into that portfolio.)

Since my mother still lives in Texas, just north of Livingston, I plan to visit the Escape park there in the spring. Maybe we'll meet you on the road someday!

Photographer on the go! Visit my website @ www.jmhillphoto.com or visit my blog

@ http://jmhillphoto.blogspot.com/ to see what we've been up to lately!

 

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Since my mother still lives in Texas, just north of Livingston, I plan to visit the Escape park there in the spring. Maybe we'll meet you on the road someday!

That is great, and welcome to the Escapees RV Club! We are not far off of your route, just west of Tyler so keep us in mind. Also, if you should attend the next Escapade in Tucson, we will be there so keep us in mind. You could even attend the forum meet-n-greet while there!

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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That is great, and welcome to the Escapees RV Club! We are not far off of your route, just west of Tyler so keep us in mind. Also, if you should attend the next Escapade in Tucson, we will be there so keep us in mind. You could even attend the forum meet-n-greet while there!

Kirk, my mom still lives in Longview (my hometown) and I am really looking forward to hitting the Country Tavern BBQ in Kilgore! lol Best bbq anywhere! If Willie Nelson is within a 100 miles of there, he will always detour for Country Tavern. Had lunch with him there about 12 years ago. Talk about a blast! lol

Photographer on the go! Visit my website @ www.jmhillphoto.com or visit my blog

@ http://jmhillphoto.blogspot.com/ to see what we've been up to lately!

 

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  • 1 month later...

We are checking into changing our domicile to FL. I emailed the FL DMV and they sent me a link to their military packet which they said covers fulltimers also. I glanced at the packet and it seems pretty simple. The primary item is to get a DL and you need to be in FL to do that. After that it appears everything can be done via mail. I will admit I have not read it in depth, just a glance.

 

I had looked into SD, emailed several mail services there with some basic questions and no one has gotten back to me and it has been several months. I had considered switching to one of those mail services but with the poor customer service I wouldn't bother.

 

I called Escapees, asked for the FL addresss I would use and sent a query to my insurance to get a quote. Waiting on that.

 

Regarding the inspection in TX. In the 90's when we lived there and had a trailer no one wanted to inspect it. We finally gave up trying to get it inspected and had no consequence. Don't know if that is true today but I found finding someone to inspect the trailer was an onerous task.

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You will need a Florida address to get the Florida DL. Most states require this. I am unsure if there is a length of time you need the address as we started up our St. Brendan's Isle mail service in Sept. 2013. We headed to Florida, arriving on Nov. 1st. Started the domicile process in January 2014. Everything was pretty easy. We turned in our NY plates and licenses and filed a notarized Declaration of Domicile in Florida, Clay County. We also registered our vehicles (remember there is a one time use fee to register. It cost from $225 to $400 for each vehicle. The renewals were very reasonable, Coach - $60, Jeep - $45).

 

Once we bought our lot in Marion County (Silver Springs) we changed our DMV mailing address and changed our DL address. This was not free. About $25 each. We also registered to vote in Marion County.

 

We still have our St. Brendan's Isle address but have suspended the service while we are at our lot in Silver Springs. We will reactivate it once we leave to travel to Colorado in April.

GS Lifetime #822128658, FMCA #F431170

 

2012 Airstream Mercedes Interstate Extended Class B

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We are checking into changing our domicile to FL. I emailed the FL DMV and they sent me a link to their military packet which they said covers fulltimers also. I glanced at the packet and it seems pretty simple. The primary item is to get a DL and you need to be in FL to do that. After that it appears everything can be done via mail. I will admit I have not read it in depth, just a glance.

Since you are a Life Member of Escapees, you may want to contact the office about using the Escapee service to make the change. It would likely be less expensive and if you are presently using the Escapee mail service, you won't have to change your general mail. :D

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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Since you are a Life Member of Escapees, you may want to contact the office about using the Escapee service to make the change.

 

I don't understand what you mean by this. I called up the Mail Service and got the address for Bushnell. I then gave that info to my insurance agent to get a quote for that zip. I then contacted FL DMV and they sent me the packet. I plan to use the FL Escapee address once we ae further along.

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I don't understand what you mean by this.

It sounds as though you are already taking advantage of your membership. What was referring to was the suggestions by several others of various FL mail service companies that are not part of Escapees.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

You do not need to use your Escapees benefits or mail forwarding service to do this. That is a great alternative, but there are others as well, as mentioned earlier. When I declared Florida as my Domicile, the Escapee mail forwarding service address was not available in Florida. Other mail forwarding services have been well established in Florida prior to this new benefit being made available by Escapees. Had Escapees been available I might have used them rather than St. Brendan's Isle. I was and am very happy with St. Brendan's Isle for my needs.

GS Lifetime #822128658, FMCA #F431170

 

2012 Airstream Mercedes Interstate Extended Class B

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Insurance is a big thing when picking a domicile. I originally picked South Dakota because I live there part time anyway. I use Avera health insurance via the federal exchange. When I leave the state I go to multiplan.com and search for a provider nearby in my network. Coast to coast with no problems. I'm diabetic and require a check up every 3 months. I go to a in network provider and get a check up with lab work. They send the results to my regular doctor in SD. He renews my prescriptions and they are sent to me in the mail each month.

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