changing full time address

[sandsys]

5 hours ago, docj said:

Who actually sends physical pieces of mail between friends and family these days?  We sure don't.  My wife's 85-year old sister is the only person who ever sends us a holiday greeting card on occasion.  We've long ago stopped exchanging actual Christmas cards with anyone.  

Ah. We have several friends and family members who still send Christmas cards, some with annual letters included, and my step-mother still sends birthday cards. While I might not miss the cards I would miss those letters that keep us up on distant family happenings.

Linda

[Kirk W]

4 hours ago, sandsys said:

We have several friends and family members who still send Christmas cards, some with annual letters included, and

We do send and receive Christmas cards and also birthday cards. Most of both include a letter and all of the Christmas cards that we send include a letter. 

[2gypsies]

10 hours ago, docj said:

Who actually sends physical pieces of mail between friends and family these days?  We sure don't.  My wife's 85-year old sister is the only person who ever sends us a holiday greeting card on occasion.  We've long ago stopped exchanging actual Christmas cards with anyone.  

Hmmmm. I think there are more than you think where family and friends know the address. Some like the personal touch of greeting cards and letters more than Facebook, etc.

[docj]

To each his own.  Sending snail mail is soooooooooo  20th century!   😀

[jperry29]

I’m chiming in on this thread a little late, hope the OP is still listening in.

If I understood correctly, the OP was looking to change domicile because it was getting difficult to make a personal appearance for driver license renewal in SD.  From the 28 replies previous to me I take it that everyone is assuming TX driver licenses can be renewed on-line.   This is not always correct.

The OP did not say what equipment they were driving nor could I find it in their profile but, if anything they are driving has a gross combined weight rating (GCWR) of greater than 26,000 lbs then a class A-exempt license is required.  

If you are in a position of being required to obtain the class A license then you are also obligated to make a personal appearance for renewal.  TX will not renew a class A (CDL or Exempt) driver license on-line.  

So if you’re in a medium to large class A motor coach or towing with one of the higher rated pick-ups, you may want to think about setting up your domicile in FL.  It is my understanding they do everything with a class C license.

[FL-JOE]

jperry29, you beat me to it.  When I initially read the OP's post the first thing I thought of was that it may end up being more difficult by changing to Texas depending on what RV they have.

In Florida as long as it is registered/titled as an RV you are good to go with a regular old fashion DL.  My 89 year old Mother renewed hers last year by just sending in her eye test paperwork!  Yikes!

[Twotoes]

SD drivers liscense can be renewed online every 5 years if you have a physical address in SD. If you have a PMB you must appear in person once every 5 years to renew and show proof of at least one night stay. You can renew your annual registration by mail. You do not need to take any test, and you do not need a special comercial license. No inspection is required to get you tags either. 

[Kirk W]

8 hours ago, Twotoes said:

SD drivers liscense can be renewed online every 5 years if you have a physical address in SD.

Here is what the South Dakota DPS website has to say:

Quote

You need to visit a Driver Licensing location if:

• You have not applied in person in the last ten years.
• You wish to change your name.
• You wish to change your license class, CDL class or endorsements.
• You are required to take a driving test.
• You wear bioptic lenses.
• You have updated your status with USCIS (U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.)

 

[Lou Schneider]

On 4/8/2019 at 3:40 AM, Jim1521 said:

What happens if you stop your mail forwarding service?  Does all the mail get Return To Sender?  How does the USPS ever know that you are no longer at the mail forwarding service?

The Post Office doesn't care who the mail is addressed to at a mail forwarding service.  All of the mail is sent to them in bulk and it's up to the service to sort the incoming mail into the individual boxes or mark it Return To Sender.

That's why the Post Office won't allow a Change of Address away from a mail forwarder.  They'd have to put in extra effort to seperate an individual's mail away from the bulk delivery.

If a forwarder goes out of business, they're supposed to continue forwarding mail for 6 months to allow people to make new arrangements and notify everyone of their new address.  This didn't happen when MyDakotaAddress went under so the local postmaster bent the rules and allowed clients to file Change of Addresses away from the forwarder.  

There is a work-around that will let you cancel mail forwarding if you have a fixed address you're going to return to.  Go to the Post Office website before you leave and file a Vacation Forwarding request to have mail forwarded from your fixed address to the forwarder while you're gone.  The forwarder will then process your mail normally, sending it to you wherever you are.  You can do this for up to a year by renewing the Vacation request after 6 months.

All of your correspondents will continue to use your fixed address, not the forwarding address.  The only exception is if the envelope is marked "Do Not Forward", then it will be returned to sender.

https://www.usps.com/manage/forward.htm

If you return home early, go to the website and cancel the Vacation Forwarding to resume delivery at your fixed address.  Otherwise delivery will resume at the scheduled end date.

 

Edited May 7, 2019 by Lou Schneider

[Kirk W]

5 hours ago, Lou Schneider said:

If you return home early, go to the website and cancel the Vacation Forwarding to resume delivery at your fixed address.  Otherwise delivery will resume at the scheduled end date.

This is exactly what we have been doing since we shifted from full-time back to part-time. One word of caution that we learned the hard way. In order to cancel the temporary forwarding order early, you will need the confirmation number which the USPS emails to you when the online order is applied. If you do not save that number you will not be able to remove the order online but have to go to the post office and do so on paper. Also, be sure to put the forwarding order in a few days before you leave as it may take up to 2 business days to get applied and removal is by paper it can take as long as a week. 

[Fulltimer51]

Not sure why the OP has to renew DL in person every 5 yrs.. The SD DL is renewed every 5 years. After the first 5 online the second in person and so on.

[hemsteadc]

Paper mail is so 20th century and a big pita.  So are medical bills, which I try to pay on the spot, but you never know what comes later.

[Jesse A]

We are in a similar situation. We own a house and rental in CA that we rent out, but have been looking into domicile in SD.  For obvious reasons we would love to cut ties with CA, going to follow along on here and a few other threads to start collecting information.

[Twotoes]

Jesse A, I to own a house in Calif that is rented out and have a So Dakota address thru Escapees. SD is my domicle, drivers liscense, tags, Insurance etc.  I just file a CA non resident tax return for the rental income. It’s no problem. 

[whj469]

You should be able to get everything done in a few days as noted above. Texas drivers license are renewed for 6 years and if you are less the 79 years old they can be renewed online every other time so that is for 12 years before you must come in person. Not sure about CDLs? I have been told that you must renew in person each time? We do have RV inspections so you must deal with that. I have been told that SD does not inspect RVs? The cost for annual RV registration for my 41 foot fiver is about $125 in Texas. If you renew online you can tell them that you are out of state and they will let you renew but when you do go to Texas you must have them inspected within a few days.

[Jesse A]

7 hours ago, Twotoes said:

Jesse A, I to own a house in Calif that is rented out and have a So Dakota address thru Escapees. SD is my domicle, drivers liscense, tags, Insurance etc.  I just file a CA non resident tax return for the rental income. It’s no problem. 

Great to know! My wife has health insurance through her CA employer do you happen to know how that would work? Thanks!

[Kirk W]

1 hour ago, Jesse A said:

My wife has health insurance through her CA employer do you happen to know how that would work?

The best way to get an answer to that would be from her employer. It will depend on the plan and how it is set-up. The next source would be a rep of the company that underwrites her health care plan. If her employer is a national company it may not be a problem at all. 

[Jesse A]

15 hours ago, Kirk W said:

The best way to get an answer to that would be from her employer. It will depend on the plan and how it is set-up. The next source would be a rep of the company that underwrites her health care plan. If her employer is a national company it may not be a problem at all. 

Thank you, she's going to talk to her work and see what they say.

[fpmtngal]

The health insurance question depends on what type of policy she has and what her employer offers! Best to call her benefits people. 

In my case, I have Medicare and a PPO plan through my pension. I called my pension people yesterday to ask about my situation. Since my policy covers me just about anywhere (there’s fine print for international services), I don’t have to switch to their out-of-state program right now, BUT will at open enrollment. If I had a more restrictive HMO plan, I could switch over now even though it is not during open enrollment.

I have also heard of people with retiree health plans that can’t be taken out of California, and there’s no option like mine for out of state residents. So you can’t depend on what others here have available.

My buyers backed out, so my house is no longer in escrow. Much of my stuff is in Nevada or disposed of. I’m going to leave some of the furniture I want as staging for the house now that it’s back on the market, so some of my belongings will still be here until the house sells, but the house would be vacant. Not sure whether California would still consider me a resident for tax purposes.

I’m still planning on leaving for somewhere in July, Texas if I can claim domicile right away, even though I still own the house. Otherwise, I’d more than likely head north to somewhere cooler. 

[sandsys]

5 hours ago, fpmtngal said:

My buyers backed out, so my house is no longer in escrow. Much of my stuff is in Nevada or disposed of. I’m going to leave some of the furniture I want as staging for the house now that it’s back on the market, so some of my belongings will still be here until the house sells, but the house would be vacant. Not sure whether California would still consider me a resident for tax purposes.

I’m still planning on leaving for somewhere in July, Texas if I can claim domicile right away, even though I still own the house. Otherwise, I’d more than likely head north to somewhere cooler. 

Do you have a current homestead rating for your house? I don't believe you can have that while claiming to be a non-resident.

Linda

[Twotoes]

Even tho you still have a house in CA you can change your domicle to TX. Get you TX drivers liscense, tags and insurance. When you sell your house you will still have to file a CA tax return on the gain,if any, unless exempt because you lived in it for at least 2 out of the last 5 years,  but can file as a non resident. 

[Kirk W]

 

 

 

2 hours ago, sandsys said:

Do you have a current homestead rating for your house? I don't believe you can have that while claiming to be a non-resident.

In all of the states where I have owned a house (4 states), you are required to be living in a house in order to claim a homestead exemption from property taxes. Rental property isn't eligible no matter where the owner is domiciled. 

[whj469]

I hope that the East Texas weather in July doesn't scare you off!

[fpmtngal]

It occurred to me today as I was heading for Harbor Freight that I better not change my domicile until after the house sells for insurance reasons. My policy is based on the house being my residence. I’m very afraid my insurance would suddenly become a whole lot higher than it is now, if I could even get any, if the house were considered vacant. 

The reason the buyer backed out was that she couldn’t qualify for the loan with the $400/month insurance cost she was quoted. I’m paying about $200/month and sure don’t want anything to change that. The difference in my state income tax liability isn’t worth what I could potentially have to go through.

Besides, going to Idaho and Montana for a couple of months sounds much better than Texas in July.

[SWharton]

Good move. If I recall correctly I asked my insurance agent that question and he said it was difficult to get insurance on an unoccupied house. We both agreed that the conversation we had did not exist. We had been traveling at that time about 4-6 months a year and discovered our house would be considered unoccupied. Sometimes conversations are not meant to be.