How difficult is it to establish a domicile in South Dakota

[billb36721]

We are going to be full time newbees and are gathering information for establishing our domicile, but we need to know how long we need to stay in Rapid City to complete this process. We have the checklist from the Escapees, but it seems a bit daunting and time consuming. I spoke to the attorney, but didn't ask for specifics during our first discussion.

Could anyone that recently experienced this process give us an idea of the time required and any lessons learned that may help us.

Thanks in advance for replies,

Bill

[lappir]

I'm still in the process, but so far it's been pretty painless. First chose your mail box place. Once you get an address and a receipt from them you can go to South Dakota to obtain your Drivers License. You do not have to go to the city where you "live", but will have to have a receipt for an overnight stay. I went to Sioux Falls, because they are open on Mondays. There is a Motel just behind the building so it was an almost one stop shop sort of thing. A lot of the other Drivers License locations are not open on Monday and maybe only one or two days a week. I'm still working on getting just the essential items updated with my new address. I know in time the junk mail will come but I am not giving my address out to anyone without telling them it's not for sale and they are to use it only for their business.

 

Don't know if that helps, but it hasn't been too hard so far.

 

Rod

[nana25k]

1. Arrive in the SD town you intend to Domicile in

2. Stay in a campground or hotel in or near that city overnight. Leave with a reciept with BOTH your names. We actually get 2 seperate receipts. One with each name

3 Go to to your mail service and obtain all your paperwork

4 go to the courthouse in that county and register your vehicles, paying all fees. While you are there register to vote

5 Go and get your drivers license. Check the web site and make sure you have all the right documents

All done in one day

Hit the road!!

 

Make sure you have all the right documents which your mail service a should provide to you and help you fill out

 

We chose MyDakotaAddress in Madison. Teri had everything ready to go for us.

She is a fountain of info and has served us well for 10 years. When we bought a new rig she handled everything for us and we just had to mail a check

[docj]

 

We chose MyDakotaAddress in Madison. Teri had everything ready to go for us.

She is a fountain of info and has served us well for 10 years. When we bought a new rig she handled everything for us and we just had to mail a check

 

We also use Terri and she had everything ready for our license renewals this spring. But there really is no reason to stay in the town in which you will be getting your license. There are a lot more hotels in Sioux Falls than Madison with better Priceline deals and the drive to Madison is <1 hour.

 

There was also no reason we had to go to Madison to get our renewals but it was nice to see Terri face-to-face again and Madison's Tuesday morning DPS session was more like sitting around the living room with family than it was waiting to get a driver's license.

[Liberty]

We also have been with Miss Terri at mydakotaaddress.com since June of 2010. can not be beat.

LeRoy

[redcrzr]

We went with "My Dakota Post" and stayed in a campgrounds right in Sioux Falls. Very helpful with everything including registering one of my vehicles 6 months after our "move". Drivers license & registration went as quickly as can be expected. Heed the others advice above and Minnehaha County Treasurer does not take credit or debit cards or out of state checks. We scrambled on that one but we did find a credit union that was kind enough to give us cash out of our debit account.

If you mention my name at My Dakota Post I may get a credit of some sort and would gladly share it with you 50/50.

 

Todd Ehlenfeldt

[JRP]

Bill, You only have to be in Rapid City for one overnight (or overnight anywhere in the state) and most of one day to get your drivers lic. The DMV office is only a 5 min drive from Americas Mailbox. In my experience, if you get to the DMV early, there are no lines. Keep in mind the Rapid City DMV is closed Mondays.

The rest is up to you. You can have Americas Mailbox do your vehicle registrations for you remotely; or you can do those yourself by standing in line at the courthouse treasurers office.

Most of the rest of your domicile change involves you changing your official address on all your accounts, insurances, Social Security, Medicare, etc; which you can do from anywhere.

"We have the checklist from the Escapees, but it seems a bit daunting and time consuming" -- 90% of that list you can do from anywhere, you don't need to be sitting in SD.

Keep in mind when reading many of the legal articles on domicile, they concentrate on what can happen if a dispute arises. If you do things right, no dispute will ever arise. Just as important as the steps inside SD are the steps you take to completely disconnect from your old state, that's where the dispute would originate, not from SD.

[LFDR3116]

We also went to Sioux Falls and use Your Best Address. We set up the mail service, and they assisted in getting our vehicles titled and licensed in S D. We did a change of address on everything so that we would have the required 2 pieces of mail each with the SD address when we went a couple months later to get our drivers licenses. We picked mail up and went to the drivers license bureau with required paperwork. Had our licenses within 15 minutes. We then set up banking, and insurance on our vehicles. We had stayed overnight 1 night and got both names on the receipt, took care of all business the next day. You can do the mail service and your vehicle registrations without even going to SD. The websites of the mail services have a lot of information and even checklists for what you will need, but a phone call to any of them would result in additional assistance if it's needed.

[teacher's pet]

Don't forget to locate a SD lawyer to make any wills and or trusts conform to to SD law. At the time 11 years ago Alternative Resources ( now Dakota Post) gave us some leads on law firms familiar with full timers.

[Max Death]

We set up our mail service with Americas Mailbox over their wbsite six months before we went fulltime. We wanted to make sure that all important mail got routed through them.

We stayed one night in South Dakota. Took the reciept and two pieces of mail with our mail service address to the DMV. One hour later we had our drivers licenses. Went to the courthouse and registered to vote then got license plates we were finished in about an hour and a half.

Not counting the overnight stay. We were SD residents in less then half a day.

Keep in mind that if you want a concealed carry permit you must be in SD for one month. If you need to use a lawyers services or other things this will of course add to the time line.

[dougdogs]

I think the real question is, "is there is a state that is easier than South Dakota"

 

My answer is "no"

[2gypsies]

I think the real question is, "is there is a state that is easier than South Dakota"

 

My answer is "no"

 

It's just as fast in Livingston, TX and you don't have to spend the night.

[nana25k]

We also use Terri and she had everything ready for our license renewals this spring. But there really is no reason to stay in the town in which you will be getting your license. There are a lot more hotels in Sioux Falls than Madison with better Priceline deals and the drive to Madison is <1 hour.

 

There was also no reason we had to go to Madison to get our renewals but it was nice to see Terri face-to-face again and Madison's Tuesday morning DPS session was more like sitting around the living room with family than it was waiting to get a driver's license.

Your right on both counts Doc. We just felt like feeding the economy of our new domicile way back when.

We also check in with the county VA rep while we are there as well.

[LindaH]

While there is no reason to go to the same county as your mail forwarding address for vehicle registration, you will need to be in the same county if you wish to register to vote.

 

When we went to Sioux Falls to get driver's licenses and register to vote, we unknowingly stayed at an RV park that was not in Minnehaha County. While we had no problem getting our driver's licenses, we couldn't register to vote because the RV park receipt showed we weren't in the correct county. We had to return at a later time and stay in an RV park that was actually in Minnehaha County before we could register to vote.

[docj]

While there is no reason to go to the same county as your mail forwarding address for vehicle registration, you will need to be in the same county if you wish to register to vote.

 

When we went to Sioux Falls to get driver's licenses and register to vote, we unknowingly stayed at an RV park that was not in Minnehaha County. While we had no problem getting our driver's licenses, we couldn't register to vote because the RV park receipt showed we weren't in the correct county. We had to return at a later time and stay in an RV park that was actually in Minnehaha County before we could register to vote.

 

Not necessarily true for all counties in SD. We registered to vote in Lake County (Madison) entirely by mail. In 5+ years of being SD residents we've never actually spent a night in Lake County.

[jjwicklund]

We had an interesting change of domicile, we had our mail with My Dakota Address for 2 1/2 years before we became SD residents. We were waiting on the house to sell before we made the total break.

 

When we were ready to finalize the process we were headed East from Oregon. We stopped in Custer SD for a rally, got our new driver licenses there, figured it would be a quicker process in a smaller town. It was, took about 30 minutes for both of us.

 

Headed to Madison after the rally and with our DL's had already established residenty no problem to title the vehicles and register to vote.

[57becky]

When we set things up with Americas Mailbox, we opted for the plan where they dispose of the junk mail. They do occasionally send us a piece or two if it looks like an RV related mailing. We also were told to be at the drivers license place when they opened, get our licenses, and be back at the office right away. They copied our new license, so they could send it over with the girl that took care of our vehicle registrations, thereby saving extra paperwork. Had the plates and paperwork that afternoon. Very good people to work with, and really nice not seeing all the junk mail.

[dougdogs]

 

It's just as fast in Livingston, TX and you don't have to spend the night.

 

Yes, TX is fast too. but SD has no annual inspections on your motor vehicles, we found this to be a plus

[2gypsies]

 

Yes, TX is fast too. but SD has no annual inspections on your motor vehicles, we found this to be a plus

 

If you don't stay more than 3 days in Texas you don't have to get annual inspections so absolutely no problem.

[rynosback]

1. Arrive in the SD town you intend to Domicile in

2. Stay in a campground or hotel in or near that city overnight. Leave with a reciept with BOTH your names. We actually get 2 seperate receipts. One with each name

3 Go to to your mail service and obtain all your paperwork

4 go to the courthouse in that county and register your vehicles, paying all fees. While you are there register to vote

5 Go and get your drivers license. Check the web site and make sure you have all the right documents

All done in one day

Hit the road!!

 

Make sure you have all the right documents which your mail service a should provide to you and help you fill out

 

We chose MyDakotaAddress in Madison. Teri had everything ready to go for us.

She is a fountain of info and has served us well for 10 years. When we bought a new rig she handled everything for us and we just had to mail a check

 

I also am with Teri, she is AWESOME and was so helpful.

[JimK]

If anyone does the South Dakota overnight in a motel or campground and receipt process, be sure to keep that receipt in a safe place. My wife and I had drivers licenses and other IDs stolen. We would not have been able to receive a replacement drivers license without a copy of the receipt.

[vt3fan]

I agree with Jim2. We also chose Americas Mailbox- for our Mail Forwarding and for establishing residence. They are very easy to work with. We did the nights stay at Americas Mailbox, actually 3 and in that time, we established residence. On day 2 we got our drivers licenses, at Americas Mailbox they took care of registering us to vote, registering our truck. After getting our drivers licenses, we traveled to local Insurance Agent and got our vehicle insurance transferred over to our new domicile state, SD and our Medicare and Dental Insurance(BC/BS) set up. From there we went to a local bank and opened up a checking and savings account. All of these steps taken to prove our "intent" to make SD our Residence. As for the services Americas Mailbox provides, 2 weeks ago I got notice from them advising that our vehicle registrations would be coming up next month. By providing them with pertinent information for the renewal-reg and paying a small fee, they took care of everything for us. I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to establish residence in SD.

[missourijan]

Our experience was even easier than others that have posted. Someone recommended My Home Address in Emery, SD to us. We contacted them, established our domicile and registered our vehicles by mail when we were in CA. They are so helpful. We have been with them for almost 10 years, great service. We went a year later and got our driver's license, went to downtown Sioux Falls, fed 3 parking meters and were in & out in 20 minutes. We have since renewed our driver's license in Mitchell, again easy peasy. I just make sure we have the correct documents.

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

We have been with My Home Address since 2006. We had our vehicles registered before we escaped Maryland.

 

When we changed vehicles, we just put the papers in the mail and MHA takes care of it and we receive plates in the mail.