Domicile Questions

[Shannon W]

Hi there! My husband & I are making the move to full time RVing this upcoming spring. We've been trying to do as much research as possible to pick a domicile state and are open to any advice on that too. However, my main question is regarding the timeline of buying your RV and setting up your domicile. For example purposes in this post, I'm going to use South Dakota as a domicile state. A few questions:

1) We are going to move out of our apartment in Colorado in May. Do we purchase our RV in Colorado close enough to our move out date to go right to South Dakota to register our vehicles (Jeep & RV) and set up our driver's licenses, etc? That way we are officially leaving Colorado when we go to set up our domicile but still are within the timeframe necessary to register the vehicle in South Dakota?

2) If we do that, how does sales tax work? Do we pay Colorado sales tax or do we let the RV dealership know that we plan to register it in South Dakota and pay South Dakota sales tax? I'm not sure if we'd be able to do that while still having a Colorado drivers license though.

3) Does anyone find it to be an issue if your domicile is set in South Dakota but Escapees has your "mailing address" as your Texas address? Does that cause any confusion in different situations? 

We appreciate all insight & help on this topic! Thank you!

[lappir]

If you can I would get everything set up for your Domicile before the purchase. It's not impossible to do it the other way, but I'd think it might be easier to it that way. 

Auto dealers have experience with registration in states different than where there are and are usually a good resource, not sure about "RV Dealers" or if you are making the purchase from a private owner. 

 

Rod 

[Shannon W]

58 minutes ago, lappir said:

If you can I would get everything set up for your Domicile before the purchase. It's not impossible to do it the other way, but I'd think it might be easier to it that way. 

Auto dealers have experience with registration in states different than where there are and are usually a good resource, not sure about "RV Dealers" or if you are making the purchase from a private owner. 

 

Rod 

Hi Rod, thanks for your response. My concern is that we would have to set up the domicile before we actually move from Colorado so we’d still have our rental apartment here. I’m not sure if you can set up a domicile while living somewhere else? We’re very new to this!

Edited November 10, 2021 by Shannon W

[Dutch_12078]

"Residence" and "Domicile" are not the same thing. You certainly can set up your new domicile while keeping your current residence. People with more than one home do it all the time...

Edited November 10, 2021 by Dutch_12078
typo

[Shannon W]

13 minutes ago, Dutch_12078 said:

"Residence" and "Domicile" are not the same thing. You certainly can set up your new domicile while keeping your current residence. People with more than one home do it all the time...

Thank you for your response. I believe the SD residency affidavit that escapees references requires that you confirm you do not have residency elsewhere. At least that’s what I’ve ready. I’m not sure if this would cause an issue. 

[Dutch_12078]

6 minutes ago, Shannon W said:

Thank you for your response. I believe the SD residency affidavit that escapees references requires that you confirm you do not have residency elsewhere. At least that’s what I’ve ready. I’m not sure if this would cause an issue. 

The key word on the form in that regard is "Do you maintain a principal residence in another state?" Since you intend SD to be your principal residence, the address you use for legal purposes, etc, the answer is simple.

[Shannon W]

50 minutes ago, Dutch_12078 said:

The key word on the form in that regard is "Do you maintain a principal residence in another state?" Since you intend SD to be your principal residence, the address you use for legal purposes, etc, the answer is simple.

Got it. Thank you! Do you currently have domicile in SD? If so have you been pleased with that?

[docj]

2 hours ago, Shannon W said:

Hi Rod, thanks for your response. My concern is that we would have to set up the domicile before we actually move from Colorado so we’d still have our rental apartment here. I’m not sure if you can set up a domicile while living somewhere else? We’re very new to this!

With all due respect, there's nothing stopping you from arranging for a mail forwarding service in SD in advance of when you actually leave Colorado.  If you purchase the RV in Colorado and aren't sure if the dealer can arrange for out of State titling, have them issue you temporary CO plates while you get the SD paperwork done.  Most of the major mail handling providers in SD can do the titling work for you.

We've been fulltimers with an SD address for >11 years.  IMHO you're paying too much attention to the simultaneity issues with respect to exiting one State and starting a domicile in another.  Be honest in your dealings with both States and things should work out fine.  In 2011 we left MD and relocated our domicile to SD and didn't  hear a single word from the MD tax authorities.    We were in SD a couple of months ago to get our licenses renewed and the entire process took barely a half hour.  All our "formal" dealings with the State of SD have been very pleasant.

[Dutch_12078]

7 hours ago, Shannon W said:

Got it. Thank you! Do you currently have domicile in SD? If so have you been pleased with that?

I don't have an SD domicile, but I do have both a remailing service domicile and a residence in NY that are not the same location.

[lappir]

10 hours ago, Shannon W said:

Hi Rod, thanks for your response. My concern is that we would have to set up the domicile before we actually move from Colorado so we’d still have our rental apartment here. I’m not sure if you can set up a domicile while living somewhere else? We’re very new to this!

Every one is new when they first start. Not to complicate your situation, but when I started I formed an LLC in Montana first, used Iowa for many years as a domicile before finally making my way to South Dakota to complete the requirements to obtain a South Dakota Drivers license. I had been a member of a mail forwarding service for a year prior, it just took me the time to make the personal visit to S.D. to fulfill the DL requirements. 

I have used two Mail Services and my current one is by far more user friendly than the first. 

 

Rod

[Danandfreda]

We set up our  domicile almost 2 years ago while still owning our home in Illinois. We were going to sell in about 2 months so we set everything up early and even registered one car and trailer in South Dakota. When we ordered our hdt we stil had Illinois drivers license but by the time we picked it up we had South Dakota license and paid tax there. No problem  doing domicile early for us and and dmv there were some of the best people to deal with. 

[Shannon W]

6 hours ago, lappir said:

Every one is new when they first start. Not to complicate your situation, but when I started I formed an LLC in Montana first, used Iowa for many years as a domicile before finally making my way to South Dakota to complete the requirements to obtain a South Dakota Drivers license. I had been a member of a mail forwarding service for a year prior, it just took me the time to make the personal visit to S.D. to fulfill the DL requirements. 

I have used two Mail Services and my current one is by far more user friendly than the first. 

 

Rod

Hi Rod, thanks for the explanation. Do you mind if I ask which mail forwarding service you're using now?

 

[Kirk W]

19 hours ago, Shannon W said:

Do you currently have domicile in SD?

No intention to question your choice, but would you mind sharing your reasons for choosing SD?

[Shannon W]

4 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

No intention to question your choice, but would you mind sharing your reasons for choosing SD?

Hi Kirk! We haven’t chosen SD yet. I just was using it as an example. We are 100% open to hearing advice and insight on all state options!

[Kirk W]

13 minutes ago, Shannon W said:

We are 100% open to hearing advice and insight on all state options!

There are many valid reasons for a choice of domicile and depending upon each person's circumstances, any number of states might prove best. While FL, TX, & SD are the 3 most popular and the only 3 that Escapees can provide your service in, there are other states that do allow use of a mail service address. Nevada and Oregon come to mind but there likely are others. The one thing that sometimes bothers me is that too often the importance of things beyond vehicle registration, driver's license, insurance, & taxes seem to be overlooked. If you have not done so, I think that you would be well served to take time to read The Issue of Domicile, written by attorney Shawn Loring.

Unless things have changed, health insurance for those not yet eligible for Medicare has the most available options in FL. I chose TX for a variety of reasons but it was long enough ago that I hesitate to suggest using my reasons because so much has changed. My best advice is that you weigh things very carefully based upon your circumstances and future plans.

[sandsys]

12 minutes ago, Shannon W said:

Hi Kirk! We haven’t chosen SD yet. I just was using it as an example. We are 100% open to hearing advice and insight on all state options!

SD, TX and FL are the most popular because they have no state income tax and loots of mail forwarders. But there are other states with no income tax. And that should not be your only consideration. If you have trusts, are concerned about inheritance, and other things, you need to look at those as well. And you do have to sign saying that location is where you plan to settle at some point in time. 

Linda

ps. Kirk beat me to the punch while I was typing.

 

[Kirk W]

1 minute ago, sandsys said:

ps. Kirk beat me to the punch while I was typing

😉 Great minds.....

[docj]

29 minutes ago, sandsys said:

SD, TX and FL are the most popular because they have no state income tax and loots of mail forwarders. But there are other states with no income tax. And that should not be your only consideration. If you have trusts, are concerned about inheritance, and other things, you need to look at those as well. And you do have to sign saying that location is where you plan to settle at some point in time. 

 

One thing I don't see mentioned often is that SD doesn't require a higher license class to drive a vehicle >26,000 lbs whereas, by comparison, TX does.  That's not a huge issue, but, for example, although I happen to have a CDL, my wife has only her "Class C" license and she is totally legal to drive our MH.  She took a course from RV Driving School shortly after we purchased it and has driving it for many of the ~75,000 miles we've traveled in it.  

Under the reciprocity rules for licensing, if you're legal to drive a vehicle in your home State, you are legal drive it in the other 49.  OTOH if we were TX residents she would have to obtain a non-commercial Class B license.   

[Kirk W]

20 hours ago, docj said:

Under the reciprocity rules for licensing, if you're legal to drive a vehicle in your home State, you are legal drive it in the other 49.  OTOH if we were TX residents she would have to obtain a non-commercial Class B license.   

20 hours ago, docj said:

That's not a huge issue,

If that is a problem then the person who finds it difficult probably should not be driving a big RV.

[TXiceman]

2 hours ago, Kirk W said:

If that is a problem then the person who finds it difficult probably should not be driving a big RV.

I have to agree with Kirk

 

Ken

[sandsys]

3 hours ago, Kirk W said:

If that is a problem then the person who finds it difficult probably should not be driving a big RV.

I went to the RV driving school to learn how to drive our class a but that still didn’t mean I wanted to be required to take a driving test.

Linda

[Barbaraok]

1 hour ago, sandsys said:

I went to the RV driving school to learn how to drive our class a but that still didn’t mean I wanted to be required to take a driving test.

Linda

Why shouldn't people in ALL states driving these huge potential energy down the highways have to show they can handle them?   It was a 20 minute driving test, nothing complicated, and knowing it was coming up made me take time before hand to make sure I hadn't gotten sloppy in using my side mirrors, in my turns, etc.    Anything over a weight of 26,000 lbs is a lot of potential energy that can KILL.

[noteven]

Quiz time: when driving your air brake equipped RV vehicle what is “take up”?

[DavidCD]

We've been traveling / full-timing for almost 5 years now and have been using the Escapees mail service as our home address.   It's coming up on time for us to renew out Texas drivers licenses and the DPS wants a variety of documents to prove identity, citizenship, and Texas residency.    Does anyone know if Escapees will send us a letter that we can use to show our mailing address is our primary residency address?

[Kirk W]

20 hours ago, Barbaraok said:

Why shouldn't people in ALL states driving these huge potential energy down the highways have to show they can handle them?  

Or even smaller ones? I had to take a special test before I could legally drive my moped on the city streets, way back when I had one that this still required today.