Domicile and Mailing Address

[Tulecreeper]

To clarify my question.

We are going to be living in AZ full time in an RV - no house, no apartment, no hotel room - for as many months out of the year as we can - hopefully 9 or 10 months in the same RV park - then maybe leaving for a month or two to visit up north in the summer. Then right back to where we started from for another 9 or 10 months.

We are going to sell our house and property here in AR and homestead (RV-wise) in an Arizona RV park someplace and we don't care about state tax. I did the full-time RV thing for 5 years 20+ years ago when I was still working for Fish & Wildlife, but my domicile and mailing address were both at the HQ of the wildlife area where I worked. Since most RV parks nowadays will not allow you to use their address for regular (USPS) mail I need to reinvent part of the wheel here.

We want to set up a domicile in AZ...not Texas, not Florida, not South Dakota....Arizona. I can set up a "mailing address" at the closest post office by getting a PO Box, that's the easy part. It's the setting up a "domicile" thing - a physical address - I need info for...for Arizona...not TX, FL, or SD.  I emphasize this because on another forum all of the nice people responding to my question keep wanting to push those three states, as if that's the only options out there.  We don't care about state tax, or how much it costs to register a vehicle.

So, here is a question that popped into my mind. For those of you who have your domicile set up in SD, FL, or TX but live 1000+ miles away most of the time, what do you do when you receive a jury notice? Since the County Clerk's office in the state you are domiciled in is the one that takes care of that, do you drive or fly all the way back to your state of residence to answer the summons?  Inquiring minds, and all that.  😎

Edited March 27, 2023 by Tulecreeper

[Chalkie]

This has happened a couple of times to us and friends. In all instances it was as simple as contacting the Court Clerk and explaining that we were traveling and would not be available. The response was to just let them know when were back in the area and could serve on a jury. 

[LiveWorkDream]

As former Livingston TX domicillers, we never had a problem telling the county clerk we were away. Both my husband and I got summoned several times in the 9 years we were there. Now that we are Coloradoans, we also told the county clerk we were traveling and it wasn't a problem.

One thing to keep in mind if you do get a PO Box in AZ. You will still need a physical, non-commercial address somewhere in AZ for vehicle registration, getting new bank accounts if you do that at some point, and other legal matters. In most cases, and as far as I know, unless you can prove long-term residency at the RV park, an address there does not suffice with bureaucrats.

[Tulecreeper]

3 hours ago, Chalkie said:

This has happened a couple of times to us and friends. In all instances it was as simple as contacting the Court Clerk and explaining that we were traveling and would not be available. The response was to just let them know when were back in the area and could serve on a jury. 

I understand.  That would never work in our case because we will never be in any of those states as we know no one there.

[2gypsies]

You issue is you need a street address; not a P.O. Box in Arizona.  I put that statement into Google & these & others appeared:

https://www.earthclassmail.com/addresses/az

https://www.postscanmail.com/c/az-phoenix.html

https://www.biltmoremailboxes.com/Mailboxes/iPostal1-Digital-Mailboxes

[Chalkie]

1 hour ago, Tulecreeper said:

I understand.  That would never work in our case because we will never be in any of those states as we know no one there.

OK, but they don't have to know that. In Texas if you happen to be 70 or over you can get a permanent exemption from jury duty. 

[Tulecreeper]

14 minutes ago, Chalkie said:

OK, but they don't have to know that. In Texas if you happen to be 70 or over you can get a permanent exemption from jury duty. 

Thanks, I think the 70-year-old rule applies most places.  I have a ways to go before I hit 70.

[Tulecreeper]

47 minutes ago, 2gypsies said:

You issue is you need a street address; not a P.O. Box in Arizona.  I put that statement into Google & these & others appeared:

https://www.earthclassmail.com/addresses/az

https://www.postscanmail.com/c/az-phoenix.html

https://www.biltmoremailboxes.com/Mailboxes/iPostal1-Digital-Mailboxes

It is true, we need a street address...or a domicile address...which is good for DMV, taxes, insurance, and other legal matters.  A PO Box is not sufficient for some of that stuff.  I have already checked on a couple of those links you posted, and some of them are the same as a PO Box.  I will do some more research, though, so thank you very much!

[RV_]

MY question is why Arizona?

[Tulecreeper]

57 minutes ago, RV_ said:

MY question is why Arizona?

Son and daughter-in-law, grandkids, hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities in a state I am familiar with.

Other than that, why not Arizona?

[Ranger Smith]

When I got my PO Box they also gave me a permanent address. It was the Post Offices address with unit 556 which is my mailbox number. Also UPS boxes at the UPS store will give you a similar address.

[fpmtngal]

Do you have a park in mind?  Many parks around the Phoenix area are set up for seasonal or annual people and often allow USPS mail to be delivered to them.  A number of them are a mix of park model RVs and regular RV sites, with park model owners (some of whom live there year-round) able to use the address for their domicile (since they really do reside year-round there).  I currently have an annual site in such a park and would have the ability to use that address for domicile purposes, but don’t since I am not there more than 4 or 5 months out of the year (plus I do plan on settling down in Texas eventually).

Polk County is very understanding about Escapees members - I’ve twice received jury summons and have just contacted them to get excused.  

[Tulecreeper]

1 hour ago, fpmtngal said:

Do you have a park in mind?  Many parks around the Phoenix area are set up for seasonal or annual people and often allow USPS mail to be delivered to them.  A number of them are a mix of park model RVs and regular RV sites, with park model owners (some of whom live there year-round) able to use the address for their domicile (since they really do reside year-round there).  I currently have an annual site in such a park and would have the ability to use that address for domicile purposes, but don’t since I am not there more than 4 or 5 months out of the year (plus I do plan on settling down in Texas eventually).

Polk County is very understanding about Escapees members - I’ve twice received jury summons and have just contacted them to get excused.  

Right now, we're looking at and in touch with Sonoran Desert RV Park in Gila Bend.  We're trying to find a park with minimal amenities other than a laundry room, and the ability to pay for at least 6 or 8 months at a time.  The intention is to stay planted for many months at a time, then uproot and go visit friends and relatives up north for a couple months in the summer and come back and plug in again.

[Jaydrvr]

Have you looked into a UPS store? Often those type of private mail stores will provide a physical street address for various purposes, including package and certified mail receipt, etc.

Re the jury issue. I can't speak to AZ, but as an over the road driver for decades, I routinely wouldn't get my mail until long after the intended date. If my wife was home she would call, but after that, I just ignored it. If I got called on the carpet, I could show where I was at the time and I'm sure the judge would understand that I NEVER GOT MY MAIL. You can't report if you didn't get it. Many many summons recipients never respond. They cannot as a practical matter chase everyone. Jay

[RV_]

3 hours ago, Tulecreeper said:

Son and daughter-in-law, grandkids, hunting, fishing, and other outdoor activities in a state I am familiar with.

Other than that, why not Arizona?

Thanks, I was interested in your reasons. I'm not anti Arizona, I just usually hear Full-time RV folks going for the tax and cost of living breaks with Texas and S.D., or for Florida. I was already in Texas when I retired from the USAF and just changed my address from San Antonio to Rainbow's End. We really liked our two several week stays in Yuma at the SKP KOFA Ko-op back in the 1998 when we first started full-time.

Safe Travels!

[Kirk W]

10 hours ago, Tulecreeper said:

For those of you who have your domicile set up in SD, FL, or TX but live 1000+ miles away most of the time, what do you do when you receive a jury notice?

We were Polk Co. Texas residents and they are very easy to work with, as others have said.

5 hours ago, Tulecreeper said:

A PO Box is not sufficient for some of that stuff. 

But a mail service address is acceptable for a driver's license, vehicle registration, insurance, voter registration, and other things in TX, SD, and FL as well as NV and I believe one or two other states, but not many. That fact is a major part of the reason that so many RVers set up their domicile in those states. 

Since you have family in AZ, perhaps you could use one of their addresses for the license, insurance, registration problems?

Edited March 28, 2023 by Kirk W

[Tulecreeper]

16 hours ago, Ranger Smith said:

When I got my PO Box they also gave me a permanent address. It was the Post Offices address with unit 556 which is my mailbox number. Also UPS boxes at the UPS store will give you a similar address.

I think you got lucky.  Your suggestion got me thinking.  We live really rural, so I went into our local PO yesterday where they know me, in a town of 1000 people, and asked them if a person could use their physical address.  The woman said, "You can get a PO Box, but you cannot use our physical address or we would personally start getting your mail delivered to us, and we don't want that."

[Ranger Smith]

Yup UPS and Fedex will drop off stuff daily at our Post Office. Will also do that in Massachusetts. I guess maybe it depends on the local post office and maybe just for packages??

[Randyretired]

11 minutes ago, Ranger Smith said:

Yup UPS and Fedex will drop off stuff daily at our Post Office. Will also do that in Massachusetts. I guess maybe it depends on the local post office and maybe just for packages??

We also have that for one of our PO Boxes but locally where we are now they won't allow it.

[jbh]

A quick correction; a mail service address is insufficient for d/l etc in Florida. The Escapees and other domicile addresses in Florida are not mail-service addresses. They are not PMB addresses.

[Kirk W]

3 hours ago, jbh said:

The Escapees and other domicile addresses in Florida are not mail-service addresses. They are not PMB addresses.

While they are more than a mail box, I am wondering how you define the difference between a mail service and a provider of a Private Mail Box (PMB)? St Brendan's Isle advertises as a mail service and yet customers use the PMB or the # ahead of the mail box number. Escapee mail is exactly the same and that is also true for UPS mail service as well. All services that receive personal mail and then forward it on to the customer under the service's return address are regulated by the USPS and it is their regulations that require the use of either PMB or # prior to the box number. The following is from the USPS website:

285 Private Mailbox Addresses

Private companies offering mailbox rental services to individuals and businesses are considered commercial mail receiving agencies (CMRA). Addresses on mail received at a CMRA must adhere to specific requirements in the use of their private mailbox number (PMB). Mail sent to an addressee at a CMRA must include either the PMB identifier or the #, followed by the appropriate private mailbox number. Use of any other identifier is prohibited. Either a three line or four line address format can be used with a CMRA address and the PMB or # identifier, with the exception noted below. Where the CMRA‘s physical address requires its own secondary address element, the PMB or # address must follow the specific format rules stated below. It is not permissible to combine the secondary address element of the mailing address for the CMRA and the CMRA customer‘s private box number.

Examples:

[sandsys]

21 hours ago, Tulecreeper said:

Right now, we're looking at and in touch with Sonoran Desert RV Park in Gila Bend.  We're trying to find a park with minimal amenities other than a laundry room, and the ability to pay for at least 6 or 8 months at a time.  The intention is to stay planted for many months at a time, then uproot and go visit friends and relatives up north for a couple months in the summer and come back and plug in again.

Sometimes it is a better deal to pay for a whole year even though you will only be there for three seasons. That would also make it easier to declare that your domicile, I would think.

[Tulecreeper]

6 hours ago, sandsys said:

Sometimes it is a better deal to pay for a whole year even though you will only be there for three seasons. That would also make it easier to declare that your domicile, I would think.

I absolutely agree.  Finding an RV park that will let us pay for more than one month at a time, no less a whole year, is not an easy quest, however.

[jbh]

SBI mail service address is a PMB. The domicile address is a different address, I believe they've made an arrangement with a nearby marina. SBI's history is in serving mariners.

There's a service in Crestview, Florida, that provides domicile addresses and mail service. I believe they operate or are associated with an RV park for the domicile address.

The Florida Escapees domicile address is at Sumter Oaks RVP in Bushnell, Florida, and is NOT a mail-service or PMB address. The Escapees mail service address is a PMB address in Livingston, Texas. Mail does not go to Bushnell.

None of these domiciles receive. hold or forward mail; they are not PMBs. There are associated PMBs with different addresses.

Edited April 2, 2023 by jbh

[chindog]

The service in Crestview, FL, MyRVMail, is who we use for our mailing service.  They are not associated with any RV park.  Their address (and mine) is their office street address.  It is recognized as a valid address by the state of Florida for drivers licenses and vehicle registration.  For voting, if you are using the MyRVMail address as your domicile, you are assigned the address of the courthouse in Crestview.