Car registration/permanent address

[DukeFencer]

My current permanent address is in Atlanta. In June I am leaving Georgia for graduate school. Due to the nature of the graduate program I will be bouncing around different states for the next year, 2-3 months in each location for internships, and no one will be living at the current address listed on my license. Should I still leave it as my permanent address? I'm obviously not going to switch car insurance policies every 3 months. The states I will be in are Washington, California, and possibly North Carolina. My parents live in South Carolina so I don't know if it makes more sense to change that to my permanent address... any ideas? I have to pay my Georgia ad-valorem tax in a couple of weeks so I'd like to hammer it out before that to avoid paying in two states in the same year... Thanks!

[BlueDevilBaby]

Are you keeping your current residence anyway? Where are you going to receive mail (will it be forwarded)? In what state is/will your car [be] registered? Where are you registered to vote? To what state do you/will you pay income tax? These are all questions used to establish a person's state of residence upon death for probate purposes. They can apply just the same here. Since you are living, you can choose. If you are not keeping your current residence, it might be best to choose your parents' home and state. Not all of these factors have to relate to SC, but a majority should establish SC residency.

[hughgs]

My current permanent address is in Atlanta. In June I am leaving Georgia for graduate school. Due to the nature of the graduate program I will be bouncing around different states for the next year, 2-3 months in each location for internships, and no one will be living at the current address listed on my license. Should I still leave it as my permanent address? I'm obviously not going to switch car insurance policies every 3 months. The states I will be in are Washington, California, and possibly North Carolina. My parents live in South Carolina so I don't know if it makes more sense to change that to my permanent address... any ideas? I have to pay my Georgia ad-valorem tax in a couple of weeks so I'd like to hammer it out before that to avoid paying in two states in the same year... Thanks!

When I came to Durham for grad school I still had a house (that I rented) in PA. I kept PA as my state of residence until I got engaged.

[HateCarolina]

Are you keeping your current residence anyway? Where are you going to receive mail (will it be forwarded)? In what state is/will your car [be] registered? Where are you registered to vote? To what state do you/will you pay income tax? These are all questions used to establish a person's state of residence upon death for probate purposes. They can apply just the same here. Since you are living, you can choose. If you are not keeping your current residence, it might be best to choose your parents' home and state. Not all of these factors have to relate to SC, but a majority should establish SC residency.

I like the probate reference...do you work in the T&E field?

[Indoor66]

The issue is domocile vs residence.

[DukeFencer]

Thanks for all the responses. To answer a couple of questions:

My "current residence" is a rented home. I am dropping the lease and all of my roommates are moving out in June when I move to Seattle. Because of this I will probably just have my mail forwarded to my parents' house in SC or another family member's house that I will be staying at for at least a couple of months. The mail thing isn't really a big issue since I do all my bills online and my friends/family would know where to find me. I do not own any property, otherwise the issue would be simpler.

I will pay income tax to Georgia for Jan-June 2010, but after I leave Georgia I will not be earning any money...

My car is currently registered and insured in Georgia, and I am also registered to vote in Georgia (these happened to be tied together, I know they don't have to always be though.)

[Jim3k]

Thanks for all the responses. To answer a couple of questions:

My "current residence" is a rented home. I am dropping the lease and all of my roommates are moving out in June when I move to Seattle. Because of this I will probably just have my mail forwarded to my parents' house in SC or another family member's house that I will be staying at for at least a couple of months. The mail thing isn't really a big issue since I do all my bills online and my friends/family would know where to find me. I do not own any property, otherwise the issue would be simpler.

I will pay income tax to Georgia for Jan-June 2010, but after I leave Georgia I will not be earning any money...

My car is currently registered and insured in Georgia, and I am also registered to vote in Georgia (these happened to be tied together, I know they don't have to always be though.)

I'd check the Washington rules on domiciles. Normally you can only be domiciled in one place. And a mail drop at your parents' house won't qualify anywhere as a domicile. I suspect you will be regarded, like it or not (and you might like it), as a Washington domiciliary. So get ready to re-register your car, register to vote and be prepared to pay the (nonexistent) state income tax. :D Wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_income_tax)

[DukeFencer]

Jim - I will only be in Washington for 8 weeks for the summer portion of the program. From there it looks like I am going to California for anywhere from 2 months - 6 months, but it won't be determined until long after I get there. Because of this I won't have a residence in Washington either (will be crashing in an on-campus apartment for 8 weeks and then heading south...) Thoughts?

[sue71, esq]

Jim - I will only be in Washington for 8 weeks for the summer portion of the program. From there it looks like I am going to California for anywhere from 2 months - 6 months, but it won't be determined until long after I get there. Because of this I won't have a residence in Washington either (will be crashing in an on-campus apartment for 8 weeks and then heading south...) Thoughts?

Be careful in Cali... I seem to recall something about if you're there for 30 days (or was it 10?) then you have to get your license, etc... not that I recall specifically how long I was there when I got my license... ahem. :cool:

My NV license (the 2nd time), OTOH, I got within 3 days of moving. Wow, I guess I couldn't get out of California fast enough. :rolleyes:

[Jim3k]

Well...if it can be shown that the Washington and California locations are education-related temporary residences, then you would not be domiciled there. I have assumed that you are no longer dependent on your parents, but that may be an error.

If you were in college in Georgia, while domiciled in South Carolina, you would remain a South Carolina domiciliary. To change that, you would normally find a permanent residence in another state. Assuming, now, that you are still a dependent (not necessarily a dependent for tax purposes) but dependent in fact, then South Carolina would remain your domicile, even if you had no address other than your parents'. It may be, however, that your new university is in yet another state (which you have not mentioned). And, you may 'permanently' reside there if you are not a dependent, since most of your 'contacts' (business, school, residence) are in the new state. While there may be some truth to the contention that you are there only to attend school, the contacts in that state may exceed the contacts you have anywhere else, and you may well be deemed a domiciliary for DMV purposes, if nothing else. In some respects, "intent" is the keystone, but subjective intent can be overruled by objective facts.

I'd figure out whether you are better off money-wise by claiming South Carolina or your new-university state. Then act accordingly. At the moment, from what you've said, I think you are still a South Carolinian, even if you think you are a Georgian. Trouble is, if you have acquired Georgia licenses, paid Georgia income tax, gotten a Georgia library card, registered to vote, etc., then you have abandoned South Carolina for Georgia. And once you leave Georgia, you won't be able to fall back on South Carolina since you don't have a permanent residence there. And to re-acquire it, would involve living there for a period, re-registering everything, etc.

Maybe your new state would be a better choice. But you need to weigh it against Georgia or South Carolina, find a university address and use it for everything until you actually obtain a residence.

[BlueDevilBaby]

I like the probate reference...do you work in the T&E field?

formerly, employee benefits now.

[TampaDuke]

Don't know the answer to your question, but it's definitely worth checking all the angles discussed above.

When I moved from Florida to Durham for school, I kept my permanent residence in Florida and used my parents' address. I kept everything through Florida (voter registration, vehicle registration, etc.). However, to make things more convenient, particularly pre-internet, I switched my Nationwide car insurance agent from a local Florida office to a Durham office. What I didn't realize is that the Florida insurance office was required to report to the state that I no longer had insurance through them. The Florida DMV then mistakenly concluded that I did not have the requisite car insurance for my Florida-registered vehicle. They promptly issued a fine and suspended my license. I eventually got it all cleared up, but it was a time-consuming hassle. Doesn't sound like you'll have that issue, but nonetheless I'd be careful of unintended consequences.

[DukeFencer]

Thanks for all the help everyone! I think I will try to manipulate things so that I can keep my residence in Georgia and not mess with all the rest of the paperwork. I appreciate all the advice!

[Indoor66]

Thanks for all the help everyone! I think I will try to manipulate things so that I can keep my residence in Georgia and not mess with all the rest of the paperwork. I appreciate all the advice!

Occam's razor.