This pamphlet answers frequently asked questions about changing legal residency. Because changing one's residency can have serious consequences, you should contact the Legal Office for advice on specific questions. Every person acquires the legal residence of their parents at birth and keeps this domicile until, after reaching the age of majority, they acquire a new one of their own. A person's choice of domicile will determine many of his or her legal rights and obligations. Many factors affect a person's decision to become a legal resident of a particular state.
Taxation is often a service member's primary consideration in choosing their domicile.
In order to determine what your present legal residence is, you will need to consider the next section which explains how you might have changed your legal residence in the past and how you may change it in the future. A person acquires a new legal residence by being physically present in a state with the intent to reside there permanently or indefinitely. Individuals in the military must intend to return to that state as soon as their military obligations are completed. This is all that is required, but showing the intent may be difficult. Acts which indicate the state of legal residence include voter registration and actual voting in elections, the claiming of a homestead exemption, the place motor vehicles are registered, where driver's licenses are obtained, the payment of state income tax, and the exercise of other benefits or obligations of a particular state.