# Domicile: Legal Definition, Types, and How Taxation Works

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> **Definition**
>
> Domicile is the legal term for the place where an individual maintains a permanent home, which is used for various legal and tax purposes.

## What Is a Domicile?

A domicile refers to the place you consider your permanent home. It is your primary, fixed residence and serves as the basis for various legal and tax matters, including determining your residency status.

### Key Takeaways

*   A domicile is the place you call home permanently.
*   Your domicile is important for legal purposes, such as paying taxes, voting, and claiming benefits.
*   Residence and domicile have different legal definitions and are differentiated primarily by the length of time you plan to live in a specific location.
*   If you and your spouse divorce, your domicile will play a role in informing the courts about child support and alimony payments.
*   You may own more than one home, but you can only have one domicile.

## Understanding Domiciles

At birth, your domicile of origin is the home you share with your parents or legal [guardians](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/g/guardian.asp). This location remains your domicile until you reach the age of majority and acquire a domicile of choice. This locale remains your domicile until you leave it and relocate to a new domicile with the intent to make the new domicile your fixed and permanent home. 

No matter how many homes you own, only one is your domicile. It is the one you acquire intending to remain indefinitely and to which you relocate after you abandon your old domicile. It could be the home where you live, work, bank, vote, and register your car.

There are certain rights and responsibilities associated with your domicile. That is, you must do certain activities based on this location. This includes voting, filing for certain registrations (e.g. your driver's license and car registration), [filing taxes](https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/051415/what-are-different-ways-i-can-file-my-income-tax-return.asp), claiming benefits, and filing lawsuits, among others.

> **Important**
>
> Residence and domicile are not the same. They have distinct legal meanings.

## Uses of Domiciles

Here's a summary of the different ways your domicile may be used.

1.  **Legal Residency:** A domicile establishes your legal residency. It determines which state or jurisdiction has authority over you for legal matters.
2.  **Registration of Vehicles and Licenses:** A domicile determines where you register your vehicles and obtain driver's licenses. This includes adhering to local traffic laws, maintaining vehicle insurance, and ensuring compliance with registration requirements.
3.  **Voting Registration:** You register to vote based on your domicile, determining your eligibility to participate in local, state, and national elections.
4.  **School Enrollment:** A domicile dictates eligibility for enrollment in public schools within a specific school district. Parents or guardians must provide proof of residence, such as utility bills or lease agreements, to enroll their children in local schools.
5.  **Healthcare Services:** A domicile affects access to healthcare services. In order to enroll in certain healthcare programs, you may have to substantiate your domicile (especially when being subsidized by government funding).
7.  **Employment and Labor Laws:** A domicile may impact employment laws including [minimum wage requirements](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/minimum_wage.asp), worker protections, and eligibility for state-specific employment benefits.
8.  **Legal Jurisdiction:** A domicile determines the legal jurisdiction governing various matters such as [divorce](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/093015/divorce-planning-checklist-what-you-need-know.asp) proceedings, inheritance laws, and civil disputes.

## Other Considerations

Some people divide their time equally between two homes. For example, after years of living in Maine and vacationing in Florida, Amarpreet decides to split her year evenly between the two states. She files her taxes and writes her [will](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/what-is-a-will.asp) in Maine, but she votes and registers her car in Florida.

Because her key activities are divided between both states, there’s no clear intent to permanently leave Maine. As a result, both Maine and Florida are considered her residences. However, since she files taxes in Maine, it is recognized as her domicile—not Florida.

> **Important**
>
> You cannot change your domicile by only filing a Declaration of Domicile in another state. Instead, your lifestyle must comport with a permanent change of domicile. Your intended domicile can be inferred from the place where you live and spend time.

### Legal and Tax Consequences

Your domicile is the location you declare on legal documents, such as the address you use to vote, bank, register vehicles, and pay taxes. Ending a domicile association includes your efforts to close bank accounts, surrender your driver’s license, remove your name from voting rolls, and pay taxes as a [non-resident](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/nonresident.asp).

Your domicile carries legal consequences. It defines which country, state, and courts have jurisdiction to [probate wills](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/probate.asp), administer estates, adjudicate lawsuits, and assess state income and death taxes. After a divorce, the legal domicile can affect your ability to claim and monitor [alimony](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/a/alimony.asp) and child support payments.

Your domicile affects the circumstances under which you pay [state taxes](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/state-income-tax.asp). Residence in a country or state limits the reach of taxing authorities to tax income you earn within its borders.

The imposition of [death taxes](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/death-taxes.asp) is by the domicile country or state. Depending on your stated domicile and that of your [beneficiaries](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/beneficiary.asp), [estate tax](https://www.investopedia.com/articles/personal-finance/120715/estate-taxes-who-pays-what-and-how-much.asp) implications may be dramatically different. The domicile can extend its reach to all of your income from any source worldwide. However, indications of residence, such as owning real property (or indications of domicile, such as failing to abandon your previous domicile properly) can subject you to taxes in more than one state.

> **Fast Fact**
>
> Taxpayers with more than one home will often domicile in the state that has the lowest tax liability for them.

## Domicile vs. Residence

You may have heard residence and domicile being used interchangeably to refer to your home. However, the two terms have distinct legal meanings. The distinguishing factor between the two words is the length of time you intend to live there.

A residence is a home you expect to live in for a temporary period, whereas a domicile is a home you plan to live in for an indefinite period. Any place you own property or live for a prescribed period can be your residence. But only the site where you intend to make your [permanent home](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/principalresidence.asp) and remain indefinitely can be your domicile. Thus, you can have many residences, but you can have only one domicile.

> **Fast Fact**
>
> Your domicile is also your residence, but your residence may or may not be your domicile.

## How to Establish a New Domicile

When you move, it may be necessary to take steps to establish and prove your new domicile. Here are a few things you should consider.

*   Change your driver's license to the state of your domicile, as well as your car registration.
*   Make sure to change your voter registration, too.
*   In addition to forwarding your mail, alert your bank and other financial companies you use to your change of address.
*   Mark your last [state income tax](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/state-income-tax.asp) (in your previous home state) as final and inform the [Internal Revenue Service (IRS)](https://www.investopedia.com/terms/i/irs.asp) of your new address, either over the phone or online.

Inform the professionals in your life, from doctors to dentists, of your move and update your new address with all of your [credit cards](https://www.investopedia.com/how-do-credit-cards-work-5025119), passport, bank and brokerages, utilities, and cell phone providers. Set up bank accounts with your new local branch and if you have young children, sign them up for the local schools and sign up for your local library.

## What Is the Difference Between a Residence and a Domicile?

A residence is a location where you may live part-time or full-time. A domicile is your legal address. Your domicile is located in the [state where you pay taxes](https://www.investopedia.com/tax-residency-rules-by-state-5114689).

## How Do I Know My Domicile?

You will know your domicile because it will be the state and location you consider your permanent home. It's the location where you probably maintain your social, economical, and family ties. Your domicile is also the place where you pay taxes, vote, and have a driver’s license.

## What Are the Types of Domiciles?

Domiciles can be any house or apartment, condominium, or co-op. It is the place where you plan to live indefinitely. You can have more than one residence, but your domicile is your forever home.

## What Is My Tax Domicile?

Your tax domicile is your permanent home where you pay your local, state and federal taxes.

## The Bottom Line

You can live in or own multiple homes, but you can only have one legal domicile. If you're under 18, your domicile is the residence of your parent or legal guardian. While you can change your domicile, doing so requires demonstrating clear intent and taking steps to make the new location your permanent home, such as registering your car, voting, licensing pets, and paying state taxes there.

Legally, a domicile is defined by the laws of a state or country. It determines which courts have authority over matters like your estate, probate of your will, and state income taxes. Your domicile can also affect legal issues such as child support and alimony in the event of divorce.

> **Article Sources**
>
> 1.  Internal Revenue Service. "[Publication 555, Community Property](https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p555.pdf)," Pages 2–3.
>     
> 2.  Internal Revenue Service. "[25.18.1 Basic Principles of Community Property Law: Domicile](https://www.irs.gov/irm/part25/irm_25-018-001)."
>     
> 3.  Bloomberg Tax. "[US Estate Tax Liabilities Vary Based on Your Domiciliary Status](https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/us-estate-tax-liabilities-vary-based-on-your-domiciliary-status)."
>     
> 4.  Internal Revenue Service. "[Address Changes](https://www.irs.gov/faqs/irs-procedures/address-changes)."