Legal Definitions - domiciliary

A domiciliary is a person who has established a particular place as their permanent home, with the clear intention of returning to it whenever they are away. It's not just about where someone physically lives at a given moment, but where they consider their principal and legal home to be. This concept is crucial for determining things like where a person can vote, where they pay certain taxes, or which state's laws apply to their estate.

The term can also be used as an adjective to describe something related to one's domicile, such as "domiciliary state" or "domiciliary laws," referring to the laws of a person's permanent home.

• Example 1: The Expatriate Worker

  Scenario: Sarah, a U.S. citizen, accepts a three-year contract to work in London. She rents out her house in California but keeps her U.S. bank accounts, driver's license, and voter registration in California, fully intending to move back to her California home once her contract ends.

  Explanation: Despite living and working in London, Sarah remains a domiciliary of California. Her actions (maintaining U.S. ties, renting her home temporarily, and her stated intention to return) demonstrate that she considers California her permanent legal home, even while she is physically residing elsewhere for a temporary period.

• Example 2: The College Student

  Scenario: Mark attends a university several states away from his parents' home. He lives in a dorm or an apartment near campus for nine months out of the year. However, he returns to his parents' house during summer breaks, uses their address for his mail and driver's license, and plans to move back there after graduation until he finds a job.

  Explanation: Mark is a domiciliary of the state where his parents live. Even though he physically resides in another state for most of the year, his intention to return to his parents' home as his principal abode, and his continued use of that address for official purposes, establishes his domicile there.

• Example 3: The Snowbird Retiree

  Scenario: David and Maria are retired and own a house in Michigan and a condominium in Florida. They spend six months of the year in Florida during the winter and six months in Michigan during the summer. However, they have their driver's licenses, voter registration, and primary bank accounts in Michigan, and they consider their Michigan house their permanent residence for tax purposes.

  Explanation: David and Maria are domiciliaries of Michigan. Although they spend significant time in Florida, their clear intention, demonstrated by their official registrations and financial ties, is to maintain Michigan as their principal, permanent home. This intention is key to determining their legal domicile.