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Domicile has far reaching implications

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Patrick Snyder
  • 375th Air Mobility Wing Legal Office
Scott Air Force Base, Ill. --  No one wants to pay additional state taxes or unnecessary fees for vehicle registration if they don't have to. With servicemembers required to maintain mobility in order to accomplish their mission, Congress realized the sacrifice that military members make in moving from base to base, state to state, and enacted the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, or SCRA. There are certain sections in the SCRA that address when a servicemember's legal residence can change.

So what is legal residence? And is it the same as "home of record?" The short answer is--not necessarily. "Home of record" is generally the place where the servicemember was living when they joined the military. Legal residence, or domicile, is the state the servicemember considers their permanent home and where they intend to remain indefinitely. Domicile is established by registering to vote, paying state taxes, obtaining a state driver's license, purchasing a house or renting an apartment. When you establish a state as your new domicile, you are subject to that state's laws, for example the state's income tax and vehicle registration fees. A servicemember cannot have two domiciles. If a servicemember attempts to claim two different domiciles at the same time for their personal benefit, they may be committing a fraud and in some circumstances be subject to criminal charges.

What happens when a person joins the military and moves to a new state or even overseas? SCRA sets forth that military members will not lose their voting rights and tax rights in their state of domicile by joining the service and moving from one state to another while on military orders. However, it is possible to abandon your state of legal residence or domicile if you do not maintain minimum contacts with the state you are claiming. If you are living outside of the state you are claiming due to military orders, you must maintain ties with that state, like a voter's registration card or driver's license, to claim that state as your state of legal residence. Having family living in a state is not sufficient minimum contacts to claim that state as your state of legal residence or domicile.

A person's domicile has far reaching implications on matters of probate, inheritance tax, right to hold public office, right to homestead, qualification for state college tuition rates, domestic relations issues and other additional public assistance matters.

If servicemembers PCS and obtain a driver's license and voter's registration card in the state where they are stationed, doing so may establish that state as their state of legal residence and subject them to that state's laws and taxes.

Domicile can be a complicated matter for servicemembers and their spouses. Those who have questions, are encouraged to seek free, confidential advice from the Scott Air Force Base legal assistance office by calling 256-3542.