Domicile is the primary place that a person treats as their permanent home, or lives in and has a substantial enough connection with that the court uses it to apply certain laws and responsibilities.
What you need to know
Domicile is your legal "forever home" in the eyes of the court.
Your domicile is determined by the actions you take in an area and your intent surrounding that location
Domicile and residency are not the same thing— they differ by intended length of stay & depth of relationship
You can have multiple residences in multiple states or provinces, but you can only have one domicile
High earners usually domicile in the state or jurisdiction with the lowest tax rates.
Domicile is just your permanent “home base” from a tax & legal perspective.
Think of it as the place you'll always go back to. It's where all of your "real life" happens. Things like taxes, registering cars, where you bank, and so on. You can only have one, even if there are houses in multiple states, and it is determined by intent and the actions you take in a certain area.
Domicile is important because it determines what laws someone's estate are subject to. Probate laws change substantially between jurisdictions, so it can have a big impact on how many taxes an estate owes, who gets what when someone passes away without a will (known as dying intestate), and more.
Domicile is so important that we've written a pretty extensive breakdown on it — you can read all about domicile in depth here: Domicile Ultimate Guide — What it Means and How it Applies to Inheritance
What to say when a loved one dies
Losing someone you love is one of the most difficult and emotionally raw experiences life has to offer— which is why it's often difficult to find the right words to share with a loved one. Please use this comprehensive list as a trusted guide for sharing your deepest sympathies.
Learn moreEven though Kelli owned a studio in New York City, she always came back to Boise to vote, pay taxes, and conduct more intensive financial affairs before she passed away. When her son, James, was trying to figure out how to begin the probate process, he realized that Kelli was domiciled in Boise but had an ancillary estate in New York. Now he knows he needs to initiate probate with the local Boise probate court and in NYC's local probate court.
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Nathan Phelps
Nathan is a Sr. Content Lead at Atticus and owner of Crafted Copy, a boutique copywriting and marketing shop based out of Nashville, TN. He has written hundreds of articles, white papers, and emails in industries like estate settlement, finance, and psychology, and his writing is read by millions of people across the internet each year.
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