I was wondering if some of you could give us some info regarding the timeline process for starting change of residency. We are currently in PA and looking to list house in February. Because of PA insurance which would be ridiculous for us we are changing our home domicile to Florida (St Brenden's Isle) I know that in order to get licensing I believe we have to be getting mail at the new location to prove we are living there, but with the uncertainty of how long it takes to sell the house, when do we begin the process and what do we do first? Any advice would be appreciated and thanks!
Clay L said
01:01 PM Dec 1, 2015
I switched to my mail forwarding address a couple of months before we sold the house. That way I could see what mail was forwarded after I submitted my change of address and would know whom I needed to notify of my new address. Even so I forgot a few I was not in contact with often - like the IRS and some frequent flyer accounts.
Neil and Connie said
02:25 PM Dec 1, 2015
Ordered rig in January, shifted from VA to SD first week of February, house went on the market in March or early April and closed in July. The domicile doesn't have to coincide with the house sale…we did it early so as to minimize the number of months we would be subject to VA income tax that year.
I suppose that legally the state might be able to claim we were residents through closing…but realistically we were doing all the getting ready to leave stuff from about November the year before so we think we would have had a good argument if it came to that.
Realistically though…there really isn't a very high likelihood that they'll even question things…so do what makes sense for you.
JonRV said
06:21 PM Dec 1, 2015
Florida is a little more strict than most states when it comes to establishing residency. You should give yourself as much time as possible and possibly spend some time there in a rental etc.
Selah said
08:42 PM Dec 1, 2015
Same as Clay, set up your FL service before you vacate the house. Then start changing your address for things like utility bills (you will need these to chase your domicile) and everything else you can think of. Mail will not go to the FL address and you simply have it shipped back to the house. Change the address with your bank and order new checks; you do not need to change banks.
The last thing you do after leaving your old house is to submit a change of addres with the post office.
With the documents you have with the Green Cove Springs address you can get your new FL drivers licens, vehicle registrations, voter registration and become an official FL resident. Takes one afternoon.
marianne57 said
09:00 PM Dec 1, 2015
Thanks all.....appreciate the info. At least I have a ballpark idea now.
Camper Chronicles said
10:54 AM Dec 2, 2015
We changed mailing addresses in November but didn't become official residents until March. Because our license plate stickers were covered during that time period it really wasn't a big deal. My best advice is to take your time with the change. It doesn't have to be big bang and since you have lots of other stuff going on in those first couple of months just acclimating and getting the rig settled, you may want to deal with it a bit later.
Trace
jrzygrl64 said
11:24 PM Dec 2, 2015
We closed on our house in PA in Aug 2014 and didn't change our residency to my parents in FL until we arrived there in November. You have to be there in person to get driver licenses and register vehicles. We did have our mail forwarded there though once the house closed. It was no big deal for us, my Mom went with us to say we lived with her since we had no bills in our name except the insurance (which doesn't count). If you have loans on any vehicles it could be trickier b/c you don't have the titles, which happened to a friend of ours.
RVRon said
12:09 PM Dec 3, 2015
We have been using St. Brendans Isle (SBI) now for 4 years and they are wonderful. You'll find them very helpful in the process and timeline for establishing your Florida residency. As others have mentioned, you'll need to start having some of your mail sent to your new Florida address so you'll have proof that you actually "live" there. Things like bills for insurance, etc. are the things that come to mind. Once you get to Florida SBI will have all of the documents you'll need and you can drive down the street in Green Cove Springs to the Clerk's office to file the paperwork. It was very easy for us since we already lived in Jacksonville but the process is the same no matter where you are now.
I was wondering if some of you could give us some info regarding the timeline process for starting change of residency. We are currently in PA and looking to list house in February. Because of PA insurance which would be ridiculous for us we are changing our home domicile to Florida (St Brenden's Isle) I know that in order to get licensing I believe we have to be getting mail at the new location to prove we are living there, but with the uncertainty of how long it takes to sell the house, when do we begin the process and what do we do first? Any advice would be appreciated and thanks!
Ordered rig in January, shifted from VA to SD first week of February, house went on the market in March or early April and closed in July. The domicile doesn't have to coincide with the house sale…we did it early so as to minimize the number of months we would be subject to VA income tax that year.
I suppose that legally the state might be able to claim we were residents through closing…but realistically we were doing all the getting ready to leave stuff from about November the year before so we think we would have had a good argument if it came to that.
Realistically though…there really isn't a very high likelihood that they'll even question things…so do what makes sense for you.
The last thing you do after leaving your old house is to submit a change of addres with the post office.
With the documents you have with the Green Cove Springs address you can get your new FL drivers licens, vehicle registrations, voter registration and become an official FL resident. Takes one afternoon.
Trace
We have been using St. Brendans Isle (SBI) now for 4 years and they are wonderful. You'll find them very helpful in the process and timeline for establishing your Florida residency. As others have mentioned, you'll need to start having some of your mail sent to your new Florida address so you'll have proof that you actually "live" there. Things like bills for insurance, etc. are the things that come to mind. Once you get to Florida SBI will have all of the documents you'll need and you can drive down the street in Green Cove Springs to the Clerk's office to file the paperwork. It was very easy for us since we already lived in Jacksonville but the process is the same no matter where you are now.