CAN I CHANGE MY LEGAL RESIDENCE?
A valid change of legal residence (domicile) requires that you satisfy ALL of the following requirements:
1. You must be physically present in the new state;
2. You must simultaneously intend to remain in the new state permanently or to treat that location as your permanent home; and
3. You must intend to abandon your old domicile
You can show your intent to change your domicile by taking as many as possible of the following actions:
Register to vote and vote in the new state
Get a driver's license in the new state
Register your vehicle(s) in the new state
Pay state taxes (income, property, etc.) in the new state
Change your Will to reflect the new state as your legal residence
Establish a permanent address in the new state
Notify the old state's taxing authorities of your change in domicile
You also need to record your change of legal residence with the Accounting and Finance Office on DD Form 114 and a W-4 Form.
There is one situation where you may be able to change your SLR without meeting the physical presence test. If you marry a resident of a different state, you might be allowed to claim your spouse's SLR as your SLR, or vice versa, without ever having been physically present in that state. This is a somewhat aggressive strategy, but there is some support for it. The marital relationship is so significant that, by itself, it may give the spouse a close enough connection to the new state to justify claiming the new state as the SLR. There is substantial historical precedent for this argument. Earlier this century, when a woman married a man from a different state, the woman became a legal resident of the man's SLR by operation of law. Those laws no longer exist, but that helps demonstrate the legal significance of the marital relationship and the type of legal consequences that can result from marriage.