Free tool · Conflict of Laws
Domicile: How to Tell Where Someone Is Domiciled
Domicile is the place where a person has a true, fixed and permanent home and intends to remain, or to which they intend to return when absent. A person has only one domicile at a time, and it continues until a new one is acquired. A new domicile needs both physical presence in the new place and the intention to stay there indefinitely. Courts look at objective evidence of that intention: where the person lives, works, votes and pays taxes, where their family is, their licences, bank and community ties, and what they say in official documents. A person who moves for a limited purpose, such as study, keeps the old domicile.
Tool · Domicile Determiner
Ties to Texas
Ties to Colorado
Domicile: Colorado (a new domicile)
- Domicile is the place where a person has a true, fixed and permanent home, and the intention to remain indefinitely or to return when absent. A person has only one domicile at a time. Residence is merely living somewhere, and can be one of several.
- To change domicile, a person needs both (1) physical presence in the new place and (2) an intention to remain there indefinitely, and both must coincide. Until both occur, the old domicile continues (the presumption of continuing domicile).
- The person is in Colorado and intends to remain there indefinitely: the elements of a new domicile are present, and the move takes effect from that moment.
- Courts look for objective evidence of intent, not just the person’s say-so: where they live, work, vote and pay taxes, where their family is, their driver’s licence, their bank, clubs and church, and what they say in documents. The evidence points towards Colorado (2 to 4).
Domicile (a person’s true, fixed and permanent home) decides state citizenship for diversity jurisdiction, and often the law that applies to divorce, wills and taxes. A person changes domicile only by being present in a new place with the intention to remain there indefinitely. The tool weighs the evidence you enter on each side. Invented facts; courts look at the whole picture, and this is a teaching aid, not legal advice. Runs in your browser; nothing is stored or sent.
How to use it
- Enter the old and new states, and why the person moved.
- Say whether the person is present in the new state and intends to stay.
- Tick the ties to each state.
- Read the result and the reasoning.
Common questions
Is domicile the same as residence?
No. A person can have several residences but only one domicile. Residence is where one lives, domicile is where one’s home is for legal purposes.
Why does domicile matter?
It decides state citizenship for diversity jurisdiction, jurisdiction over divorce, the law that governs wills and inheritance, and often taxes.
What if the person has no intention to stay?
Then the old domicile continues until the person is present in a new place with the intention to remain there.
Learn the law behind the tool
This tool is part of our Conflict of Laws course, with lectures, concept maps, flashcards, interactive exercises and a capstone case. Conflict of Laws: Domicile and Foundations.
More free law tools
General information, simplified, mainly on American law, not legal advice. States and countries differ, and real cases turn on facts that a tool cannot capture.