2018 How to Establishing Residency in FL have CHANGED

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oliver quibble

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For a person living full time in a Motorhome, 2018 brings changes when trying to establish FL as their state of residency.

The past rules NO LONGER ARE ACCEPTED for establishing residency in FL for Full-timers or Snowbirds.
So, what applied for you in the past or, will not apply for me.

Does anyone have recent information to help me?

I currently live in FL and have for 12 years. My house is on the market to sell.
When the house sells I will be living in my Motorhome and continue to do so until the motorhome gives out or I do.

I plan on traveling and returning to FL in the colder months (Nov to Mar). I will move from one location to another in Florida during those months, and will not stay in one park.

I have a virtual mailbox established that has two addresses, one for mail and the second for packages.

BUT this address is not accepted by my insurance companies ( toad & motorhome) or allow me to continue to my homestead allowance and other tax benefits of being a Florida resident.

In the past, people used the RV campsite in Bushnell, Florida ( and a few others, Jacksonville)  but this is NO LONGER ALLOWED.

Do any of you out there in the Fulltime or Snowbird population know the answers?

There must be a way, I cannot be the only family wanting to live the dream.

Additional Information:
My voter registration is take care of
My drivers license is good for another 8 years
I will continue to use my same Florida doctors, dentist and medical care that I use now
I am retired 20 years military

I am always looking for the answers to offset problems. I was sure I could use the location in Bushnell and another in Jacksonville, but that is not accepted as "legal" any more.

Thanks ahead of time,
Oliver
 
The past rules NO LONGER ARE ACCEPTED for establishing residency in FL for Full-timers or Snowbirds. 
By whom and for what purposes? Is it just vehicle insurance you are having trouble with?  They are only interested in setting rates and have no legal say.

Just show the insurance company your current official Id.  Your driver license and Voter Registration are valid for 8 more years, and you can still give the insurer a different mail address for billing (etc) purposes. Lots of people and businesses have different billing & contact addresses for their insurance and numerous purposes.

Eventually you will have to deal with the Real ID Act consequences. I suggest you contact the Florida DMV and find out their requirements for validating your driver license & registration when renewal time comes.  In the meantime, you can give them an alternate address for mail contact - I've done that to receive my tags while out of state - it can even be done online for tags. Driver License, though, often requires a physical presence for renewal (vision re-test, etc. may be needed).

I haven't kept up with the Florida ID requirements (we have our home there, so no need), but with the large number of part-time residents, Florida offices are usually well-acquainted with temporary address problems. Avoid the big city DMV offices like Jacksonville, though. They get so many fraudulent applications that they get very negative. The more rural counties generally are more helpful in my experience.

I'm not aware of any significant change in Florida Real ID requirements, but maybe they have tightened up recently. One option is a US passport, which is always valid as Id and should make it possible to use other addresses for contact, even out of state.
Start here on ID requirements:
https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/what-to-bring/
 
BUT this address is not accepted by my insurance companies ( toad & motorhome) or allow me to continue to my homestead allowance and other tax benefits of being a Florida resident.
Having lived in Florida for the last five years I am not aware of any tax benefits of being a Florida resident other than no state income taxes.
 
I don't understand your statement that things "NO LONGER ARE ACCEPTED". What is no longer accepted? Florida had made no changes in their requirements for residency and we have been Florida residents for 25 years using only our mail forwarding service address. Our car and RV, licenses, as well as our insurance, are all tied to that address. If you are having a problem with your insurance company as you seem to imply, that is a different question and an issue with your insurance company and not the requirements for Florida residency. Chuck
 
Homestead "allowance", to my knowledge, only applies to Real Estate property taxes. Once you sell your home, that will be gone, anyway.

It does not apply to motor vehicles, boats, and such.



 
LarsMac said:
Homestead "allowance", to my knowledge, only applies to Real Estate property taxes. Once you sell your home, that will be gone, anyway.

It does not apply to motor vehicles, boats, and such.

Quite correct hence the word "homestead". Chuck
 
How about buying a shack on a small bit of rural property somewhere, maybe in the panhandle
 

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