Licenses and passport when using mail forwarding

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EasyDoesIt

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Oct 27, 2006
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Considering selling our house and fulltiming in our 08 Providence 39R.  We end up using the house only about 4 months the way it is.  Up until now we have beenusing the USPS temporary forwarding service to a couple of locations during our 6 month winter excursion.  Let's say I decide to use a South Dakota based service.  What do I do for the coach license plate.  How about drivers license?  What about my Passport?  Any experiences?
 
If you're going fulltime, you want to establish your domicile in one state and that means register all vehicles, register to vote, mailing address, everything, in that one state.
 
There is a lot more to full timing than buying a motorhome, hopping in and driving to a campground. It is a completely radically different way of life. Before you embark on your journey you should read as much as you can to learn about the pros and cons of full timing and all the legal issues surrounding it. An excellent place to start is here in the library where there is an excellent collection of articles about full timing. I have been full timing for 7 years and I love it, you couldn't get me back into a stick and mud no matter how hard you tried, but it is not for everyone.
 
EasyDoesIt said:
Considering selling our house and fulltiming in our 08 Providence 39R.  We end up using the house only about 4 months the way it is.  Up until now we have beenusing the USPS temporary forwarding service to a couple of locations during our 6 month winter excursion.  Let's say I decide to use a South Dakota based service.  What do I do for the coach license plate.  How about drivers license?  What about my Passport?  Any experiences?
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I just did the Dakota thing via the internet and the mailing service took care of our vehicle license plates which we already have.  Yes we have to go to SD to get our drivers licenses and will do so as soon as our dolly comes out of the shop.  All the rest was done thru the net, mail and telephone.
 
There are several mail forwarding companies in SD that will serve you well.  We use MY Home Address in Emery, SD.  Very small farm town south east of Mitchell, SD.  Since it's small, the owner Ron knows all the local BMV employees and has handled all our titles and tags since 2005.  You can go to any BMV in SD for your driver's licenses, takes about 5 mins., every 5 yrs.  You use your SD address as your new home address, like you have moved to SD.  We use our SD address for bank accts., passports, credit cards, voting, everything.  Officially, that is where you live.  But you don't have to be there.  John
 
Ned said:
If you're going fulltime, you want to establish your domicile in one state and that means register all vehicles, register to vote, mailing address, everything, in that one state.
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Does that mean a fulltimers might have to return from thousands of miles just for jury duty? And what happens if you miss it because you haven't checked the mail for a while? I assume this type of stuff must happen fairly often.

-Don- Reno, NV​

 
I can speak to other states but we're domiciled in Polk County, Texas, and when called for jury duty we call the court clerk and explain and we're excused.  We are expected to volunteer if we're ever in Polk County long enough to serve on a jury, but that hasn't happened in 12 years.  Of course, Polk County understands the limitations that full timers have as it's home to the Escapees.

Since the jury pools are often drawn from the voter registration rolls, if you don't want to serve on a jury, you give up your right to vote.  Not a good trade, IMO.

The biggest reason for establishing your domicile in one state is to prevent another state from preempting your decision, rarely to your benefit.
 
Ned said:
Since the jury pools are often drawn from the voter registration rolls, if you don't want to serve on a jury, you give up your right to vote.  Not a good trade, IMO.
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I don't think I would worry about that much because:

"Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good."
--H. L. Mencken

However, in San Mateo County, CA (where I am registered to vote)  they go by driver's licenses as well as voter registration. They can still get us for jury duty even if NOT registered to vote. I am registered to vote and usually do and they usually ask me for jury duty each and every year. In fact, it's about time I am asked again, as the last time was June of last year. I really don't mind serving as a juror, except I don't like going from my night shift work to a day shift. I find forensics to be very interesting stuff.

-Don- Reno, NV​
 
Serving on a jury was a very interesting experience for me too, but that was when I lived in one place.  Being a full timer, it's not always convenient to serve, and the courts in Polk County, TX, understand that.

And, yes, many locales use driver licenses as well as voter rolls to select the jury pool.
 
I got a jury notice a year or so ago. I called the Minnehaha county employee listed on the form and she said to write "I live full time in my motor home" on the form and return it. She said she would take me and my wife off the jury list.
Sioux Falls  SD is our domicile.
 
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