Establishing Residency

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Coleslaw

Member
Joined
Aug 16, 2018
Posts
8
Hi All,

First time posting here. Thank you in advance for reading this and helping me with any questions I have. My wife and I are purchasing a new 30? RV. We currently live in Denver area. We have sold our home and are renting it back temporarily for 2 months. We?ll be full timing it in our RV. I have looked into a company called Escapees for establishing residency in FL. Can anyone please tell me what we need to bring to the FL DMV to acquire a driver?s license and then register our vehicles? Thank you ?
 
SUN2RETIRE, on the Escapees website it says ?it?s their understanding the DMV will accept a copy of the your Escapees welcome letter along with a RV club letter of acknowledgment ?. I?m looking for a more concrete answer. Any ideas? Thank you!
 
Wow OK that's not much help. I'm not a member of Escapees, many are and I'm sure they'll weigh in. I'm in the process of establishing residency in SD and the company I'm using has a specialist that handled all of my registration paperwork.
 
Escapees has a forum on their site, and you don't have to be a member to lurk there. There is a recent topic there explaining the process:

http://www.rvnetwork.com/topic/131568-detailed-experience-setting-up-domicile-in-florida/

 
I am a member of the escapees and use their mail service in TX. When I signed up for the mail service, they gave me a card with my address on it. The DMV in Livingston accepts that card as proof of address. Everything else we needed was listed in the state DMV manual and on their website.

Florida should have a website with their requirements also.
 
kdbgoat said:
Escapees has a forum on their site, and you don't have to be a member to lurk there. There is a recent topic there explaining the process:

http://www.rvnetwork.com/topic/131568-detailed-experience-setting-up-domicile-in-florida/

You don't have to be an Escapees member to participate on their Forum ... no need to just lurk.
 
Thanks all. I?ll checkout the Escapees forum. FL?s DMV website says nothing about accepting an address with a PMB next to a residential address. I appreciate all of your input!
 
The key in establishing residency in a new state isn't so much qualifying to reside in the new state, it's convincing your old state that you've really left their jurisdiction and that they no longer have a claim on you for taxes, etc.

Here's an interesting article by Suzie Adams, who works for a law office adjacent to Escapees' Livingston headquarters that handles domicile issues.  Most of the advice is also applicable to Florida or any other state.

The Ten Commandments of Texas Domicile

 
Goat, your link cleared up most of my question, I think. I?ve emailed customer service at Escapees too. Here is what I found and copied for all to see if they have questions. It appears FL is cracking down because people are voting in local elections, even though Escapees recommends only voting in national elections.

Customers of a private mail forwarding service who attempt to establish legal residency in a county by filing a Declaration of Domicile that fails to list a residential address or that lists a nonresidential address at which they do not reside and who have no other meaningful contact with the county other than using the services of this enterprise in the county to receive mail, secure a Florida driver license or Florida identification card, and obtain a license plate, or hull number for a boat, without having a past or present physical presence and intent to establish permanent residency in the county is not sufficient to establish residency for voter registration purposes and are most likely not legal residents of the county.

 
Hi Coleslaw
I addressed this question, under the topic "New Members from Tampa Bay".
For the DMV question, check the link at:
"https://www.flhsmv.gov/driver-licenses-id-cards/what-to-bring/"
For establishing residency, I suggest either Escapees or MyRVMail.com (see https://www.myrvmail.com/ )?  Happy Trails  :)
 
I'm missing something here: How can Escapees, with their Texas private mailbox (PMB) help with Florida residency needs in any way?    If you want Texas residence, all well and good, but being a Texan doesn't help at the Florida DMV.  You need to meet Florida requirements for a driver license.


https://www.dmvflorida.org/drivers-license/drivers-license-identification


The tough part is proof of Florida address.  Many people use Florida as their legal residence and get driver licenses, even though they live in RVs or onboard boats. Florida PMBs are acceptable, but I don't know the details.
 
Gary RV_Wizard said:
I'm missing something here: How can Escapees, with their Texas private mailbox (PMB) help with Florida residency needs in any way?    If you want Texas residence, all well and good, but being a Texan doesn't help at the Florida DMV.  You need to meet Florida requirements for a driver license.


https://www.dmvflorida.org/drivers-license/drivers-license-identification


The tough part is proof of Florida address.  Many people use Florida as their legal residence and get driver licenses, even though they live in RVs or onboard boats. Florida PMBs are acceptable, but I don't know the details.

Escapees is using their Busnell, FL park as their Florida address.  All official mail concerning vehicle licensing, voting, etc. goes there.  So far the state says this is valid for voting and residency since it is a campground one can "reside" in.

The problem with St. Brendan's Isle was they are located in a commercial building without any legal residency options.

Or at least that's the latest opinion so far.
 
We established residency in Florida a couple of years ago using MyRVMail in Crestview.  We had no problems getting our drivers licenses using our address with a box number.  When we registered to vote, we were given voter ID cards with the address of the courthouse.  We get our absentee ballots in our PMB mailbox, but if we decide to show up and vote in person, we have the option of voting at the courthouse address precinct.  When we were in the process of figuring out what to do to establish residency, we called the Escapees recommended law firm, Loring and Associates.  We had a phone conference with one of their attorneys.  She advised us to file an affidavit with both the Okaloosa County, FL county clerk, and the county clerk of our previous domicile, stating our intent to make Florida our new home and domicile.  I think the wording of the affidavit came from the Escapees website.  We actually do spend more time in Florida than any other state, so we are truly FL residents.
 
I live most of the time in A State of Confusion.

Haven't found anyone yet that will recognize the drivers license.
 
Lou Schneider said:
Escapees is using their Busnell, FL park as their Florida address.  All official mail concerning vehicle licensing, voting, etc. goes there.  So far the state says this is valid for voting and residency since it is a campground one can "reside" in.

Escapees tells clients to use their FL address for "official" mail and to use the TX address for everything else.  They offer a SD domicile using a similar arrangement.  Personally, I wouldn't want to have to concern myself with what mail goes to what address.  JMO.
 
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