Escapees September-October 2022

SAMUEL L. BURK is an attorney licensed in Texas and a partner of East Texas Legal, P.L.L.C. Samuel helps clients with their estate planning needs and questions about domicile. He attended Rice University and graduated cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He received his law degree from Duke University School of Law Ultimately, domicile does matter and taking a few moments to examine your current situation may just be that ounce of prevention that could be worth a pound of cure later on. graduating with honors. www.eastexlegal.com b) exercising your right to vote—establish the proper location for voter registration; c) the applicable law for the disposition of assets after one’s death. Additionally, your domicile has become an acute topic during the recent pandemic, potentially affecting your ability to travel between certain states or receiving medical testing or vaccinations. As you will note, each of these situations can have a profound impact on you. Facts to Consider Again, each state may have slightly different requirements, but for Texas it is the quality of contacts you establish with the state and your intent to call Texas your home that matters most. A good fi rst step is establish ing a mailing address in the state so that you can begin the process of vehicle registration, insurance and obtaining a driver’s license. Other factors to consider are establishing voter registration, professional connec tions (e.g., your doctor, dentist, fi nancial advisors, attorneys) and social connections (e.g. club or church memberships, library membership). To fi rmly establish a new domicile, it is a good idea to leave a fi rm paper record that illustrates your truthful intentions to abandon your prior domicile and establish a new one. If there is ever a question posed about the location of your domicile, you don’t want to be “straddling the state line” between two states or fi nding yourself in a legal gray area; rather you want to be sure that you have proactively taken steps to solidify and exemplify your truthful intentions.

take a few moments to analyze your current domicile and make sure it re fl ects the location where you truthfully intend it be. Why It Matters As with many things in life, questions about one’s domicile may come in to focus when money is involved. And, usually, it has the tendency to crop up at a most inconvenient time or during an unexpected circumstance. For example, domicile is important for both property and medical insurance purposes. For vehicle insurance, if you ever fi nd yourself in the unfortunate situation of being involved in an accident, the last thing you would want to hear from your insurance company is that they are refusing coverage because you are no longer (or were never) domiciled where you purchased coverage. Additionally, the availability of health insur ance, from the type of insurance available to the scope of coverage, is also affected by one’s domicile. You do not want to have a circumstance where your health insurer is attempting to deny coverage for pressing medical bills due to this issue.

“If there is ever a question posed about the location of your domicile, you don’t want to be “straddling the state line” between two states or fi nding yourself in a legal gray area…”

Another example of where domicile may matter involves the always unpleasant interaction with state taxing authorities. It could be that a state sends a notice seeking the recovery of “unpaid” income or property taxes in a state that you previously lived. If so, it will be very important to have suf fi cient documentary evidence to prove that you abandoned your domi cile in that state and that you have fi rmly reestablished your domicile elsewhere. The issue can also arise in several other contexts, including but not limited to the following: a) where a lawsuit may be fi led by you or against you;

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ESCAPEES Magazine September/October 2022