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Florida Residency

Our mail service provides you with a physical address. This address can help you to establish Florida residency if you wish. If you would like a Florida driver's license, you can obtain one, however, the address on your license will display your vehicle tag number rather than your physical address with us. You'll be a Florida resident regardless; displaying your vehicle tag number on your license is simply the format Florida requires in this case. You'll need to make an in-person trip to the DMV in Crestview, Florida to get your license, vehicle registration(s), title transfer if applicable, and register to vote.

You do not have to claim legal residency in Florida to use our mail service. A large number of our customers are part-time travelers (snowbirds, winter birds) who use our service as a mailing address only.

Florida statutes 196.012 defines a permanent residence as “that place where a person has his or her true, fixed, and permanent home and principal establishment to which, whenever absent, he or she has the intention of returning." You can establish residency in Florida by filing a declaration of domicile, qualifying for homestead exemption, or registering to vote.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Signup with MyRVmail for Florida physical address.
  2. Break all ties from your home state. Change addresses directly with all major institutions, banks, insurance companies, IRS, social security, cell phone provider, etc.
  3. Wait for mail to begin to show up at your new MyRVmail address in Florida.
  4. Plan trip to Crestview, Florida to go to the Okaloosa Tax collector. You must show up in person to obtain a driver's license. Free boondocking on 5 acre property available to MyRVmail members.
  5. If your vehicle has a lien, fill out the following form and fax it to your lienholder to have your title sent to Okaloosa county for titling in Florida. You may need to call your bank to figure out what number to fax it to. https://myrvmail.com/files/LienholderRequestLetter.docx.
  6. Obtain Florida insurance policy and bring to DMV in next step.
  7. Travel to the Crestview, FL DMV.
  8. Register vehicle(s). Bring the following documents with you:
  9. Obtain driver's license, which will include surrendering old driver's license and taking an eye exam. No written test is required. Bring two of the following documents with you:
  10. Contact the Supervisor of Elections office located in the same building for information on registering to vote, or call 850-689-5600.

Advantages of Florida Residency

(Note: Crestview, Florida is located in Okaloosa County, which is ranked #45 out of 948 Florida cities with the lowest vehicle insurance premiums.)

Florida Residency Checklist

To establish residency in Florida, one should consider the following Florida residency checklist:

Florida Declaration of Domicile

A Florida declaration of domicile is a sworn affidavit filed in the Circuit Court of a person's residence that documents the intent to make Florida their permanent home. Florida Statute 222.17 permits people to manifest and document their intent by filing such a declaration of domicile. Under the statute, the declaration may be filed by a person who maintains a “place of abode” in a Florida county where they intend to maintain as their permanent home.

People who maintain a second residence in another state may file a declaration of domicile to manifest their Florida residence as their primary home.

Purpose

The declaration of domicile is a voluntary filing. No statute requires an existing or new Florida resident to file a Declaration of Domicile. Failure to file the declaration does not disqualify one from being a Florida resident.

The declaration, by itself, is insufficient to establish domicile. The Florida Supreme Court explained that Florida residency requires not just an intention expressed in a Declaration, but also the fact of residency. Good faith intention to be a Florida resident must be accompanied by the overt act of residence.

The intention to move to Florida does not create Florida residency unless the debtor implements his intent through action. A declaration of domicile may be helpful to establish under the other state's laws that the individual is a Florida resident, and therefore, should not be subject to the original state's income taxes.

Waiting Period for Florida Residency

There is no waiting period to establish Florida residency for asset protection purposes. As soon as you form the intent to make Florida your primary home, you are a Florida resident, and you are entitled to Florida's asset protection benefits.

The rules are different for bankruptcy, however. Bankruptcy law imposes a two-year waiting period before a debtor may claim Florida's exemptions in bankruptcy court.