How to become a Florida resident

The steps, in order

1. 1

   Get a Florida driver's license

   The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says new residents must get a Florida license within 30 days of establishing residency if they drive here. Surrender the old one.

2. 2

   Register your vehicles and insure them in Florida

   Florida insurance comes first, then registration with your county tax collector. Some county offices state a 10-day deadline after you establish residency; do it right away.

3. 3

   Register to vote in Florida

   And cancel your registration in your old state. Voting is one of the facts auditors look at first.

4. 4

   Record a Declaration of Domicile

   A sworn statement, filed with the clerk of the circuit court in your county, that Florida is your permanent home.

5. 5

   Apply for the homestead exemption

   If you own your home and lived in it on January 1, apply with your county property appraiser by March 1. It lowers your property taxes and caps future increases.

6. 6

   Sign a Florida estate plan

   Your will, trust, and powers of attorney should say you live in Florida and choose Florida law. Old documents that recite your old address point the wrong way.

7. 7

   Move the rest of your life

   Florida address on every account and on your federal tax return. Florida doctors and advisors. Your safe deposit box and treasured possessions here. A log of the days you spend in each state.

8. 8

   Close out your old state

   Cancel any property tax break there that requires residency, file a final part-year return if it has an income tax, and stop using the old address for anything official.

Residence versus domicile

You can have several residences: a home in Naples and a cottage in Michigan. You have only one domicile, the place you intend to be your permanent home. Domicile decides which state may tax your income and your estate and whose law governs much of what happens at your death. When people ask how to become a Florida resident, domicile is what they mean.

Florida does not tax the income of individuals and has no estate or inheritance tax. That is the reason many people move, and the reason the states they leave sometimes question the move.

Is there a minimum time?

Not to make Florida your domicile. A few Florida benefits do have their own waiting periods. In-state college tuition generally requires 12 months of legal residence, and filing for divorce in Florida requires that one spouse have lived here for 6 months. The homestead exemption is decided on January 1 each year: you must own and live in the home on that date.

The 183-day number you may have heard comes from the other direction. Some states, New York among them, treat you as a resident for income tax if you keep a home there and spend more than 183 days there, even if Florida is your domicile. Counting days protects you against your old state; it does not, by itself, make you a Floridian.

What proves it

No single document makes you a resident. Auditors and property appraisers look at the whole picture: where your home is, where you spend your time, where your family and your treasured belongings are, where you vote and are licensed, where your mail and statements go, and what your estate planning documents say. The steps above build that picture deliberately.

Common questions

How long do you have to live in Florida to be a resident?

There is no minimum period to make Florida your domicile. You become a resident when you live here with the intent to stay permanently. Some benefits have their own periods: 12 months for in-state tuition and 6 months before filing for divorce.

Do I have to spend 183 days a year in Florida?

Florida does not require it. The 183-day rule matters to your old state: some states tax you as a resident if you keep a home there and spend more than 183 days there. Keeping most of your days in Florida, and a log to prove it, protects you.

Do I have to sell my house up north?

No. You can keep it as a second home. Stop claiming any residency-based property tax break on it, and expect your old state to look harder at your move if you keep a home there.

What documents prove Florida residency?

A Florida driver's license, vehicle registration, voter registration card, recorded Declaration of Domicile, homestead exemption, federal tax return with a Florida address, and Florida estate planning documents. Together they make the case; none is enough alone.

How quickly do I need a Florida driver's license?

The Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles says within 30 days of establishing residency, if you drive in Florida.