We changed our domicile state - what is a domicile state and why would a full-time RVer change states? What’s the best state to claim for RV domicile? What do you need to change your state and why would you want to change your domicile state as a full-time RVer? What about mail? Health and vehicle insurance?

From the beginning, please

For those who don’t know, let’s back up a bit.

About a month ago we packed up all the stuff in our California sticks & bricks, and put the house up for sale.

We hopped in the Ram and headed for Indiana to pick up our new Rockwood Mini Lite 2205s. It took five days driving many hours every day and staying in hotels each night along the way.

No, the real beginning

I suppose this story really does start further back. In February, we were heading home from our annual trek to Quartzsite for the Sports, Vacation, and RV Show. We hit a ditch going the legal speed, which was entirely too fast for the ditch. When we had our trailer inspected we learned that we had broken and bent the frame. The insurance company considered it totaled.

It’s not all sad. We were shopping for a slightly larger trailer anyway. This just sped up the process a bit. And nobody was injured.

All caught up now

OK, so, we were in Indiana to pick up our new Mini Lite 2205s. We had a very pleasant experience with Rockwood and with Wana RV in Shipshewana, Indiana. And Shipshawana is a nice little town, as I told in this campground story.

California DMV

We spent a couple weeks being tourists and hanging out in Indiana. Tony was also trying to reach California DMV to find out when we would get our plates. The 2205s is new, and had temporary plates, which don’t last for very long. If you’ve ever dealt with California DMV you might not be surprised to learn that this was a tedious and frustrating task.

Finally, a friend got us in touch with someone in the DMV office who actually helped. Well, they gave him real information at least. We learned that California requires us to take our new travel trailer to a DMV office so they can look at the VIN themselves. How do you spell “raspberry noise?” Because that’s the family-friendly version of what we said to that.

Alternatives

We have so many plans this spring and summer. And making a trip all the way back to California was not among them. So, thanks to the help and expertise of a few friends and podcasters who have been through the process themselves, we learned of a way to avoid that detour.

Peggy filling out her paperwork at America’s Mailbox

There are three states, in particular, that are really friendly to full-time RVers. Florida and Texas are both geographically too far from where we were, so we set our GPS west and headed to South Dakota.

South Dakota

You might wonder why South Dakota was our new destination. Well, it turns out that to choose South Dakota as a domicile, or residency state, you just need to spend one night in the Mount Rushmore State. And it’s a beautiful state, so that’s really no hardship.

With a receipt from a hotel, campground, or other lodging place in the state, South Dakota welcomes new residents. And, they are all really knowledgable, helpful, and friendly while doing it!

We actually spent three nights, before heading to the Pennington County offices in Rapid City. We spent one night in a nice KOA.

The second night we got to stay at a Harvest Host site in Murdo, at the Pioneer Auto Museum. We had a great sleep, then in the morning we ate breakfast at the Wagon Wheel cafe. We toured the museum, which is larger than you might think. Plan at least a few hours to see everything. Then, to top us off before hitting the road, we returned to the cafe and had lunch.

The third night, we arrived at America’s Mailbox. This location offers mail forwarding services, as well as a campground where you can spend that one night, if you haven’t already done so.

Everyone we talked to that was staying at the campground was either changing their domicile, or making their annual doctor and other appointments. As a campground, it’s not special. We did have full hookups, or you can boondock. There aren’t a lot of trees or a pool or anything. But it’s easy-access, very helpful, and the place where we will be going to pick up our mail in the future.

The people whom we worked with at America’s Mailbox - very friendly and they know what they’re doing

Vehicle Registration

America’s Mailbox actually will help you process your registration paperwork. We decided, since we had scheduled in the time for it, to head over the next morning to the County office, where we could register the travel trailer. A couple tips: if you have the time, it was only a couple hours and we walked out of there with the actual license plate in-hand. If you need the assistance, America’s Mailbox will help. However, it will take several weeks for processing. And they charge a fee. Oh, and your plates will have to be mailed to — well, to wherever you happen to be by then. So, we recommend you schedule the time to do it yourself.

Registration in South Dakota is not done at the DMV, as it is in California. Rather, you’ll need to go to the County Treasurer’s office.

Be prepared

It’s easy to be prepared. Here’s what you need:

Your South Dakota address. This is where America’s Mailbox comes in. Our new mailbox, with mail forwarding, is our new “residential address.”
The vehicle’s title. For us, the travel trailer was easy because we had the title from the dealership after paying in full. For a vehicle that is financed, you will need some more time to get papers from your lender. We are working on that for the Ram.
Your Driver License. Actually everyone on the title needs to bring their license. This can be an out-of-state license, but then you’ll also need your social security card. Married ladies: you may not remember this, but you should have gotten a new card when you changed your name. I messed up and gave them an old card, so I had to fill out another form saying I was me.
If you didn’t pay at least 4% tax, it will be assessed now. They call it an excise tax but it’s pretty much sales tax. We had actually paid 6% in Indiana. I wish we were getting a refund. But I doubt it. Oh well.
The registration fee is based on vehicle type, age, and weight. Also whether it is used personally or commercially. Registration for the 2205s was under $100. Plus a couple bucks processing fee for using a credit card. We don’t know what the Ram will cost yet, but we are willing to bet it will be less than the $400 we paid each year in California.
No vehicle inspection is required. That was good for us because the parking lot was not very large.

Getting a Driver License

Now that we had a license plate and tags for the trailer, we headed to the DMV for new driver licenses. I’m still not 100% sure we were required to do that. However, since we are changing everything else, we wanted the consistency. And I thought I read somewhere that we needed to get a new license since we registered a vehicle. But I can’t seem to find that again…

Here’s what we needed:

A couple hours to wait. I had tried to make appointments online but it wouldn’t work so we just went in and took a number. It really only took about an hour.
We had to forfeit our California licenses. I did not like that photo, so I wasn’t sad. LOL.
Original Social Security cards. Not copies or metal cards. Again, if you don’t have one with your current name it gets stickier. I don’t know more because by then I had found my current card. If your card doesn’t match, you may need a marriage certificate or something.
Passports. Actually, the lady at my window was having trouble with the computer processing mine, so I also provided my birth certificate. Tony didn’t have to do that.
The fee is $28. Plus, if you use a credit card, a $2 processing fee.

Insurance

As California residents, we had medical insurance under Covered California. And because we are have fairly low incomes, the premiums were subsidized. Now that we are not living in the area, we need medical coverage that will travel with us. Most insurance under the Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as ObamaCare) is location-dependent. We found a medically-underwritten plan that will cover us and provides coverage all over the US. We won’t be subsidize any more, so this was an expense that actually increased for us.

Our vehicle insurance also had to change. We had great insurance with a company that works in the western states, but unfortunately doesn’t cover South Dakota or New Mexico. Overall, the cost was comparable with Progressive Insurance and all three of our vehicles are covered (remember that vintage Aristocrat?)

What’s next?

So, we are, for the time being, South Dakota residents. We are still waiting for our California house to sell. So we are drifting around visiting family and friends and acting like tourists. Eventually, we do still plan to head to New Mexico. But for now we are enjoying the new Mini Lite and the lovely weather.