Changing Drivers license, car plates/ registration/ insurance in each PCS/ TDY move, or not? Thoughts?

Herman_Snerd

Herman_Snerd

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For those who move often between US states for their military training and career, do you recommend changing license plates/driver's license/ insurance to the new state each time? DS is currently a FL resident while at PNS, No state income tax (but Texas doesn't have that either where he "thinks" he's going next, soon. He doesn't own property/ rents. If you try to have one location / one driver's license whilst you bob and weave around the globe both nationally and internationally for the next 12 to 20+ years, - do you rent a Mailbox etc? All recommendations/ ideas welcome. Thanks.

EDIT: just for fun, no, I'm not asking any of you to adopt my 23 year old (haha).
 
Depends on the state. I've kept the same residency the whole time, even when my mailbox changed. Had an address from a different state printed on my state driver's license too.

Some states require you to register the vehicles, but most states will take any driver's license, and even expired licenses with the CAC. Some states will waive the registration fee with orders or some piece of paper from admin.
 
My husband had a NY residency his whole Navy career complete with drivers license with no picture. We never lived in NY during his career, so never paid state income tax there, but they did mail him an absentee ballot wherever we were living at the time. When he retired, he became a resident of the state we were in. Your son could keep his Florida residency for his whole career, and just make sure he keeps his current address updated so he can get registration renewals, etc. in the mail.
 
Son got Texas residency at his first duty station and kept it for his whole AD career (originally from tax-happy Wisconsin). There is no need for a PO Box because the law allows you to keep any legitimate residency for as long as you are on active duty. He’s switched it to Florida now that he is in the Reserves and flies for an airline out of Miami. He has vehicles with Arizona, New Mexico, and Florida plates on them (it’s kind of a running joke because they are all personalized plates and say the same thing).
 
My son was born in Tennessee (no state income tax) but changed his residency to Florida (also no state income tax) when he went to Pensacola. He's in California now but his vehicles still have Florida tags and they have Florida licenses.

Don't most states that require you to get their license and tags make an exception for military personnel?
 
Agree with anecdotes shared. No need to change Home of Record when PCSing unless you want.

Also consider HOR when getting out of service. The Govt will pay for move back home but if you change to another state you may short yourself.

(Trust but verify. My experience is dated)
 
Ensign SWO son, was Nominated and Appointed from Texas. Kept that residency throughout USNA and on AD. Taxes saved is significant. Allows him to put more in the TSP. Time Value of Money. No new shiny cars, purchase a 3 or 4 yr old car. Remember: "money doesn't grow on fees" and when it comes to investments: "you don't get what you pay for".
 
State of record for taxation purposes is a completely separate issue from what your driver's license says. Most, if not all, insurance companies are going to require you to have a driver's license for the state in which your car is being regularly garaged. The insurance company is going to expect you to tell them where your car is being regularly garaged as it has an impact on the pricing and the coverages you are required to carry. Therefore, you are then going to need to have a driver's license in that state.

There may be instances where you can tell the insurance company that you are only temporarily at a particular location. They may allow you to keep your current driver's license in those situations. That, is definitely going to vary by the carrier.
 
jebdad said:
State of record for taxation purposes is a completely separate issue from what your driver's license says. Most, if not all, insurance companies are going to require you to have a driver's license for the state in which your car is being regularly garaged. The insurance company is going to expect you to tell them where your car is being regularly garaged as it has an impact on the pricing and the coverages you are required to carry. Therefore, you are then going to need to have a driver's license in that state.

There may be instances where you can tell the insurance company that you are only temporarily at a particular location. They may allow you to keep your current driver's license in those situations. That, is definitely going to vary by the carrier.
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At one time USAA insured over 90% of military officers and their advertising reflected it. USAA most definitely does not require you to have a license and plates for the state where you are stationed and/or live. I do not know of a state that requires active duty military people and their immediate families to change licenses and plates, What's more, states that require an annual inspection allow military people a reasonable amount of time to get inspected ONCE THEY RETURN to the state. This last became enough of an issue that some military bases have required a local inspection in their local state regardless of plates, etc to maintain a safety standard.
 
My experience is that military can do whatever they want to do in most states I think. I renewed my Oregon vehicle tag with a Michigan address while I had an Iowa drivers license. I believe I insured the vehicle in state it was “garaged”. Each state can have its own rules, for example in North Carolina, I need an annual vehicle inspection. But they have a form that can be completed by out of state mechanic and submitted. Sometimes it’s easier to change states rather than make a trip back for a new license etc. very situational depending on state. I know some states allow expired licenses for military, but I’m sure it could be a hassle if pulled over.
 
OldRetSWO said:
At one time USAA insured over 90% of military officers and their advertising reflected it. USAA most definitely does not require you to have a license and plates for the state where you are stationed and/or live. I do not know of a state that requires active duty military people and their immediate families to change licenses and plates, What's more, states that require an annual inspection allow military people a reasonable amount of time to get inspected ONCE THEY RETURN to the state. This last became enough of an issue that some military bases have required a local inspection in their local state regardless of plates, etc to maintain a safety standard.
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NC is one of the state that requires to change license and plate. You will not be able to buy auto insurance if your residence address in NC(for tax purposes), but your car located (garaged) out of the state.
 
YSNC said:
NC is one of the state that requires to change license and plate. You will not be able to buy auto insurance if your residence address in NC(for tax purposes), but your car located (garaged) out of the state.
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Yet I've known MANY NC residents who kept NC tags on their cars while on Active Duty. And USAA sold them insurance.
 
While you are active duty you can keep your home of record plates the entire time. You will find a very large majority have tags from income tax free states. You just need to keep your tags up to date. Be sure that wherever you move you do your due diligence to ensure you have any local required emissions tag, county tax tag, etc. (Many states will give these to you for free as long as you show orders, etc.) *Some states are also much friendlier about renewing state drivers licenses than others. Some will not allow dependents to do it online which makes it really difficult if you are stationed elsewhere.
 
Nomad@heart said:
While you are active duty you can keep your home of record plates the entire time. You will find a very large majority have tags from income tax free states. You just need to keep your tags up to date. Be sure that wherever you move you do your due diligence to ensure you have any local required emissions tag, county tax tag, etc. (Many states will give these to you for free as long as you show orders, etc.) *Some states are also much friendlier about renewing state drivers licenses than others. Some will not allow dependents to do it online which makes it really difficult if you are stationed elsewhere.
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"Back in the day" I had to fly home to FL to renew my license. The plates I could do via mail.

But hey...my birthday month ties in with Kings, Cobia, Redfish...it was always worth a "short leave."
 
OldRetSWO said:
Yet I've known MANY NC residents who kept NC tags on their cars while on Active Duty. And USAA sold them insurance.
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Thank you for this info. Will tell my child who is on Active Duty and had an issues with insurance, they forced to change registration and tag.
 
flieger83 said:
"Back in the day" I had to fly home to FL to renew my license. The plates I could do via mail.
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NJ license expired while I was out of state and I was allowed to continue to use it until I got back or actually for me, it was when when I left Active Duty and had to register and license in a new (to me) state. There were several occasions where I handed the expired license to Law Enforcement and since I also showed them a current military ID, it was not a problem even in places that were known for being "difficult" to military members.
 
YSNC said:
Thank you for this info. Will tell my child who is on Active Duty and had an issues with insurance, they forced to change registration and tag.
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The issue is probably the choice of insurance company. North Carolina has the third most military members in the country. I believe that the
specific federal law that applies is the Soldiers and Sailors Relief Act.

NOTE: I always told the insurance company where I was actually living and paid rates for that location.
 
We are dealing with car related issues right now. DD retained a Washington State Drivers License. The problem is Vehicle registration. We bought her a used car while she was at USNA. There was really no choice but to register it in Maryland. Now that she is deployed, the problem is tunnel tolls, highway tolls, the occasional camera base speeding ticket😬.

Fees nobody knows about until DD gets wind of a collections notice. My wife is now masquerading as one of my daughters who has a POA for DD. This way we can at least get the collection notices and pay off the debt. I think we are just about done with this, as DD has been deployed abroad since Feb., but this has been a colossal P-in the Asp.
 
Many states require at least 2 of the 3 (license, registration, and insurance) be the same address.

Individual states have varying requirements based upon permanent duty station versus home of record.

Overseas PCS assignments were a whole different animal. Had a PA drivers license, Japanese SOFA drivers license, car registered in a Japanese prefecture, and Japanese insurance. Fun times!
 
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