Changing State Residency

An interesting quote from about.com (granted not the best of sources)

http://usmilitary.about.com/library/milinfo/sscra/blchap6-4.htm
A state may exercise its police power to require a service member to register a vehicle in its jurisdiction if, and only if, the service member has not registered the vehicle in the home state. Where the registration fee or license may properly be exacted by the host state, any portion assessed as revenue need not be paid.

So this says that the new state may force me to register my vehicle in that state if I haven't registered in my state of residence.

So...if you purchase a car in a second state you can register it in that state if you want as you are simply not making use of the Relief Act. If you move to a third state that state could potentially ask you to reregister your car in that state unless you go and register the car in your 'home' state.

Would love to see how they enforce that one.
 
That is an interesting question because I have never heard of anyone getting ticketed for that reason.

I know in No VA, at the Slug line parking lots they will ticket you if you do not have a county sticker, and I know people who got these tickets, but none of them got a ticket for out of state plates, and it is pretty easy to figure out that they would be in trouble just from the base tag on their windshield. Hard to explain why your car is registered on Ft Belvoir, but you have Nebraska plates.
 
What state are you admitted to the bar in?
I love it. If you can't contribute positively, commence the ad hominem approach.

This is informatin that any good Navy division officer or division chief would be well versed in so as to keep his troops out of trouble.

Would love to see how they enforce that one.

They really cannot. It is basically unenforcable. The only way I have ever seen is that if one eventually retires in a state with taxes, moved elsewhere, and continued to register their vehicles in the state to which they will eventually retire. DMV can and will be used against you.

Bottom line, does an officer in the military only follow the laws that are enforcable, or does he follow all the laws?
 
I love it. If you can't contribute positively, commence the ad hominem approach.

This is informatin that any good Navy division officer or division chief would be well versed in so as to keep his troops out of trouble.

Ah, that's what I thought - a barracks lawyer. Every unit and jailhouse has one.

I believe that the situation I described is very common among AD and as Pima noted, I have never heard of anyone being charged with any sort of violation.
 
Ah, that's what I thought - a barracks lawyer. Every unit and jailhouse has one.

I believe that the situation I described is very common among AD and as Pima noted, I have never heard of anyone being charged with any sort of violation.

As I implied in my last post, just because everyone does it, doesn't make it right does it?


And the ad hominem approach continues. In the Navy, Division Officers and Chiefs are responsible for their troops. Guess that's not true with your AF.
 
As I implied in my last post, just because everyone does it, doesn't make it right does it?

And as KP2001 pointed out, I'm not sure that I was in violation of any state law. If his reference is correct, the state MAY have me register my vehicle in their state. Looks like the states I resided in after TX elected not to exercise that option.
 
Here's my thing. How on earth can it be illegal if I can go on line and have my new tags sent to my home in another state?

Anyone who has ever purchased something on line knows that if the wrong data is inputted it blocks you immediately from going further. In other words, end of subject the state will not allow you to put in another state or a zip code that doesn't belong to that state. If you can't than you will be forced to register in state.

There are many exceptions for the military. Some states like NC, state that if you are forced to PCS and your child is In State for college, you will pay In State regardless of where you move to or if you even have residency in the state. Our neighbor moved to VA, sold their home in NC 30 days before school started and their child is still getting In State tuition as if they are a resident.

AK, known for their permanent fund allows military members to sell their home, but keep residency, which means the check as long as they come back for 2 weeks every 2 yrs. The children do not have to come since they are minors, just the military member and spouse.

Okay hands up, everyone who has not registered (tagged) the car in the state they were stationed in, say AYE and then put the number of times you repeated this with the states.

AYE - 4 ---CA, ID, NC, and KS. We re-tagged in AK and VA. AK for residency purposes. VA because we bought 3 new cars. I also lived in NJ with NC plates for 7 months and never had an issue there either.

Also from ask.com

Because military members may have "legal residence" in one state, but be stationed in a different state, the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, allows military members to pay taxes, register vehicles, vote, etc., in their "state of legal residence," rather than the state they are stationed in. This can sometimes result in a tax advantage because several states exempt military pay from state taxes....Under the law, "legal residence" is the place that the military member intends to live after they separate or retire from the military. It's the place that they consider their "permament home."

Additionally, take this out even further...how many have voted absentee? I have and I am a dependent.

This thought that a car must be registered is actually becoming more inane with every minute I think about it. Not only because of the example of renewing tags that I gave earlier in this post, but let's be honest, most of us have USAA as our insurer. They do not ask where the car is registered, they ask where you live when they create the policy. If you got into a car accident and the car was improperly registered (wrong state due to residency issues) you would get hit with a ticket for improper registration.

As ask.com shows there are 2 types of residencies, one because you are stationed there, thus PHYSICAL, and another from a LEGAL standpoint. Both have specific requirements that must be met.
 
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Anybody know what the penalty is for violating these statutes?

(Regardless of the debate regarding whether these are violations)

If you are stopped or in an accident, you can be ticketed and they police can confiscate your plates until your vehicle is properly registered. At least, in PA. If a police officer sees your vehicle frequently, over a period of time he may choose to run your plates and you can be pulled over for not having a properly registered vehicle. This actually happened to a family member.z

What I am missing in this discussion is vehicle inspection. Don't any of these states have vehicle inspection laws? If so, how do you take your vehicle back to be inspected?
 
What I am missing in this discussion is vehicle inspection. Don't any of these states have vehicle inspection laws? If so, how do you take your vehicle back to be inspected?

So I know two states laws regarding this fairly well as I've looked into them extensively.

Since I've outed my TX status: if you are out of state for the military you are not required to have the car inspected unless the car is going to be "in state" for a period of time that I cannot recall right now. Basically when you go there they want you to get it inspected, but otherwise don't worry about it.

The other state I know which is on the east coast has the same restrictions.

What I have done in the past is when the inspection sticker is expired I scrape it off and leave the area blank.
 
KP,

NJ has that reg, most military members will bring their orders with them to prove that they just got back in state.

JAM,

NC and AK do not have inspections. VA does. Many people opt to convert their registration over to that state at that time, just for ease of mind. However, it is not required, but then you have to hope that officer pulling you over understands the regs for military members.

Also as KP showed in an earlier post they MAY chose to do this. I also stated the police in VA do ticket in the Slug parking lots, it is not for your plates, but for not having a county sticker (which is basically your personal tax on your auto ~~~ Military members get this fee waived). Like you stated they do this to cars that they see in the lots over and over again.

To truly get back to the OP changing residency, the important thing to realize is there is a difference between physical and legal residency. You stated they are going to UPT, if they live in the Q's it would be hard to prove legal residency, since legal means you plan to return to the state permanently after you leave the service. Living on base in a Q probably will not meet that std.

Many UPT students will wait until they get their permanent assignment before switching residency since that can show more permanence in this std.

I would also suggest to look at the state reg for military. For example, I know as an NJ resident in the military if you are stationed outside of the state as an AD military member you do not pay state taxes. So, if they do this then there is no issue because he would not be paying taxes.

Additionally, when he tallies his taxable income remember anything with the word ALLOWANCE in it is not taxable. So for him it really will be his base salary since 2 yrs and under flight pay is very nominal.
 
Many UPT students will wait until they get their permanent assignment before switching residency since that can show more permanence in this std.

I guess that's just an AF thing - Many Navy flight studs will switch to FL or TX. If UPT students tend to live in the Q that could be a reason; very few Navy flight studs do that.


One point to make - in some areas, while you may retain your old registration, the base may require some adherence to local requirements for the purpose of base tags. For example, here in San Diego, while my cars are FL registered, you still must have a CA smog check to gain tags.
 
The bottom line here . . . on car registrations, check with your local JAG. He/she will know the rules for the state in which you're stationed.

As for state of residence, if you own a home or register a car or register to vote in a state where you are not a legal resident, be prepared to prove to that state why you shouldn't have to pay taxes in that state. For example, when I owned a home in State A but was a resident of State B, I wrote a letter stating I'd always been a resident of State B and had tax returns and voter registration to prove it. If you are a legal resident of a non-income tax state, be prepared to provide evidence that you still have ties to that state (own property, register to vote, have car registered, etc.). If you no longer have such ties, it is possible that the state in which you currently reside, etc. will come calling for tax money. . . :eek: Not likely, but possible, especially if you buy a home.

As always, when in doubt, consult your local JAG.
 
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