Changing residents???

[SanDiegoChip]

We are planning to leave California for cursing the Pacific West Coast of Mexico and beyond this coming year.

We are told that having our boat documented from California and being residents makes for a bigger tax bill.

Is this true?

We will only be getting a SS check and my wife a California state pension check. We have no other assets in California.
So do we need to go to some other state to establish a residence (drivers license etc)?

That is a pain and an expense say for a hotel and vacation time from work etc.
Any advice on this would be helpful.
Do we need to see a tax person?
Thanks,
Chip

[LauderBoy]

I'd give a mail forwarding service a call: https://www.sbimailservice.com/

My "residence" is my St. Brendan's Isle mail address. This was a lot easier for me since I was already a Florida resident. I was able to easily change my drivers license and so on through the mail.

But I know they handle other people changing their residency to Florida. That may or may not save you any money though. For example, if you return to California there may be issues with staying there long term with a Florida registered boat.

If you're going to be permanently on the move I'd look into a few services from a couple states and get some ideas on which one will work best for you. Every state will have different taxes, registration fees and so on that could impact your specific situation.

[sidney777]

Take a look at this. Has many options and one says it can set up tax free residence in Florida.
Mail, Banking and Logistics - resources for cruising sailors
Also, RV Camping | RV Camping Jobs | Work Camping and Boondocking
and I know very good Escapees RV Club – the club for all RVers
You can have a legal and useful address and residence, for example in Texas with Escapees. Although some of the above are for FULL TIME RV people, they apply to you.
....These companies specialize in what you want to do and are not informal opinions you might get from me or ?
Please let us know your solution...

[SanDiegoChip]

We will start off here and let you know how it goes.
:: American Home Base Inc. - "Your Mail Forwarding and Message Center."
Thanks,
Chip

[SanDiegoChip]

Hi,
Here is an update to our residence and questions.
We at this point are looking at possible residence in Washington state as we live in Cal and this would be most cost effective.
We have a daughter that lives in San Diego. She could take our mail for us. We do not plan on getting much mail.
Once we establish residence using a service for a state address so we can get a drivers license would we need to continue to pay the service so we could keep the Washington state address?

Could we just have our mail forwarded to our daughter?

We are of course looking for a way to save a continues charge for mail.
Thanks,
Chip

[SusanBob]

Chip, we just changed our residency from Iowa to South Dakota for the same reason as you. I do believe that most states require that you have a Driver's License & a mailing address in their state, but all states have different requirements. Having your mail sent to your daughter may not work for Washington. We, also, registered our boat & pickup truck in S.D. as the insurance rates were cheaper. Every little bit helps. Bob & Susie's Big Adventure

Susan

[SanDiegoChip]

We will be selling off our cars but will documnet our boat as home ported in WA.
Chip