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Domicile(law)Wikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Domicile(law)
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Inlaw,domicileisthestatusorattributionofbeingalawfulpermanentresidentinaparticularjurisdiction.A
personcanremaindomiciledinajurisdictionevenafterhehasleftit,ifhehasmaintainedsufficientlinkswiththat
jurisdictionorhasnotdisplayedanintentiontoleavepermanently(i.e.,ifthatpersonhasmovedtoadifferent
state,buthasnotyetformedanintentiontoremainthereindefinitely).Recently,theUnitedStatesSupremeCourt
caseofHertzCorp.v.Friendconcludedthatthe"principalplaceofbusinessreferstotheplacewherecorporations'
highlevelofficersdirect,controlandcoordinatethecorporations'activities."Thisisthetestforcorporatedomicile
whenclaimingdiversityjurisdiction.[1]
Traditionallymanycommonlawjurisdictionsconsideredaperson'sdomiciletobeadeterminativefactorinthe
conflictoflawsandwould,forexample,onlyrecognizeadivorceconductedinanotherjurisdictionifatleastone
ofthepartiesweredomiciledthereatthetimeitwasconducted.

Contents
1 Outlineoftheconcept
2 CommonlawrulesinIndia
3 Thelawinspecificjurisdictions
3.1 UnitedStates
3.2 UnitedKingdom
3.2.1 EnglandandWales
3.2.2 Scotland
3.2.3 NorthernIreland
3.3 AustriaandGermany
3.4 People'sRepublicofChina
4 Seealso
5 References
6 Externallinks

Outlineoftheconcept
Inearlysocieties,therewaslittlemobilitybut,astravelfromonestatetoanotherdeveloped,problemsemerged:
whatshouldhappenifdifferentformsofmarriageexist,ifchildrenbecameadultsatdifferentages,etc.?One
answeristhatpeoplemustbegivenaconnectiontoalegaljurisdiction,likeapassport,thattheycarrywiththem
wherevertheygo.Hence,ifaccordingtothelawsoftheirdomicileapersonhastherighttomarrymultiple
spouses,themarriagesshouldnotalternatebetweenvalidandinvalideverytimetheycrossastateboundarywhere
thelawsaredifferent.Ifsomeoneisaninfantandthereforehasreducedcontractualcapacity,thatwilltendtoapply
wherevertheygo.Furthermore,whenapersondies,itisthelawoftheirdomicilethatdetermineshowtheirwillis
interpreted,orifthepersonhasnovalidwill,howtheirpropertywillpassbyintestatesuccession.
Domicileshouldbedistinguishedfromnationalitywhichistherelationshipbetweenanindividualandacountry.
Wherethestateandthecountryarecoextensive,thetwomaybethesame.However,wherethecountryis
federatedintoseparatelegalsystems,nationalityanddomicilewillbedifferent.Forexample,onemighthave
AmericannationalityandadomicileinTexas,orBritishnationalityandadomicileinScotland.Further,onecan

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havedualnationalitybutnotmorethanonedomicileatatime.Apersonmayhaveadomicileinonestatewhile
maintainingnationalityinanothercountry.Unlikenationality,nopersoncanbewithoutadomicileevenif
stateless.
Domicileisdistinctfromhabitualresidencewherethereismuchlessfocusonfutureintent.Domicileisbeing
supplantedbyhabitualresidenceininternationalconventionsdealingwithconflictandotherprivatelawmatters.
Domicilehasasomewhattechnicallegalmeaningincommonlawjurisdictionsandshouldnotbeconfusedwith:
(1)Domicileincivillawjurisdictions.(2)DomicileinEUregulationsandinternationaltreaties(wherea
definitionoftenoverridesthecommonlawsenseofdomicile).(3)DomicileinordinaryEnglishusage.
Therulesdeterminingdomicileincommonlawjurisdictionsarebasedoncaselawinorigin.Mostjurisdictions
havealteredsomeaspectsofthecommonlawrulesbystatute,thedetailsofwhichvaryfromonejurisdictionto
another.Thegeneralframeworkofthecommonlawruleshashoweversurvivedinmostjurisdictionsandisin
outlineasfollows:

CommonlawrulesinIndia
Adomicileoforiginistheonewithwhichapersonisborn.Itcanbechangedasaresultofadoptionandmarriage.
Underthecommonlawamarriedwomanwasdeemedtohavethesamedomicileasherhusband,sothedomicile
oforiginofthechildrenofthemarriagewasthesameasthatoftheirfatherandthetimeofbirth.Childrengained
theirmother'sdomicileiftheirfatherwaspredeceasedortheywerebornoutsidemarriage.Anorphanhasthe
jurisdictionovertheoriginaldomicilewhereheorshewasfound.[2]
Everyadult(otherthanmarriedwomen)canchangetheirdomicilebyleavingthejurisdictionofthepriordomicile
withanintentionofpermanentlyresidingsomewhereelse.Thisisreferredtoasadomicileofchoice.Adomicile
ofchoicecanbeabandonedifanewdomicileofchoiceisacquiredorifthedomicileoforiginrevives.[3][4]
Amarriedwomancanonlygetdomicileandothercastecertificatesfromherhusband'sjurisdiction.
Achild'sdomicileisdependentand,thereforethesame,astheadultonwhomheorsheisdependent.[5]

Thelawinspecificjurisdictions
UnitedStates
EachstateoftheUnitedStatesisconsideredaseparatesovereignwithintheU.S.federalsystem,andeach
thereforehasitsownlawsonquestionsofmarriage,inheritance,andliabilityfortortandcontractactions.
PersonswhoresideintheU.S.musthaveastatedomicileforvariouspurposes.Forexample,apersoncanalways
besuedintheirstateofdomicile.Furthermore,inorderforindividualparties(thatis,naturalpersons)toinvoke
thediversityjurisdictionofaUnitedStatesdistrictcourt(afederaltrialcourt),alltheplaintiffsmusthavea
differentstateofdomicilefromallthedefendants(socalled"completediversity").[6]

UnitedKingdom
TheUnitedKingdomcontainsthreejurisdictions.Thematterofdomicilerelatingtobothdomesticand
internationallawiscoveredwithsomedegreeofdetailinofficialpublicationssuchase.g."PrivateInternational
LawTheLawOfDomicile"[1987,TheLawCommissionandtheScottishLawCommission(LawCom.No.168)
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(Scot.LawCom.No.107)]currentgeneralinformationisavailablefromHerMajesty'sRevenueandCustoms[7]as
aconsequenceofthealmostinevitablechangeoftaxstatuscausedbyaneventenablingachangeofdomicileor
wherelawsvarybetweenjurisdictions.AllUKjurisdictionsdistinguishbetweendomicileoforigin(decidedbythe
domicileoftheirfather,orifparentsunmarriedtheirmother),domicileofchoice(whenapersonhasexerciseda
legaloptiontochangetheirdomicileascanbedonewhenattainingmajority)anddomicileofdependence
(applicabletothoselegallydependentonanothersuchassomeincapablepersons,childrenorwomenmarried
before1974)butingeneralonlyoneplacecanbeaperson'sdomicileatanyonetimethuspreventingthecreation
ofdifferingsimultaneousdomicilesfordifferentpurposesthethreetypesofdomicilecanenableavoluntary
changewhenapersonreachesarelevantage.Ifadomicileofchoicelapsesandisnotreplacedthedomicileof
originreassetsitself.Theconceptofdomicileisnotrootedinstatutethusthebasicmatterofanindividual's
domicileisnotdecidedbyanysinglestatutebutratherbycaselawincombinationwithapplicableinternational
lawandstatutesfollowinginaccord.
EnglandandWales
Marriedwomen
TheDomicileandMatrimonialProceedingsAct1973abolishedtherulethatamarriedwomanhadthedomicileof
herhusband(withtransitionalrulesforthosemarriedbefore1January1974).
Minors
TherulesdealingwiththedomicileofminorsaredealtwithbytheDomicileandMatrimonialProceedingsAct
1973.[8]
Scotland
FamilyLaw
Therulesforpersonsunder16fortheparticularpurposesofsomeScottishfamilylawaredealtwithins.22
(Domicileofpersonsunder16)FamilyLaw(Scotland)Act2006butthisdoesnotbyitselffixthedomicilefor
generalpurposes.
NorthernIreland
ThelawinNorthernIrelandisgenerallysimilartoEnglandandWalesbutwithdomesticstatutesapplyingwhich
arenotinevitablycoincident.

AustriaandGermany
HauptwohnsitzisthenameoftheconceptofmaindomicileinAustrianandGermanlaw.However,likeinmany
civillawjurisdictions,theconceptofdomiciledoesnothavethesamebroadscopeinGermanlaw.Instead,many
oftheeffectsthatcommonlawjurisdictionsattachtodomicileareattachedtonationalityunderGermanconflictof
lawsrules.

People'sRepublicofChina
Adomiciledindividualisdefinedasonewho,byreasonoftheindividualspermanentregisteredaddress,family,
and/oreconomicinterests,habituallyresidesinChina.APRCnationalwithaChinesepassportoradomicile
registrationislikelytobedeemedasdomiciledinChinawhetherresidentinChinaornotandthereforeattract
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liabilityforindividualincometaxonworldwideincome.[9]

Seealso
Taxresidence

References
1.http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/081107.ZS.html
2.ConflictofLaws,DiceyMorris&Collins,14thed.,para6R025.
3.ConflictofLaws,DiceyMorris&Collins,14thed.,para6R033and6R074.
4.PrivateInternationalLaw,Cheshire,Northa&Fawcett,14thed.,page157.
5.ConflictofLaws,DiceyMorris&Collins,14thed.,para6R078.
6.SunPrinting&PublishingAssociationv.Edwards,194U.S.377(https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/194/377/)
(1904).
7.[1](http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/international/domicile.htm)
8.TaxationofNonResidentsandForeignDomiciliary12thed2013,JamesKoestlerQC(forUKlaw).
9."China"(PDF).Retrieved20120305.

Externallinks
1.TaxationofNonResidentsandForeignDomiciliariesinUKlaw(http://www.foreigndomiciliaries.co.uk/ind
ex.php/Main_Page)
2.HMRevenueandCustoms(OfficialWebsite)(http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/cnr/hmrc6.pdf)
Retrievedfrom"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Domicile_(law)&oldid=729560372"
Categories: Conflictoflaws
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