Residency and Domicile

New York has a statutory residence test: a permanent place of abode and more than one hundred eighty-three days makes a resident. California has nothing comparable. What California has instead is a definition turning on whether presence is for a temporary or transitory purpose, a six-month provision that operates as a safe harbor rather than a threshold, and a nine-month presumption that can be rebutted.

The consequence is that residency is decided on facts and circumstances, and the connections maintained inside and outside the state become the evidence. Where the residences are and what they are worth. Where a spouse and children live and where the children attend school. Where the days are spent and why. Where returns are filed and what residence they claim. Where accounts and transactions originate, where vehicles are registered, where licenses are held, and where business interests are owned.

Domicile is the harder half. It is a separate concept from residence, it is driven by intent, a person holds only one at a time and retains it until another is acquired, and it determines whether income is community or separate. A departure planned around days alone often fails for that reason.

Timing decides outcomes. Whether a liquidity event was realised before a change in status, during it, or after it is frequently worth more than every other fact in the file combined.