Picking Your Home State as a Cruiser

Introduction

Maintaining a domicile or home address is an important aspect of cruising still. It affects insurance, healthcare, taxes, voting, etc. There are a lot of other considerations to take into account as well. Some states make the process easier than others. Some are more convenient for cruisers over RViers but there is a lot of crossover.

How it works

At the most basic level this is a permanent address that you can receive mail at, that also allows you to get your driver’s license and use for registration. A person can only have one domicile, and it is used as their home state.
It does impact things like taxes, health care, jury duty, registration etc.

It is not a simple task to move domicile everytime the boat is moving around and is generally not a good idea to use a marina even if you can receive mail there. It can take a little time to make a change like this and some states you need to spend at least a night in. It is also important to establish one there by having services like doctors, lawyers (estate planning), banks, storage units, friends etc. At the very least be planning on going back to the state on a semiregular basis at least.

There was at least one story out there of a couple that chose South Dakota as their domicile, went through the process. Stayed the night there got everything setup and registered. They then got sued by their previous state for taxes saying they were never fully got established in their new state. I don’t know the validity of this story but something to consider either way.

There are certain states that make the process a lot easier and some of those have specialized services more focused for cruisers. While South Dakota is a popular state for RViers, I think the requirement of being even occasionally present for a person living on their boat rules it out for the most part. Obviously if it works for you then great.

Most states also require certain proof of address, and to be present at least to get a driver’s license. Each state will have their own list of documents necessary for this. I have found that most will accept VA letters if receiving va compensation, Banks, certain utility like services. Like I would imagine that Starlink address would be sufficient as an additional document. Banks and the VA are generally really easy to update and have available.
Some of this can be done before showing up to the state to get your driver’s license as well.

It is also helpful to pick one of the dedicated mail forwarding services that are available. While UPS stores can work in a lot of cases, they do tend to have some difficulties around vehicle registration even if they work for driver’s licenses. This tends to be because they get flagged as a commercial address. Also, the dedicated services tend to have better services like scanning letters. Including opening and scanning letters. Easier to manage mail forwarding as well.

Breakdown by State

Florida

Florida tends to be the most popular for this of most states. They have no income tax, lower registration fees for vehicles/boats. Do plan on at least spending a night in Florida when making the shift. Once the box is set up and some mail received then it is fairly straightforward process to go in get your ID and then register vehicles/boat.

Mail Services

Saint Brendan’s Isle - This tends to be the most popular among cruisers.
Escapees RV Club - While a little more focused on RViers still works well for cruisers.
My RV Mail - Like escapees more dedicated to RViers but still works well for cruisers.

Florida Pros

No state income tax.
No personal property tax.
No annual vehicle inspection requirement / Or emissions testing.
Resident discounts to state parks and theme parks like Disney World.
It is more or less a hub for boating on the East Coast so there are a lot more services for cruisers generally available across the state.

Veteran Pros

50% rating and above can get a free Hunting & Fishing license.
100% P&T can get a 5-year Hunting & Fishing license.
If declared 100% P&T while resident of Florida then dependents can get a Tuition Waiver.
Property Tax Exemption - If wanting to own property.
Free state park admission.
100% can get free DV License plate and free Driver’s license (P&T not required).

Cons

Hurricanes, I think is kind of the obvious one here for cruisers.
Higher insurance rates for everything, boat, car etc.

Get it done

It is arguably a little easier when doing the initial steps to go in person to the local county where your address is. From that the easiest is St. Brendan’s Isle for cruisers as you can go over to Green Cove Springs just south of Jacksonville. The other options work, but may require a car ride inland. The state does allow all services to be done in any county so long as residency can be proved so it may not be an issue.

Texas

Texas is not quite as popular for this as Florida but is still up there. Similar benefits with the no income tax and low registration fees. A bit of a unique advantage has to do with the Escapees rv club having their headquarters in Livingston. Makes certain things a lot easier there as the local government is very accustomed to people establishing domicile there. Also makes dealing with jury duty easier as they have an option specifically for RViers there.

Mail Services

Escapees RV Club - Is really the only option in texas worth considering.

Texas Pros

No state income tax.
Much cheaper marinas than other areas including for liveaboard.
Lot more generally liveaboard friendly than other places.

Veteran Pros

50% and above can get a free state Hunting and Fishing license.
50% and above get free state park entry.
Property Tax Exemption - If wanting to own property.
60% and above can get a free Driver’s license, or state id card.
50% and above can get a free License plate.

Cons

It is a little harder to get out of Texas when cruising. There are also not a lot of day sail or weekend destinations.
The veteran dependent tuition waiver (the Hazlewood act) really kind of sucks, it is only 150 hours and the veteran had to have enlisted in Texas to get.

Get it done

Similar to Florida any DMV will work. Just better to make an appointment.

Washington

Washington is an interesting one. Most of these kinds of lists don’t really talk about it at all. Not sure if that is an accurate representation of the popularity of maintaining the state as your home. I consider Washington as home, for more than just having a solid mail forwarding. The state is beautiful and worth spending some time in.
It does have some downsides, mostly around the cost of everything there as it is rather expensive in general.

Mail Services

Dockside Mail - Really good service, helped get everything setup easily and quickly. Their downside is they can’t forward medications legally so they don’t.
Mountainside Mail - Same company as Dockside just out in Sequim

Washington Pros

No state income tax.
No vehicle inspections or emissions.
Vehicle registration can be done by mail.
Beautiful in the summer.
No hurricanes.

Veteran Pros

Property Tax Exemption - If wanting to own property.
Tuition waiver for eligible veterans.
100% P&T dependents get full tuition waiver for undergraduate and some graduate studies (school dependent).
30% and above get free lifetime state parks pass, this also allows free mooring (up to a limit) at state parks that have mooring.
30% and above get reduced fee Fishing and Hunting license.
100% get exempt licensing fee on one vehicle with plates good for the life of the vehicle.

Cons

If spending time in Puget sound on a boat, it can be a little less liveaboard friendly than other areas.
Even without income tax, other taxes in the state, sales, fuel taxes are very high compared to other places.
It is a little hard to get to if not already there, The west coast in general tends to not be as cruiser friendly as the east coast.
Winter in the Puget sound is not that pleasant, but it is manageable and one can stay on their boat year round there. It does get gray, dark and rainy for months.

Get it done

Like the other states in this list, any DMV in the state can do the licensing. I found that Port Angeles was the quickest to get an appointment at. There is also a Marina there that isn’t too far from the DMV if necessary to go that route. Dockside though specifically is at Shilshole marina and is worth at least checking out.

Additional Considerations

Any state can work if they provide the services necessary in that state and that it works in your particular situation. There are of course a few general considerations:

Mail forwarding: If you can’t find a mail forwarding service that also provides a physical address that can register at then it makes everything else excessively difficult. This service should at least be able to forward mail to anywhere. As cruisers this should be able to ship letters internationally for those that plan to travel out of the US.
Taxes: Of course this should be a consideration, no income tax for those that are still impacted by income taxes either working or on other benefits. Of course any other taxes the state leverages to make up for not having income tax. Like excessive property taxes (if going to own property) or sales tax etc.
Health Insurance: For most this is an important consideration as they still need some kind of health insurance.
Even working remotely what is available in different states will have different coverages.
Insurance: This has a pretty huge impact these days as your home state tends to be where your insurance is going to be set at. The coverages while traveling should be enough and there is a lot of variance in this. For boats that home port in areas that typically don’t have hurricanes may not have any coverage for a hurricane if they end up in an area that does get them.
Veteran Benefits: Obviously this applies to veterans, but it is still a consideration when figuring out what state to domicile in as to what benefits you can have. Things like tuition waivers for dependents, or even just free Hunting & Fishing licenses maybe important.
Other considerations: Can include things like homeschooling rules if you have kids, estate and inheritance regulations.

Summary

Be prepared to take some time on this. As it takes some time to get all the addresses updated in a reasonable fashion. There really isn’t anyway of getting out of the requirement of at least traveling to your home state for your ID at least. The process is generally pretty easy and there isn’t a lot to it in the end. The great thing too is that it doesn’t have to be a permanent switch if things in your situation change and maybe a different state would work better. Then again it is pretty easy to be generally lazy with this and just go with whatever setup works and not overthink it too much.