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Article: The importance of domicile in asset preservation planning.
- Article from:
- Florida Bar Journal
- Article date:
- November 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Florida Bar. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A debtor, regardless of state of residence, can seek protection from his or her creditors in the federal bankruptcy courts. However, the state in which the debtor resides or, more accurately, is "domiciled" will determine which assets the debtor may keep and which must be turned over as part of his or her bankruptcy estate.
From a common law perspective, a person may have more than one place of residence, but only one domicile. Generally, there is the "domicile of origin," which is the permanent residence of a person's parents; "domicile by operation of law," which is the place the law attributes to a person, independently of his or her chosen domicile, such as a ...