2021 Georgia Code
Title 19 - Domestic Relations
Chapter 2 - Domicile
§ 19-2-1. Place of Domicile; How Domicile Changed, Generally
- The domicile of every person who is of full age and is laboring under no disability is the place where the family of the person permanently resides, if in this state. If a person has no family or if his family does not reside in this state, the place where the person generally lodges shall be considered his domicile.
- The domicile of a person sui juris may be changed by an actual change of residence with the avowed intention of remaining at the new residence. Declaration of an intention to change one's domicile is ineffectual for that purpose until some act is done in execution of the intention.
(Laws 1838, Cobb's 1851 Digest, p. 530; Code 1863, §§ 1644, 1650; Code 1868, §§ 1689, 1694; Code 1873, §§ 1690, 1695; Code 1882, §§ 1690, 1695; Civil Code 1895, §§ 1824, 1829; Civil Code 1910, §§ 2181, 2186; Code 1933, §§ 79-401, 79-406.)
Law reviews.- For note discussing the constitutional implications of higher nonresident tuition fees charged by state universities, see 8 Ga. St. B.J. 86 (1971).
JUDICIAL DECISIONSANALYSIS
- General Consideration
- Role of Jury
- Application
Domicile is broader and more fundamental concept than mere residence. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 91.
Domicile means one's fixed and permanent place of abode, to which, when one is absent therefrom, one intends to return. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 91; 1963-65 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 375.
Person's domicile is principally question of intent; one acquires domicile by residing in a particular place with the intention of remaining there indefinitely; taking up temporary residence in other places, even for long periods of time, will not result in loss of one's domicile as long as the intent to return prevails. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 144.
Residence and domicile distinguished.- Residence means living in a particular locality; domicile means living in that locality with the intent to make it a fixed and permanent home. Residence requires only physical presence as an inhabitant in a given place, while domicile requires presence in that place as well as an intention to make it a domicile. A new domicile cannot be acquired simply by change of residence without an intention to abandon the old domicile. A person may continue to be domiciled in this state even though actually residing in another state. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 65-22.
One cannot change domicile by merely assuming residence in new location without intention to remain there; physical presence in the new location must coexist with the requisite intention to remain there. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 91; 1963-65 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 375.
Change of domicile requires physical move and intention to remain.- In order to change one's domicile it is necessary that one move from one's old domicile and become a resident in the proposed new domicile with the intention to remain there permanently or at least indefinitely. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 91.
Domicile retained until officially established elsewhere.- Person, having established domicile within this state, will retain the person's domicile here until the person officially establishes domicile in another state. 1976 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 76-70.
Temporary residence does not change domicile.- Temporary residence of a person with the person's family in another county while the person was performing a contract in that county does not result in a change of domicile. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 92.
Temporary residence of wife and family for special purpose.- While it is provided that the domicile of a married man shall be the place where his family resides, the wife or the wife and family may, for purposes of temporary convenience or for the purpose of educating the children, reside for a long time at a place not intended as a permanent abode, without effecting any change of legal residence; this for the reason that while there is a physical removal, there was never, on the part of those who moved, an intention to abandon a former domicile. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 92.
One may have two or more residences at same time, but every person has but one domicile. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 91.
Extension of land into district immaterial as to domicile.- Fact that a candidate's land extends into a district is immaterial; in order to qualify as a candidate from that district, one's house must be within the boundaries of that district and one must be physically present in that district. 1968 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 68-273.
Members of armed forces never lose their domicile merely by joining service, and in response to military orders, moving about from state to state or abroad; they retain the domicile they held at the time they entered the service, unless they indicate that it is their intention to remove their domicile to some other state in which they are residing. 1958-59 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 91.
While a person in military service may change the person's domicile, the mere enlistment in the armed forces and transfer by military order does not necessarily change the domicile. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 65-22.
No change effected when military personnel have no intent to change domicile.- That a legal resident of a county is absent from the county in the military service of the United States for a long period of time with no intent to change the person's residence does not effect a change. 1945-47 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 478.
Military personnel intending to remain in Georgia.- If one moved to Georgia with intention of remaining when returning from military, one may consider Georgia one's domicile. 1965-66 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 66-190.
Noncitizens of United States may acquire domicile in Georgia for purposes of attending state supported college or university. 1960-61 Op. Att'y Gen. p. 128.
RESEARCH REFERENCES
Am. Jur. 2d.
- 25 Am. Jur. 2d, Domicile, §§ 1, 19 et seq.
Nonestablishment of Domicil in Foreign Jurisdiction, 4 POF2d 595.
Establishment of Person's Domicil, 39 POF2d 587.
C.J.S.- 28 C.J.S., Domicil, §§ 2, 15 et seq.
ALR.
- Acquisition of domicile in countries (such as China, Turkey, and Egypt) granting extraterritorial privileges to foreigners, 39 A.L.R. 1155.
Significance of place where one votes or registers to vote on question as to his domicile or residence for other purposes, 107 A.L.R. 448.
Change of domicile by public officer or employee, 129 A.L.R. 1382.
Residence or domicile for purposes of venue statute of student, teacher, or inmate of institution, 132 A.L.R. 509.
Domicile or residence of person in the armed forces, 150 A.L.R. 1468; 151 A.L.R. 1465; 152 A.L.R. 1462; 153 A.L.R. 1434; 154 A.L.R. 1460; 155 A.L.R. 1461; 156 A.L.R. 1459; 157 A.L.R. 1457; 158 A.L.R. 1464.
Effect on jurisdiction of court to grant divorce, of plaintiff's change of residence pendente lite, 7 A.L.R.2d 1414.
Acquisition of domicile by sending wife or family to new home, 31 A.L.R.2d 775.
Validity and application of provisions governing determination of residency for purpose of fixing fee differential for out-of-state students in public college, 56 A.L.R.3d 641.
