A bill

to amend the South Carolina Code of Laws by amending Section 59-112-10(D), relating to the definition for domicile, so as to provide factors to consider when making a determination concerning a person's domicile; and by adding Section 59-112-15 so as to provide that temporary ABSENCE from one's domiciliary solely for the purpose of employment does not change the meaning of a DOMICILE within the meaning of this section.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1.   Section 59-112-10(D) of the S.C. Code is amended to read:

   (D) The word "domicile" shall mean a person's true, fixed, principal residence and place of habitation; it shall indicate the place where such person intends to remain, and to which such person expects to return upon leaving without establishing a new domicile in another state. For purposes of thissection one may have only one legal domicile; one is presumed to abandon automatically an old domicile upon establishing a new one. Housing provided on an academic session basis for students at State Institutions shall be presumed not to be a place of principal residence, as residency in such housing is by nature temporary. When determining a person's domicile, one must look to the totality of the circumstances and consider the following factors:

      (1) a person's address reported on income tax returns;

      (2) a person's real estate interests, including the address for which the legal residence tax assessment ratio is claimed pursuant to Section 12-43-220(c);

      (3) a person's physical mailing address;

      (4) a person's address on driver's license or other identification issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles;

      (5) a person's address on legal and financial documents;

      (6) a person's address on an automobile registration;

      (7) a person's address utilized for membership in clubs and organizations;

      (8) the location of a voter's personal property; and

      (9) whether a person temporarily relocated due to medical care for himself or for a member of his immediate family.

SECTION 2.   Chapter 112, Title 59 of the S.C. Code is amended by adding:

   Section 59-112-15.    Temporary absence from one's domiciliary state solely because of employment does not affect a change of domicile within the meaning of this section.

SECTION 3.   This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.

----XX----