Benefits of Florida Residency

What Is a Florida Resident?

A Florida resident is an individual whose primary residence is in Florida. A person may own and use homes in different states, but that person is a Floridian if his principal residence or domicile is located within the state of Florida.

You do not have to own a house in Florida to be a resident. You may establish Florida residency in a rental apartment, a condominium, or even on a houseboat.

How to Establish Florida Domicile

Your domicile is in Florida if you consider your Florida address as your principal residence, or the place you call “home.”

We often explain to our clients that they become permanent Florida residents when they are at a point where the phrase “going home” means they are returning to their place in Florida.

Florida residency depends on your demonstrated intent. You are a Florida resident the day you show you intend to make Florida your home.

Asset Protection Benefits of Florida Residency

Many of our clients have recently moved to Florida to protect their assets against a civil judgment. Florida law protects several types of personal assets from a creditor’s collection of a civil judgment. Assets that a creditor cannot reach in Florida are referred to as exempt assets. The Florida Constitution, Florida statutes, and Florida court decisions create many classes of exempt assets. 

The best-known asset exemption is the Constitutional Florida homestead. Your principal residence is protected against creditors with no limit on its value.

Florida statutes exempt from creditors other valuable assets, including earnings of a head of household, annuities, retirement money, and life insurance.

Florida court decisions have created an effective exemption for marital property owned tenants by the entireties. Entireties assets are exempt from judgments against either spouse, but they are not exempt from joint judgments.

Income Tax Benefits of Florida Residency

Florida is one of a few states that does not have a state income tax.

Most of our clients  are familiar with the so-called “183-day rule.” The rule is used to determine your primary residence for tax purposes in a particular year. Most taxing states will require you to pay state income tax if you reside or work in the state for most of a tax year.

The core concept is that if an individual stays within an income tax state for at least six months and one day (or 183 days) during a tax year, they may be deemed a tax resident of the income tax state and subject to its tax laws. Understand that the days in the taxing state are cumulative, not necessarily consecutive.

Many of our clients ask us how Florida computes or verifies that they live in Florida for 183 days during a tax year. The answer is that their current taxing state, not Florida, determines state tax residency. Because Florida has no tax, the state does not monitor your length of Florida residency.

We direct our clients to their tax professional in their current taxing state to advise them about compliance with their state’s income tax residency enforcement.

Estate Tax Benefits of Florida Residency

The federal government imposes an estate tax of 18% to 40% on taxable estates worth more than approximately $13 million (2024) per person and about $26 million per married couple. In addition, most states impose additional death taxes payable to their state taxing authority.

For instance, Hawaii and Washington have an estate tax rate that can be as high as 20% (2025).

Florida has no estate tax. For this reason, many wealthy people establish Florida residency to minimize the overall tax on their assets at death.

Other Benefits of Florida Residency

Florida residency has several non-legal benefits. In addition to obvious warm weather, Florida offers relatively low-cost tuition at state universities as well as a Bright Future Scholarship Program where residents can pre-pay college tuition and expenses at a discounted price.