Domicile (law)

In law, domicile is a term that designates where a person resides for purposes of determining certain legal questions. For example, in order for parties to invoke the diversity jurisdiction of a United States Federal Court, the plaintiffs may not have the same domicile as any defendant. Furthermore, when a person dies, it is the state of his or her domicile that determines how his or her will is to be interpreted, or absent a valid will, how his or her property will pass by intestate succession.

A person may have onle one domicile at a time. The domicile of a minor child is that of its parents, or of the parent who has primary custody over the child. A new domicile is attained when an individual unequivocally abandons his or her old domicile and enters a new location with the intent to make it his or her home for the foreseeable future.