Definition of Domicile: (noun) / a fixed, permanent residence and principal home to which a person wherever temporarily located always intends to return
Plain English translation: One’s domicile is one’s primary residence.
Under New York estate law, you can have multiple residences (a home, country home, ski house, beach house), but you can only have one domicile.
Your domicile is important in several ways. One of those ways, as it relates to estate law, is whether New York courts have jurisdiction over your estate. If you pass away domiciled in New York, then New York has jurisdiction over your estate. If you die as a domiciliary of Florida, then Florida has jurisdiction. There are other ways New York can have jurisdiction over one’s estate, but domicile is the primary factor.
