[Newbiesaukee]

I am not an attorney, but you cannot just choose which state is your legal residence unless you can comply with the state requirements for legal residency. This does vary from state to state. On the surface, the idea that one spouse can be a NH resident and the other choose to be a FL resident makes no legal sense,assuming the couple lives together.

As with many things, you can do it, but you would not be able to defend it if push came to shove.

I have been a legal resident of FL for,many years, I worked there , I vote there, my cars are registered there. It is my home. Yet, I have personal knowledge of individuals having to prove where they lived the most days of the year to establish residency. Usually, this is the case in which a resident of a highly taxed state purchases property in FL and claims FL residency. FL does not care but the state losing th revenue does.

As with the IRS your chances of getting caught are slim, but it is not pleasant if you are.

There are gray areas in all this, but to claim legal residency in a state, you do need to be a resident.