A House is Not a Home

As we are all aware, a primary residence of an individual's home is exempt if resided in by the spouse. The leading case on the issue of primary residence is In Re Dorrance's Estate 309 Pa 151, 163 A. 303 cert. denied, 288 U.S. 617 (1932).

The In Re Dorrance's Estate case (which involves the Campbell family) held that your primary residence is a place where you can form domiciliary intent and you have a presence. Since domiciliary intent is subjective, it must be determined by objective factors such as where you live, vote, own a car, spend your time, etc. This is in contrast to a residence which is at a place where you may have a home.

Relating to this are the two cases cited in Post 171 that an individual may qualify for Medicaid the moment they are in a jurisdiction. Neither residence nor domicile is required.

However, to determine an individual's primary domicile for exemption of real estate purposes, the guiding case is In Re Dorrance's Estate, cited above.


Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice and each person may have unique facts for which legal consultation may be necessary.

© April 2012, Post 194