Domicile (sometimes termed 'domicil' in the U.S.) is the basis of the choice of law rule operating in the characterisation framework to define a person's status, capacity and rights. The international term for this as a connecting factor is the lex domicilii, i.e. the law of the domicile. Choice of law is a procedural stage in the litigation of a case involving the conflict of laws when it is necessary to reconcile the differences between the laws of different legal jurisdictions, such as states, federated states (as in the US), or provinces. ... In Conflict of Laws, characterisation is the second stage in the procedure to resolve a lawsuit involving a foreign law element. ... The capacity of both natural and artificial persons determines whether they may make binding amendments to their rights, duties and obligations, such as getting married or merging, entering into contracts, making gifts, or writing a valid will. ... This article is about the moral/legal concept. ... The lex domicilii is the Latin term for law of the domicile in the Conflict of Laws. ...

Development of the concept

In early societies, there was little mobility but, as travel from one state to another developed, problems emerged: what should happen if different forms of marriage exist, if children become adult at different ages, etc.? One answer is that people must be given a basic set of rights, like a passport, that they carry with them wherever they go. Hence, if according to their domicile of origin a person has the right multiple spouses, the marriages should not alternate between valid and invalid every time they cross a state boundary where the laws are different. If someone is a minor law|infant and therefore has reduced contractual capacity, that will tend to apply wherever they go. Furthermore, when a person dies, it is the law of their domicile that determines how their will (law) is interpreted, or if the person has no valid will, how their property will pass by intestate succession. Domicile should also be clearly distinguished from nationality (also known as lex patriae) which is the relationship between an individual and a country. Where the state and the country are co-extensive, the two are the same. But where the country is federated into separate legal systems, nationality and domicile will be different. Hence, one might have American nationality and a domicile in Texas. Further, one can have dual nationality but not more than one domicile at a time. This does not prevent a person from having a domicile in one state while maintaining nationality in another country. Unlike nationality, no person can be without a domicile even if stateless. Domicile is being supplanted by habitual residence in the international conventions dealing with Conflict and other private law matters. For the purposes of Public International Law and Private International Law, a state is a defined group of people, living within defined territorial boundaries and subject, more or less, to an autonomous legal system exercising jurisdiction through properly constituted courts. ...

Domicile of origin

A person acquires a domicile of origin at birth. The domicile of a minor (law)|minor) child is that of: # the father if legitimacy # the mother if illegitimate # the individual who has primary parental responsibility (access and custody)|parental responsibility rights if not a parent; or

1. the country in which the child was found if a foundling. Under the law of the United States, where a person's place of birth is unknown, their domicile of origin is "the place to which a person can earliest be traced..

The domicile of origin is absolute and will be the base reference point throughout a person's life. Thus, if a person acquires a domicile of choice but later abandons it, the domicile of origin will automatically revive. During the minority, the child has domicile of dependency, and it changes to match that of the relevant adult.

Domicile of choice

A person who has reached the age of majority, is free to choose a new domicile. This choice is effective when an individual has both:

1. the factum, i.e. unequivocally abandons the old domicile, and
2. the animus semper manendi, i.e. enters a new state with the intent to make it their permanent home.

The latter is very difficult to prove because most people retain affection for their previous state and think that they may one day return. Even if a domicile of choice is found to have arisen, it will be lost as soon as either the factum or the animus is lost. At this point, the domicile of origin revives.