How to deal with not having a physical address while cruising

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by jb2c

Shouldn't you set up residence address in the state with the best tax advantages for your particular situation?

Seems like UPS deliveries would be quite troublesome!

see above, the two issues are separate.

Any letterbox service will accept and forward packages, but of course that costs

Best when ordering stuff, use a Mailing address direct to a local receiver, where you plan to be then.

Your DR listed with the gov agencies and financial providers is the only one should be consistent and stable.

but yes, choose your DR state first based on tax, medical insurance whatever

[somanyboats]

I use the physical address of the Post Office and list the box as (# 222 ) for example. Never have had any issues.

[conchaway]

For a modest fee, I will accept your mail (No bomb sized packages, please).
Respond with a pm.

[CarinaPDX]

In Oregon anyone who has established residency and then travels out of state uses their last residency address for voting, etc. I did that for 16 years of cruising, no problem. I do not recommend using friends or family unless you are absolutely certain that they are trustworthy and reliable; my brother's procrastination cost me my lifetime guaranteed renewal with State Farm. That was only in the first few months; after that I used a private mailbox service and recommend that approach highly. Even today my drivers license shows my physical address (marina slip - liveaboard) and my mail address - I have no way to receive mail through the marina, although the harbormaster would certainly pass the occasional letter on to me if it happened.

After 9/11 the postal service got finicky about identifying private mailboxes as "PMB (number)", not Apt. or Suite. I think they are a bit more tolerant now but the postal rules still call for PMB. I have never had a problem with banking, credit, or any other financial institution, although they do need a physical address for the record.

Some people in advance of cruising move to a state that doesn't have income taxes and/or low taxes/fees on their boats, to establish residency. Fortunately for me Oregon is very inexpensive for boat registration, and once transient and out of the state for more than a year income taxes no longer are owed (as a "special case resident", as long as there is no Oregon home or Oregon-sourced income, and visits are less than one month a year). The larger point is to do your research as sometimes your own state may be friendlier than you think.

Greg

[SouthernPride]

Get a UPS address and use "Unit" before the box number. UPS presents their locations as a residence or business address. Have your SS checks automatically deposited using the same UPS address as your home address.

You can also use a marina address with your slip number as your mailing address.

UPS will forward your mail though.

[john61ct]

So many posters on these topics just have no clue about the recent trends on these issues post 9/11. REAL ID ring a bell?

Lots of government agencies and financial providers' databases use frequently updated blacklisting filters

for the specific purpose of **refusing to accept** any commercial mail forwarding services address as your legal "residential" **domicile** address.

Doesn't matter how you try to "format" it, or leave out the legally required PMB. Not under the control of the commercial services which agencies or companies will continue to let it slide in the future.

Again, the legal "residential" domicile address issue has **nothing** to do with mail delivery issues.

Yes, get a good **mail forwarding** service for that purpose. It should IMO be close to your domicile address, at least in the same state.

And Escapees or SBI's provided **domicile address** - if that's the state of residence you want for legal purposes - may well continue to be "good enough", with explicit State court-based acknowledgement of our Nomadic status.

But down the road, maybe not!

No commercial service has control over which agencies or companies may blacklist them in the future. Nice thing is, they do have lawyers to help try to resolve such issues.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by john61ct

.......

Yes, get a good **mail forwarding** service for that purpose. It should IMO be close to your domicile address, at least in the same state.

......

Why are you giving this advice? Your residence and mailing addresses are independent. Select a mail forwarding service by the quality and price of their services. We rarely have anything actually forwarded. St Berendens in Fla has low cost, easy scanning of our incoming mail, so we deal with it online. It makes no difference that our residence is Washington state and our mailing address is Florida.

[friz]

Originally Posted by jb2c

Shouldn't you set up residence address in the state with the best tax advantages for your particular situation?

Seems like UPS deliveries would be quite troublesome!

SBI-Florida, no state income tax. Escapees Club-Texas, no state income tax. This may be a place to start.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Why are you giving this advice? Your residence and mailing addresses are independent. Select a mail forwarding service by the quality and price of their services. We rarely have anything actually forwarded. St Berendens in Fla has low cost, easy scanning of our incoming mail, so we deal with it online. It makes no difference that our residence is Washington state and our mailing address is Florida.

That's good to hear, I've always kept them close, figured fewer questions. And decent forwarding-only services are not hard to find in most populated areas.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by john61ct

That's good to hear, I've always kept them close, figured fewer questions. And decent forwarding-only services are not hard to find in most populated areas.

Yea, but very few have the scanning technology that St Brendens has. It is not easy to be cruising and then get packages of mail forwarded to you. It is expensive overseas, often unreliable and you are stuck sitting somewhere waiting for the mail to arrive - if ever. Something that was common while cruising before the Interweb era, but needed now.

[Lepke]

Now I only go to Canada and Alaska. I use a commercial mailbox company. They forward my mail in a box, the cheapest way, when I tell them. I get no urgent mail. Some states have a problem with a po box and no physical address, but eventually they succumb to the facts. I have a private dock without mail service.
Most of the issue is the police want an address to come get you.

[john61ct]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Yea, but very few have the scanning technology that St Brendens has. It is not easy to be cruising and then get packages of mail forwarded to you. It is expensive overseas, often unreliable and you are stuck sitting somewhere waiting for the mail to arrive - if ever. Something that was common while cruising before the Interweb era, but needed now.

No scanning to email has been bog standard for years, and ordered packages of course should be sent direct to where you specify if the seller has no int'l option.

But I am not saying SBI isn't fantastic, just that I consider the forwarding issue to be relatively straightforward.

The legal Residential address is the greater challenge and more important to get correct.

Yes SBI / Escapees solution for that may well also be as good as friend /family into the foreseeable future. I've had to change mine three times in 35 years when living overseas, so I am more cautious than most on the domicile issue.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by john61ct

......

But I am not saying SBI isn't fantastic, just that I consider the forwarding issue to be relatively straightforward.

The legal Residential address is the greater challenge and more important to get correct.

......

I agree, you look at price and service for mail forwarding/scanning and pick one.

As far as determining where and how you pick a residence state it really depends on each individuals circumstances. There's no way to make a list and say this generic choice is good.
It also isn't that complicated for most cruisers either. Their incomes are typically not huge, so taxes are not that different - 10% of a little is a little. Health care at the ACA level is pretty consistent over states (choices vary, and not medicaid). You have a right to vote in the last state you were a resident. Drivers .icenses last for a long time, as do passports. I have not had any trouble using an address of a friend/family/last actual along with an out of state mailing address.

[john61ct]

Agree with all that, especially friend/family domicile

except for this

Originally Posted by Paul L

Health care at the ACA level is pretty consistent over states (choices vary, and not medicaid).

And administration of other social safety net programs, varies **very** widely by state.

Perhaps not a concern of many here, but when it is important, that factor is just as critical if not more, than taxation issues are for those with high passive incomes.

[sailorchic34]

Originally Posted by john61ct

So many posters on these topics just have no clue about the recent trends on these issues post 9/11. REAL ID ring a bell?

Actually I at least understand about the Real ID. I just can't get one. Luckily the IRS, Social Security and a few other federal folks that I deal with do take a PO BOX, if you don't have a physical address.


Even better California allows you to get a non RealID compliant drivers license. They do offer the "RealID" as well. So not a problem. I have a passport which oddly works just fine as a government ID even though it does not list an address.


The "Real ID" thingy is an optional license, at least in the states I checked. So it's not mandatory and you have the option of having a non RealID ID as well. You just will not be allowed in fed government buildings or fly without it or a pass port. I suspect most folks here have a passport.



Fun Fact: There are places in California (and other states) that are so far away from a post office that their only option is a PO BOX. That is, there isn't a mail carrier to their physical address