Updated September 12, 2026
Use this checklist to organize an actual move out of Washington and the records supporting it. Completing paperwork does not, by itself, establish a new domicile. The Washington relocation guide explains the legal analysis; this page focuses on what to do and what to keep.
Document the move as it happens
Washington’s capital-gains-tax domicile rule requires physical presence in the new location and intent to make it your permanent home. An established domicile is presumed to continue until a new one is acquired. See WAC 458-20-301(6)(c).
Keep dated records that reflect your actual circumstances, including continuing Washington ties. No single address change, declaration, home purchase or day count settles the question.
Before the move
- Review the timeline. Give your advisers the expected move, signing, sale and payment dates. Identify any tax or legal decisions that must precede them.
- Check destination requirements. Confirm deadlines for licensing, vehicle registration and other filings before moving. Do not assume every state allows 30–90 days.
- Arrange the new home. Keep the purchase or lease documents and utility records. Document when you begin living there.
- Plan for Washington property. Record whether you will sell, rent, retain or continue using it. Retained housing needs analysis; selling it is not a universal prerequisite.
- Open a move file. Include a dated timeline, housing records, travel records, household arrangements and correspondence about the move.
During the move
- Keep moving records. Save invoices, inventories, delivery confirmations and travel receipts. For a self-move, retain rental records and dated photographs where useful.
- Record where belongings go. Include important personal possessions and any items remaining in Washington or in storage. Record the facts without treating any one possession as decisive.
- Update mail delivery. Arrange appropriate forwarding and keep the confirmation.
- Begin the location log. Track Washington visits, including partial days, with supporting travel records. Assemble the full taxable year’s history, including days before the move. Identify gaps or estimates.
Complete the required updates on time
- Licenses and vehicles. Follow applicable deadlines and registration rules for where vehicles are actually kept and used. Save dated confirmations.
- Voting and local filings. Follow registration eligibility and cancellation requirements. Consider domicile declarations or homestead filings only where available and appropriate; statements must be accurate.
- Accounts and tax correspondence. Give banks, brokers, employers and business entities accurate address information. Use Form 8822 when appropriate to notify the IRS of an individual address change.
- Insurance. Tell insurers where you live, how each property is used and where vehicles are garaged. Retain updated policies.
- Estate and family arrangements. Have counsel review whether estate documents need changes. Document where your spouse or partner and children actually live, including reasons for separate arrangements.
- Daily life and work. Keep records of genuine changes in healthcare, schools, employment, business activities and memberships. Do not create nominal relationships simply to fill a file.
Maintain the record
- Continue the location log. Retain supporting records and review the applicable annual residency tests with your adviser.
- Revisit remaining Washington income. A move does not automatically eliminate every Washington tax obligation. Beginning in 2028, review Washington workdays and continuing business or pass-through income with your adviser, applying the income tax’s sourcing rules and exceptions, including part-year proration in the year of the move. See ESSB 6346 §§401–406. For Washington’s capital gains tax, long-term stock-gain allocation follows domicile at the sale or exchange. See the nonresident stock-sale explanation.
- Keep statements accurate. Loan applications, insurance records, tax filings and public statements should reflect the actual facts. Correct errors rather than trying to maintain a misleading account of the move.
- Confirm retention periods. Keep records through applicable assessment periods, including extensions and exceptions, and while relevant to later years. Ask your adviser before discarding the file.
A simple location-log format
| Date | Places visited | Any time in Washington? | Work performed and location | Supporting record | Uncertainty to resolve |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ______ | ______ | ______ | ______ | ______ | ______ |
Enter trips as they happen and reconcile the log with available travel and transaction records. Include partial days and identify incomplete information. Let your adviser apply the relevant counting rules; a spreadsheet total alone does not decide domicile or residency.
Keep a second list of continuing Washington connections, including housing, family arrangements, and work. Accurate documentation includes facts that complicate the analysis. Use the relocation guide to distinguish the legal questions this file helps answer.
Review the completed file
Before a significant transaction, ask counsel to review the timeline, residence and travel records, family arrangements and continuing Washington ties. Identify missing evidence and unresolved facts.
Announcements and accurate records
An accurate announcement can support evidence of intent, but it does not establish or backdate a domicile change. Distinguish a planned move from a completed one, and describe what happened and when.
Discuss your move
For help reviewing a planned move or its timing around a transaction, book a planning call.
This checklist provides general information, not legal or tax advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Please do not send confidential or time-sensitive information before an engagement is established.
