Moving to California

☐State law allows driving on an out-of-state license for no more than 10 days after residence is established; a California license replaces it within that window (Vehicle Code §12505), and driving for employment requires a California license immediately on establishing residency.

☐Vehicles registered out of state are registered with the DMV within 20 days of the owner becoming a resident or the vehicle entering California. The DMV describes residency as presence with intent to live in the state — employment, homeownership, or six months' presence in a year among the indicators.

☐California residents register to vote online at registertovote.ca.gov, on paper, or automatically through the DMV's Motor Voter program; registration closes 15 days before an election, with conditional registration available at county elections offices after that.

☐The homeowners' property tax exemption removes $7,000 of assessed value from an owner-occupied principal residence — a one-time claim (form BOE-266) filed with the county assessor, due February 15 for the full exemption. The claim is also a Bragg closest-connections factor: the same exemption examiners check on the exit side now points at California.

☐Registration requires liability coverage of at least $30,000 for injury or death of one person, $60,000 for more than one person, and $15,000 for property damage (Insurance Code §11580.1b), with evidence of coverage on file with the DMV.

☐Account locations and the origination point of checking and credit card activity are enumerated closest-connections factors — transaction geography that begins accumulating in California from the move date.

☐Where doctors, dentists, accountants, and attorneys are engaged is an enumerated Bragg factor; California engagements generate dated records on the arrival side of the ledger.

☐Social, religious, and professional memberships are weighed by where they are held and used — another Bragg factor that dates the shift of daily life into California.

☐The location of vehicles, valuables, and personal property after the move contributes to the closest-connections pattern; moving inventories and insurance schedules date the relocation.

☐Form 540NR — the same combined return that covers departures — covers the arrival year, with Schedule CA allocating income between the nonresident and resident periods.