The benefits of becoming a Florida resident are many, including not having to pay state income tax, estate tax, or inheritance tax. In addition, the state offers favorable property and trust laws.
Of course, there are the technical steps new arrivals need to take to establish residency, such as buying a home, getting a Florida driver’s license, filing a change-of-address form, and spending more than six months outside of your former state of residence.
But sometimes that isn’t enough.
“Although you would think that those examinations for domicile audit purposes would be based on the amount of time you spend in that state, or where you have the bigger home and things of that sort, it really comes down to where your heart is,” he said. “That’s a very subjective issue, and oftentimes where your heart is, is where your philanthropy is.”
If recent arrivals are philanthropically inclined, Ballerano often advises them to re-direct their giving where they now reside, most often, Palm Beach or Martin counties. The reaction to that advice often comes with a shrug, he said.
“I just moved here,” is a common refrain. “Where do I even begin?”
That’s when Ballerano will connect his clients with the Community Foundation. They have a 50-year history, a robust staff that can help with research, and can match individuals to causes that they’re passionate about. It can be an impossible task to sort through all the area’s nonprofits on their own, he said.
“There’s likely something on the palate at the Community Foundation, and they could pick up their brush and really make a mark on the community, make a mark on behalf of their family, leave a legacy,” Ballerano said. “And in the process, fulfill a legal requirement that they actually have, in fact, moved not just themselves physically, but they’ve moved their focus and their heart, if you will, to Florida because this is where they’re now invested.”
In addition, Ballerano has found clients appreciate plugging into the community through the Community Foundation beyond the tax reasons, which may have been the original driver of the decisions to get involved.
“The social part of it and the community involvement part of it is even as rewarding, if not oftentimes more rewarding, than just a technical legal reason,” he said.
