As discussed in the June 2021 installment of this column, the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has indicated that it intends to audit those individuals who file their 2020 or 2021 tax returns reflecting a change in their domicile from New York state. While each case will turn on its own particular facts, the central question in determining whether an individual has changed domicile is whether that person intends to and took the actions consistent with that intent. The recent Surrogate’s Court case Matter of Estate of Matarazzo, No. 2021-55 (Sur. Ct., Orange County, July 20, 2021), addresses whether a person with dementia can form the requisite intent to change domicile. Interestingly, the issue arose not in connection with a personal income tax audit, but in the context of a probate proceeding.
In Matarazzo, one son (GM) had petitioned the court to probate the decedent’s purported will in New York. However, the other son (JM) moved to dismiss the petition on the basis that the court lacked jurisdiction, claiming that the decedent was a New Jersey domicile (where a different purported will was in probate). The facts were largely uncontested between the parties.
