Domicile of Choice in Private International Law

Domicile of choice is the one an individual can acquire by his own choice. And to acquire such domicile proof of abandoning his origin domicile, mental intention to reside for a long term & habitual residence & physical presence etc. are inevitable.

1. CONFLICT OF LAWS DOMICILE OF CHOICE BY ADV. CAROLINE ELIAS

2. DOMICILE OF CHOICE An independent person can acquire a domicile in a place of his choice. The capacity to acquire such domicile is decided by the law of the existing domicile. The essentials to be fulfilled for the acquisition of the domicile by choice :- (1) A habitual residence in the country where domicile is sought to be acquired. (2) An intention to live in the country of the domicile of – choice permanently . The Indian Succession Act 1925 in its Sec.10, explains that a person acquires a new domicile by taking up his fixed habitation in a country other than the domicile of origin. Factum et animus - To constitute a change of domicile, there must be: factum – i.e. the bodily presence & animus i.e. the intention of residing permanently / for an indefinite period.

3. In Loicis De Raedt v. Union of India A foreigner who continued to stay in India by seeking a regular extension of his permissible stay for specified periods is not a sufficient indication to show that he intended to make India his domicile of choice. A person claiming a certain place as a domicile of choice has to prove that there was sufficient intention in him to make that place where he is habitually resident for sometime and long period of time. (1) RESIDENCE : But residence, does not mean residence at the same home or at the same place for the entire period. It is not a temporary stay, as in a visitor, tourist or a bencher. It just means bodily presence at a place, for reasons other than temporary. However, a long period of residence does not ensure domicile; neither is a short stay as a negative on domicile.

4. In Ram narayan’s Case Supreme Court held that a person’s domicile could not be established on the basis of his family’s residence at a particular place. Along with the intention to take domicile, the physical factum of residence has to be established on behalf of that person. Here in this case, while the applicant’s intention to take domicile in India, post-partition, has been established, since there was an absence of the factum on his part, he continued to be domiciled in Pakistan . If a person has not abandoned his domicile of origin, but has expressed his indication to have domicile of choice at a place where he goes and stays for a certain period of time. Since the new place of residence is not yet his chief residence, such acquisition of the new domicile is not of any legal consequence, until he has proved that such acquisition has become his chief residence.