Joan Rivers’ Separate Residence and Domicile

As I have previously discussed, Joan Rivers’ will recently became public. In addition to leaving her assets to a trust and naming her estate’s executors, her will also notably split her domicile and residency between separate states. Her will named her state of residency as New York and then named California as her domicile. California is often a preferred domicile for celebrities due to New York’s high estate tax, while New York has a preferable probate process for residents due to speedy resolution and simplicity.

See Darla Mercado, Joan Rivers’ Estate Planning Gambit: A New York State of Residence, Investment News, Dec. 11, 2014.