domicile

= domicil

1) The country or place of a person's permanent home, which may differ from that person's nationality or place where they are a resident. Domicile is determined by both the physical fact of residence and the continued intention of remaining there. For example, a citizen of a foreign country who is resident in the UK is not necessarily domiciled there unless there is a clear intention to make the UK a permanent home. In order to prove that the domicile of origin has been relinquished in favour of the domicile of choice, tangible changes have to be made. Links with the domicile of origin must be severed and active steps taken to become involved with the country that is the domicile of choice, e.g. by making a will under its laws. Under the common law, it is domicile and not residence or nationality that determines a person's civil status. Whether a person is domiciled in the UK may affect their liability to UK taxation. A corporation may also have a domicile, which is determined by its place of registration.

2) In banking, an account is said to be domiciled at a particular branch and the customer will usually treat that branch as his or her main banking contact. Computer technology, however, now allows customers to use other branches as if their account was domiciled there.