Domicile of Choice in UK Law

Although it is helpful to trace Andreas's life events chronologically and to halt on the journey from time to time to take stock, this question cannot be decided in stages. Positioned at the date of death in February 2003 the court must look back at the whole of the deceased's life, at what he had done with his life, at what life had done to him and at what were his inferred intentions in order to decide whether he had acquired a domicile of choice in England by the date of his death.

(2) Secondly, special care must be taken in the analysis of the evidence about isolating individual factors from all the other factors present over time and treating a particular factor as decisive. They all make interesting reading, but a comparison of the facts of one domicile case with the facts of another domicile case is of limited assistance in deciding this case.

First, the deputy judge underestimated the enduring strength of Andreas's Cypriot domicile of origin. This led him to focus too much attention on how specific Andreas's plans were after 1995 to return to live permanently in Cyprus and too little attention on whether Andreas intended to live permanently or indefinitely in England.

Given that a person can only have one domicile at any one time for the same purpose, he must in my judgment have a singular and distinctive relationship with the country of supposed domicile of choice. That means it must be his ultimate home or, as it has been put, the place where he would wish to spend his last days.

However those criticisms have also led me to conclude that there is a fundamental flaw in the judge's reasoning. As Dicey states, any circumstance, that is evidence of a person's intention to reside permanently or indefinitely in a country, must be considered in determining whether or not that intention existed (see [8(vii)] above). This is in line with the basic rule of evidence that an inference must be consistent with all the relevant proved or admitted facts.

In my view, all the talk of ceasing to live in England and returning to live in India, as his home, was no more than a pipe dream after the seven month period, and he knew it. His intention, from immediately after the return in November 1970, was to live permanently and indefinitely in England, for it was here that his wife, together with their then two children, was determined to live. Practical effect was given to that intention by the purchase of 30 Colin Gardens in July 1971.

I reject Mr. Ewart's submission that it is appropriate for me to decide this question by analogy with the English law rules relative to the acquisition of a domicile of choice.