“Guess they’ll just stay in Florida then.”
I think for the most part they live close to family and have maintained a vacation home elsewhere. I understand you have to be out of California for 18 months before you can avoid state income tax. Even then, if you’re still a member of a church or have a bank account there, you’re taxed. Eventually, all of the harshest rules will be universally applied.
I interviewed with a CEO who runs a company in Florida, but whose wife lives in New Jersey close their kids. He fly’s home on the weekends. He said the audit was hell and they made the argument that even though he owns a house in Florida he really lives in New Jersey and commutes to Florida. I don’t know how it came out.
Actually you only end up with an issue in CA during the year of split residency. I was transferred to MD from CA. I documented how much was earned in each state and filed appropriately. It helped that it was a clean break (no residual houses, cars, or voting). I kept a small account open by accident, but that was not a problem. I had adequate documentation to show that I had clearly moved.
What I did see in CA was people working in CA and declaring legal residency in NV. It works pretty well if you follow the checklists and behave yourself.