[tobeafamily]

Tough question for two reasons.

1. Only the Active Duty Servicemember can claim a Home of Record that's different from the state they're living in. This governs payment of payroll taxes and where individual state taxes are filed. They may also establish residency in another state - by getting a drivers' license, changing registration of vehicles, purchasing real estate, etc. Family members are not exempt, they are expected to establish residency wherever they live by doing similar things. If they work, payroll taxes are paid to the state income is earned in, and tax returns are filed there.

2. In almost every state, you'll need to abide by post-placement supervision. So even if you are legal residents of California but don't live there, supervision must take place in California or you must get permission through ICPC to do supervision (because the child is leaving the state while legally still a ward in need of supervision) in Kansas then transfer back to California for finalization.

In the grand scheme of things, I would apply the KISS rule - Keep It Super Simple. ICPC is not awful, it may delay your leaving the state of birth by days or weeks. It can be stressful, but is not the worst thing in the world. If you can stay with family or friends in California, it might even be fun to have an extended visit with your newborn and extra hands to help.

For us, DH's HOR was FL. Mine was and still is VA. We followed the 'rules' of Virginia and Texas, where our son was born. Even though we chose to finalize in Texas (a state that allows nonresidents to finalize), we still had to go through ICPC because post-placement was being done in VA.

Does this help?

Regina