1. a dwelling place : place of residence : home 2. Law a : a person's fixed, permanent, and principal home for legal purposesThis means the county where the Decedent lived and considered their primary home address before they died. Domicile refers to the place you call home permanently. Your domicile is important for legal purposes such as paying taxes, voting, and claiming benefits. Domicile is a fancy word for the place where you live. Whether it's a mansion on 5th Avenue or a tee-pee in the desert, if you live in it, it's your domicile. Residence means living in a particular locality, but domicile means living in that locality with intent to make it a fixed and permanent home. The common question is, "What does domicile mean? In law, domicile is the status or attribution of being a lawful permanent resident in a particular jurisdiction.