Hawkins v. Masters Farms, Inc.
United States District Court for the District of Kansas
2003 WL 21555767 (D. Kan. 2003)
Creal was killed in Kansas in a collision with a tractor driven by an employee of Masters Farms, Inc. (defendant), a Kansas resident. Before his death, Creal had lived with his mother in Missouri, but he later moved into a house in Kansas with his wife, splitting living costs and bringing most of his belongings there. He still kept a Missouri driver's license, had applied for a loan and car title in Missouri, and received paychecks at his mother's Missouri address. Hawkins, representing Creal's estate (plaintiff), sued in federal court, claiming diversity jurisdiction on the theory that Creal was a Missouri citizen and Masters Farms a Kansas one. Masters Farms moved to dismiss, arguing there was no diversity because Creal was actually domiciled in Kansas.
Whether a person who has moved to a new state and established a home there, but who still maintains some administrative contacts (license, loans, mail) with his former state, is domiciled — and therefore a citizen, for diversity purposes — in the new state.