I got out of CA in 2005 (to Washington), but have been back for the past 13 months dealing with the mother-in-law’s estate. Leasing the house in WA out for a second year while we sort this mess out in L.A. So far I’m still maintaining that I’m a WA resident... renewing my car stuff remotely, paying business taxes online in WA, and so on. We’ll see what happens.
“I got out of CA in 2005 (to Washington), but have been back for the past 13 months dealing with the mother-in-law’s estate.”
Best of luck there. Staying under the radar helps. You might want to take a look at the book “How to be Invisible”, you might find some good tips there. There’s an earlier edition that’s on the web for free as a PDF (with the author’s permission).
My first thought is to try to live with some roommates and pay them cash for your bedroom. I forget the rules, but it’s something like if you’re there more than 3 weeks in a row, without a 3 week break period in between, you become a resident, at least in the business world.