California doesn't have a set number of days to be considered a resident. But filing a joint federal return and a joint California return and then a non-resident return for your spouse in North Carolina is a start. Although North Carolina may have issues with it since she earns income there and it sounds like she's actually there more than she is in California. Either way, the California FTB provides the following -
Guidelines for Determining Residency
The underlying theory of residency is that you are a resident of the place where you have the closest connections. The following list shows some of the factors you can use to help determine your residency status.
Since your residence is usually the place where you have the closest ties, you should compare your ties to California with your ties elsewhere. In using these factors, it is the strength of your ties, not just the number of ties, that determines your residency. This is only a partial list of the factors to consider. No one factor is determinative. Consider all the facts of your particular situation to determine your residency status. Factors to consider are as follows:
• Amount of time you spend in California versus amount of time you spend outside California.
• Location of your spouse/RDP and children.
• Location of your principal residence.
• State that issued your driver’s license.
• State where your vehicles are registered.
• State where you maintain your professional licenses.
• State where you are registered to vote.
• Location of the banks where you maintain accounts.
• The origination point of your financial transactions.
• Location of your medical professionals and other healthcare providers (doctors, dentists, etc.), accountants, and attorneys.
• Location of your social ties, such as your place of worship, professional associations, or social and country clubs of which you are a member.
• Location of your real property and investments.
• Permanence of your work assignments in California
(You can get that document here although you have to enter your email address and have it emailed to you.)
@Iiava
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