What state am I a resident of?

I'm trying to figure out how to do my taxes. I'm originally from California. I went to Michigan for law school, clerked at a firm in New York during my summers because that is where my then-fiancee now-wife was from. While in Michigan I got a Michigan driver's license mainly out of confusion about auto insurance (I bought a car in CA the day before I left for law school, drove it to MI and insured it, and the insurance company told me I needed to provide them a MI driver's license number). In late December I graduated from law school and since then have been living with my in-laws in New York.

Most of my income during 2001 was from my summer job which was in New York, but I lived in New York only during the summer and for the last week of the year. I made some money in Michigan from a part-time job during the school year. I'm confused about my residency because while I'm in New York right now, I'm only living here so my wife can spend some time with her family while I wait to go into the Air Force in a month or two, at which time I will depart for places as yet unknown. So I consider my purposes for being in New York to be definitely "temporary and transitory" (cf CA tax law) and of any state, CA is the one I'm most likely to settle in in the future, but my driver's license and voter registration are in Michigan, and I have a "permanent home" in neither California nor Michigan (I can't afford to maintain a home anywhere right now, much less one I'm not even living in).

Sorry for the length of the message, but I'm pretty confused about my situation. I don't want to claim NY residency because taxes are a bitch here and I don't want to have to pay them if I have no desire or intention of remaining here once I get my orders from the AF, but I don't have any other address to put on my tax forms other than maybe my parents' address in CA. And if I use that, could my refunds be direct-deposited into my bank account which is in NY? Thanks for any guidance you can provide.

Under California Rev & Tax Code Sec. 17014. (a) "Resident" includes:… (2) Every individual domiciled in this state who is outside the state for a temporary or transitory purpose. From the facts you give, you are outside California for a temporary purpose; therefore, you are a resident of California under the general rule.

However, since you have been away from the State for such a long period of time and since you plan on being away for more time, I suggest you download and read The Franchise Tax Board Publication 1031, Guidelines for Determining Resident Status – 2001 at http://www.ftb.ca.gov/forms/01_forms/01_1031.pdf