Property Tax Alert: Proposition 19 Undermines Proposition 13 and 58

StakerLaw Property Tax Alert: California voters recently passed Proposition 19. Hidden is a provision that dramatically restricts a parent from passing along their low Proposition 13 property tax base to their children. After February 15, 2021, the low property tax base can only be passed along for the “family home” and only if the child makes it his or her primary residence and only up to $1,000,000 beyond the present assessed value. Thereafter, the child will not be able to rent out the home without triggering a property tax reassessment. In the past and until February 15, 2021, a parent can give their primary residence of unlimited value plus $1,000,000 in additional real estate (valued at the low property tax basis). This is a tremendous advantage to children who want to keep the real estate after the parent is gone. Therefore, if you believe your children are not going to sell and will want to rent out any of your real estate, you should consider giving it to them before February 15th. However, we believe we can structure this transfer so you can continue to live in your home or continue to receive rents from real estate for the rest of your life. To achieve these goals, we can assist in making this happen, but please understand this will take some very serious work on our part. If you are interested in transferring your real estate now (and you believe your children will not sell your real estate now and when you pass away), please send us an email at prop19 at staker.com or call us at 805-482-2282.