Proposition 19, enacted in California in 2020, considerably altered the principles governing property tax assessments on inherited properties. Prior legislation allowed transfers of property between mother and father and kids (and grandparents to grandchildren, if the mother and father had been deceased) to retain the unique property tax base. Now, with restricted exceptions, the property’s assessed worth is reassessed at market worth when transferred, even inside households. This transformation has substantial implications for inherited properties held inside trusts. If a property in a belief is transferred from father or mother to youngster (or grandparent to grandchild with deceased mother and father) and the kid doesn’t transfer into the property as their major residence inside one yr, the property can be reassessed at market worth, resulting in probably greater property taxes.
Understanding these modifications is important for property planning and wealth preservation. The power to switch property inside households with out triggering a reassessment was a key instrument for generational wealth switch. Proposition 19 considerably curtails this means, making it important for households to rigorously think about the tax implications of holding and transferring property, particularly by means of trusts. This alteration has reshaped the panorama of inheritance in California and requires people and households to re-evaluate their property plans to attenuate potential tax burdens.