Proposition 19 is labeled the Property Tax Transfers, Exemptions, and Revenue for Wildfire Agencies and Counties Amendment. Sounds good, right? However, what it really does is extremely harmful for property owners. Since 1986, California residents have been able to transfer their principal residence and limited other property to their children without increasing their property taxes (Prop 58).
Proposition 19 will remove property tax protections for all properties transferred from parents to children, except for a home if it is used by the children as their principal residence. This initiative makes the same changes to Proposition 193, a similar ordinance involving transfers from grandparents to grandchildren.
Proposition 19 will ruin the opportunity to provide your children with financial stability and take away a valuable estate planning tool. You worked hard for what you have in life, and you should be able to give that property to your children without the property tax equivalent of additional “estate taxes.”
Robert E. Slavin, Esq.- President of Assessment Counselling Services, which has specialized in Property Tax Consulting for over 34 years.
Assessment Counselling Services, LLC