Prop 19 does two things. It lets homeowners who are 55 or older, severely disabled, or who lost a home to a wildfire or natural disaster move their low Prop 13 tax value to a new home anywhere in California. And it narrowed the parent-child exclusion: a child now keeps a parent’s tax value only if they move into the family home within a year, and only up to a set limit. Here’s what that means in practice.
Part 1: Taking your tax value with you (base year value transfers)
Who qualifies
You need to meet one of these on the date you sell your original home:
- You’re 55 or older.
- You’re severely and permanently disabled (a doctor certifies it).
- Your home was substantially damaged or destroyed by a wildfire or natural disaster (more than 50% of its value). There’s no age requirement for this one.
Both homes must be your principal residence, and both must be in California. The new home can be in any county.
How many times
Up to three times for age or disability. A couple can use it up to six times, three each. Transfers because of a disaster don’t count toward that limit.
Timing
You must buy or build the new home within two years before or after you sell the original. There’s no extension. If you buy first, you pay taxes on the new home’s full value until the original sells, and that difference isn’t refunded.
What if the new home costs more?
You can buy a home of any value, but the math changes:
- Equal or lesser value: you keep your old taxable value. “Equal or lesser” means up to 100% of the old home’s sale value if you buy before selling, 105% in the first year after, and 110% in the second year.
- Higher value: the difference is added to your transferred value.
The State Board of Equalization’s example: you sell a home worth $400,000 with a taxable value of $100,000, then buy a $600,000 home a year later. The allowed value is $420,000 (105%), so $180,000 is added. Your new taxable value is $280,000 instead of $600,000.
How to claim it
File with the assessor in the county where the new home is, after both sales close and you’ve moved in:
- Age 55+: form BOE-19-B
- Severely disabled: BOE-19-D plus the certificate of disability BOE-19-DC
- Wildfire or natural disaster: BOE-19-V
File within three years of buying the new home (or finishing construction). File later and you still get the lower value, but only from the year you file onward, with no refund for earlier years.
Part 2: Passing a home to your children (parent-child exclusion)
For transfers on or after February 16, 2021, a child keeps the parent’s tax value on the family home only if:
- It was the parent’s principal residence.
- The child makes it their own principal residence within one year of the transfer.
- The child files for the homeowners’ (or disabled veterans’) exemption within one year.
The value limit
The child keeps the parent’s taxable value plus a cap, which rises with inflation. For transfers from February 16, 2025 through February 15, 2027, the cap is $1,044,586. Any market value above the parent’s taxable value plus that cap is added to the child’s taxable value.
Example: a parent’s taxable value is $300,000 and the home is worth $1,500,000. The child can keep up to $1,344,586 of value ($300,000 + $1,044,586) at the old base, so $155,414 is added: a new taxable value of $455,414 instead of $1,500,000.
What no longer qualifies
- Rentals and second homes passed to children are now reassessed at market value. Before Prop 19, parents could pass these on too.
- A home the child doesn’t move into is reassessed.
Family farms have their own version of the exclusion and don’t require the child to live there. Transfers from grandparents to grandchildren qualify only in limited cases, such as when the grandchild’s parents have died.
How to claim it
File BOE-19-P (parent to child) or BOE-19-G (grandparent to grandchild) with the county assessor within three years of the transfer, and before the home is sold to anyone else. Late claims get relief only from the year filed onward.
Before you act
Prop 19 decisions often involve trusts, estate plans and big tax consequences. Talk to an estate attorney or CPA before transferring property. This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice.
How Recoup can help
Recoup Capital doesn’t file Prop 19 claims, but if your home’s market value has fallen below its taxable value, you may be able to lower it with a Prop 8 review. Start a free review and we’ll check.
Sources: BOE: Proposition 19, BOE Letter to Assessors 2024/044: Base Year Value Transfer FAQs, BOE Publication 800-1: Parents and Children (5-25), BOE news release NR 25-02.