Upon death or any other transfer of real estate in California you need to evaluate if a PT-58 form is required. It is the document which tells the county assessor that a transfer has been made, of real property, between a parent and a child.  This will preserve the parent’s property tax assessment or basis.  This is also known as the “prop 13 basis.”  Likewise if a transfer is between a grandparent and a grandchild a similar exclusion is available in some cases.  This should be done within 3 years of the transfer and always done BEFORE any sale or transfer to an outsider. This is imperative!  Failure to file this with the county assessor in the appropriate county will create unnecessary property taxes now and into the future.

The rules allow the transfer of the personal residence AND $1,000,000 of other property at it’s assessed value.

There can certainly be value in hiring a professional to assist with this as it is easy to mess up!

Contact me to discus your parent-child and grandparent-grandchild transfers!

-John