Proposition 19 inheritance rule continues to be unfair

If you have a house or other property you want to leave to your family, you may not realize that in 2020, when the voters were misled into voting for Proposition 19 (with advertising heavily funded by the real estate industry), a rule was included that, unless your heir moves into the house as their primary residence within a year of inheriting, the property will be reassessed at current market value, greatly increasing property taxes.

This takes away the choice of your heirs to perhaps rent the house for a while before moving in, or spending more than a year fixing it up to move in, or the possibility that they can’t move in time to meet this one year deadline.

A doubling, tripling or more of property taxes would make it impossible for most middleclass heirs to even afford to live in the house after a year, thus forcing a sale.

There is a petition being circulated now to rescind just that part of Proposition 19 and return it back to what it has always been — not reassessing the property if the heir can’t move in within a year. I have signed this as have several family members and friends.

If you want to get this initiative to correct Proposition 19 on the ballot, please call the HJ Taxpayers Association at 916-444-9950. You can also get more information and download a petition at RepealTheDeathTax.com.

The group needs 1.4 million signatures by January to get it on the November 2024 ballot, to let the voters decide on removing this part of Proposition 19 to protect their family inheritance.