Prop 19 and your property tax base.
Proposition 19 did two separate things under one name. It lets a homeowner 55 or older move anywhere in California and bring a low property tax base along. And it sharply narrowed what a child can inherit. Both rules turn on the same question a reverse mortgage does: who actually lives in the home.
Two rules under one name
Find the sentence that sounds like you. The rest of the page is split the same way.
“We want to move, but our property tax would triple.”
This is the base year value transfer. If you are 55 or older, you can sell, buy a different primary residence anywhere in California, and carry your existing taxable value to it.
“What happens to the taxes when the kids get the house?”
This is the parent-child exclusion, and it is far narrower than it was before 2021. The low base survives only for a child who moves in, and only up to a cap.
Take the tax base with you
Effective since April 1, 2021. Filed with the county assessor where the new home sits, on form BOE-19-B.
The rules, plainly
- You or your spouse is 55 or older when the original home sells. Severely disabled homeowners and victims of a wildfire or natural disaster also qualify.
- Both homes are your primary residence, and the new one can be in any California county.
- You buy or build the replacement within two years of the sale.
- You can do this up to three times.
- If the new home costs more than the old one sold for, the difference is added to the base you bring. Buy for the same or less and the base moves over unchanged.
Where a reverse mortgage fits
The tax base solves the tax bill. It does nothing about the price of the new home. A HECM for Purchase handles that half: you put roughly 55 to 70 percent down, depending on age, plus closing costs, and finance the balance with no required monthly principal and interest payment while you live there.
You land with the low tax bill and with a large part of your sale proceeds still in the bank. In every case the borrower remains responsible for property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and home maintenance. Failing those obligations can make the loan due and payable.
How HECM for Purchase works →
Estimate the cash you would bring →
The low base survives only for a child who moves in
Effective since February 16, 2021. Filed on form BOE-19-P, together with the homeowners’ exemption.
The rules, plainly
- The home was the parent’s primary residence, and a child makes it their own primary residence within one year.
- The protected amount is the parent’s taxable value plus $1,044,586. Market value above that sum is added to the base.
- A home kept as a rental or second home is fully reassessed. Before 2021 it was not. This is the change that surprises families.
- File late and the exclusion applies only going forward, so the first bills arrive at the higher figure.
An inherited Pasadena home is worth $1,500,000. The parents’ taxable value was $310,000. A daughter moves in within the year and files the claim. Protected value: $310,000 plus $1,044,586, or $1,354,586. Only about $145,000 is added to the base, so the tax bill rises modestly. Had the family rented it out instead, all $1,500,000 would be taxed.
Illustration only. Your assessor calculates the actual figures.
Where a reverse mortgage fits
“Keep the house” usually fails for one reason: the child who wants it cannot buy out the brothers and sisters. If that child is 62 or older, or 55 or older on a jumbo program, a reverse mortgage on the inherited home can fund the buyout with no required monthly principal and interest payment.
The same fact qualifies both the loan and the tax exclusion: the child lives there. Title comes first, then the loan, and the one-year clock keeps running the whole time, so the two timelines are planned together.
In every case the borrower remains responsible for property taxes, homeowner’s insurance, and home maintenance. Failing those obligations can make the loan due and payable.
Sell, move, or keep it in the family
| What you do | What Prop 19 does | The deadline that matters |
|---|---|---|
| Stay put and take a reverse mortgage | Nothing changes. A loan is not a change of ownership, so there is no reassessment. | None |
| Sell and buy another California home at 55 or older | Your taxable value moves to the new home. Any extra price is added on. | Buy or build within two years of the sale |
| Leave the home to a child who moves in | Your taxable value plus $1,044,586 is protected. Value above that is added. | Child occupies and files within one year |
| Leave the home to children who rent it out | Full reassessment to market value. | Not applicable |
I am a mortgage broker, not a tax advisor, and nothing here is tax or legal advice. Your county assessor decides every Prop 19 claim. The dollar figures on this page change on the dates shown, so confirm them with the assessor or the Board of Equalization before relying on them.
Prop 19 questions I hear most
Can I keep my low property taxes if I move to another county?
Do my children keep my tax base when they inherit the house?
How does a reverse mortgage fit with Prop 19?
Does taking a reverse mortgage cause a reassessment?
Do you file the Prop 19 claim for me?
Written by Kenneth M. Adler
Broker & Owner, Ideal Financial, Inc. · 30 years in California lending · NMLS #240317 · CA DRE #01216608
Published September 18, 2026 · Last reviewed September 18, 2026
Every page on this site is written and maintained by me: the same person who answers the phone, runs your numbers, and handles your file start to finish. No call center, no hand-offs, no lead-selling. More about how I work →
The rest of the reverse mortgage library
Each page below covers one decision in full, rather than a paragraph of it. Start wherever your question is.
Moving, or keeping a parent’s home?
Tell me which, and I’ll lay the loan timeline over the Prop 19 deadlines so neither one is missed.
- A call back the same business day, usually within a few hours
- Your figures in writing before you commit to anything
- Glad to work alongside your attorney or tax advisor
Fifteen minutes. Real numbers. Then you decide.
Tell me the scenario and I’ll tell you honestly whether this is the right tool. If it isn’t, you’ll leave the call knowing why, and I’ll point you at whatever is.
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