The California Constitution limits the amount of ad valorem taxes on real property to 1% of the full cash value of that property, defined as the county assessor’s valuation of real property as shown on the 1975–76 tax bill and, thereafter, the appraised value of the property when purchased, newly constructed, or a change in ownership occurs after the 1975 assessment, subject to an annual inflation adjustment not to exceed 2%. Existing property tax law, pursuant to specified provisions of the California Constitution, provides that the purchase or transfer of real property that is the principal residence or a family farm, as those terms are defined, of an eligible transferor in the case of a purchase or transfer between parents and their children, or between grandparents and their grandchildren if all the parents of that grandchild or those grandchildren are deceased as of the date of purchase or transfer, is not a “purchase” or “change in ownership” for purposes of determining the “full cash value” of property for taxation, as provided. Existing law defines “transfer” for these purposes to include, but not be limited to, any transfer of the present beneficial ownership of property from an eligible transferor to an eligible transferee through the medium of an inter vivos or testamentary trust.

Existing law authorizes the establishment of a special needs trust if a court makes specific determinations, including that the minor or person with a disability has a disability that substantially impairs the individual’s ability to provide for their own care.

This bill would revise the definition of “transfer” for purposes of the above-described property tax law provisions to specify that an inter vivos or testamentary trust includes, but is not limited to, a special needs trust.