There is a second deadline that is shorter and easier to miss. The child who is going to keep the house must occupy it as their own principal residence and claim the homeowners' exemption, or the disabled veterans' exemption, within one year of the transfer. That is a separate filing with the same county assessor, and it is what proves up the residence requirement that Prop 19 now imposes on both sides of the transfer. Counties also expect a change in ownership statement to be filed after a death, so the assessor learns about the transfer whether or not you volunteer it — filing your exclusion claim late because you hoped nobody would notice is not a strategy. Practically, the right sequence is to record the deed or trust transfer document, file the change in ownership paperwork, claim the homeowners' exemption as soon as the child is genuinely living there, and submit BOE-19-P with the supporting death certificate and trust documents. Do all of it in the first few months, while the file is still open and the documents are on your desk.
Prop 19 & Inherited Property Tax · California
Where do I file for the Prop 19 parent-child exclusion and what is the deadline?
You file Form BOE-19-P with the assessor of the county where the property is located, and the deadline is three years from the date of transfer or before the property is transferred to a third party, whichever comes first. There is no statewide filing office and no way to do it through the probate court or the trust administration; it goes to the county — Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, wherever the parcel sits. If the transfer is from a grandparent to a grandchild, the form is BOE-19-G instead. The "whichever comes first" language is the trap. If the family sells the house eighteen months after death and nobody filed the claim, the window closed at the sale, not at the three-year mark, and the exclusion is gone along with any refund of the higher taxes already paid.
This page is general information about California law, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Figures and deadlines change, and every family’s situation is different. Last reviewed August 2026.
Related Questions
The questions this one leads to.
How much value is excluded from reassessment under Prop 19?
Your parent's factored base year value plus $1,044,586 for transfers from February 16, 2025 through February 15, 2027. A worked California example.
Read the answerDoes Prop 19 apply to grandparent-to-grandchild transfers?
Yes, and the exclusion is available only if the middle generation has died. What a California grandchild must prove, and which form the claim goes on.
Read the answerCan I keep my parents' low property taxes when I inherit their house?
Only if you move in. California's Prop 19 parent-child exclusion now requires the home to become your own principal residence. What that takes, explained.
Read the answerNext Step
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