Divorce and Your California Property Tax: What Changes and What Does Not
When a California marriage ends, the family home usually goes to one spouse, is refinanced to pay the other, or is sold. Each of those steps records a deed, and each raises the same question: does the Proposition 13 assessment survive? For transfers between the spouses themselves the Revenue and Taxation Code answers yes, without conditions, and the documentary transfer tax act adds an exemption of its own. This page sets out the rules, the recital the deed must carry, who keeps the Homeowners' Exemption, and what a former spouse over 55 can carry to the next home.
Quick answer
A transfer of the home between spouses, during the marriage or under a divorce judgment or settlement, is not a change in ownership (§63): the Prop 13 value is unchanged whether or not money is paid. The deed is exempt from documentary transfer tax under §11927 when it carries a recital signed by either spouse. Registered domestic partners have the same exclusion (§62(p)). The spouse who stays keeps the $7,000 Homeowners' Exemption; the spouse who leaves claims it on the next home. A sale to a third party is taxed and reassessed as usual.
Seven divorce steps and what each does to the assessment
| Step | Reassessment? | Documentary transfer tax? | Form |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deed the home to one spouse under the judgment or settlement agreement | No — §63 | No — §11927, with the signed recital on the deed | BOE-502-A |
| Refinance to cash out the departing spouse | No — §63; a loan is not a change in ownership (§62(c)) | No | BOE-502-A if a deed records |
| Equalizing payment for the departing spouse's half | No — §63 excludes any interspousal transfer and sets no condition about payment | No inside §11927; outside a judgment or agreement, 55¢ per $500 of the payment | BOE-502-A |
| Both spouses stay on title as tenants in common after the divorce | No — no interest has moved | No | None |
| Sell the home and split the proceeds | Yes — the buyer's purchase is an ordinary change in ownership | Yes — paid on the sale (§11911), plus any city tax | BOE-502-A by the buyer |
| Departing spouse buys a new home | The new home is assessed at its purchase price (§110.1); a 55+ owner may transfer the old base under §69.6 | Paid on the purchase | BOE-502-A; BOE-19-B for the §69.6 transfer; BOE-266 |
| Registered domestic partners dissolve the partnership | No — §62(p) | No — §11927 applies to community property; some cities add an express domestic-partner exemption | BOE-502-A |
The interspousal exclusion (§63)
Revenue and Taxation Code §63 provides that a change in ownership does not include any interspousal transfer, and lists the cases: transfers to a trustee for the beneficial use of a spouse, or the surviving spouse of a deceased transferor, or by such a trustee to the trustor's spouse (§63(a)); transfers that take effect on the death of a spouse; transfers to a spouse or former spouse in connection with a property settlement agreement or a decree of dissolution of marriage or legal separation; the creation, transfer or termination of a co-owner's interest solely between spouses; and the distribution of a legal entity's property to a spouse or former spouse in exchange for the other's interest. The exclusion has no value limit, no residency condition and no filing deadline: it is not a claimed exclusion like the parent-child rule, it is simply not a change in ownership. §62(p) extends the same treatment to registered domestic partners, including on dissolution of the partnership.
Because no change in ownership occurs, there is no supplemental assessment and no new base-year value: the factored value continues to grow by at most 2% a year under Proposition 13.
Documentary transfer tax: §11927 and the recital
The state act's exemption for divorce divisions, in full:
(a) Any tax imposed pursuant to this part shall not apply with respect to any deed, instrument, or other writing which purports to transfer, divide, or allocate community, quasi-community, or quasi-marital property assets between spouses for the purpose of effecting a division of community, quasi-community, or quasi-marital property which is required by a judgment decreeing a dissolution of the marriage or legal separation, by a judgment of nullity, or by any other judgment or order rendered pursuant to the Family Code, or by a written agreement between the spouses, executed in contemplation of any such judgment or order, whether or not the written agreement is incorporated as part of any of those judgments or orders.
(b) In order to qualify for the exemption provided in subdivision (a), the deed, instrument, or other writing shall include a written recital, signed by either spouse, stating that the deed, instrument, or other writing is entitled to the exemption.
Two practical points follow. The recital is a condition, not a formality: a deed between former spouses without it is taxed on any consideration over $100 at 55¢ per $500 (§11911), and the recorder will ask for the exemption claim on the face of the deed. And the exemption covers community property divided under the Family Code; a transfer of one spouse's separate property to the other for a price is tested under §11911 like any other sale (though still excluded from reassessment by §63). In the 27 cities with their own transfer tax the city ordinance has its own exemption list; the transfer tax page links each city's code.
The Homeowners' Exemption after the split (§218)
The $7,000 Homeowners' Exemption belongs to the dwelling its owner occupies as a principal residence, so a person can hold it on one home at a time (§218). After the divorce the spouse who remains on title and in the home keeps it with no new filing. The spouse who moves out is no longer an occupying owner of that home; on buying or inheriting a new principal residence they file BOE-266 with that county's assessor (by February 15 for the full amount, or by December 10 for 80%, under §255 and §275). If the departing spouse was the named claimant, notify the assessor: an exemption allowed to someone who no longer qualifies is a ground for an escape assessment (§531.6).
Over 55: carrying the old base to the next home (§69.6)
Proposition 19 lets an owner who is 55 or older, severely disabled, or displaced by a disaster transfer the factored base-year value of a sold principal residence to a replacement home anywhere in California, bought within two years, up to three times (no limit for disaster victims) (§69.6). A divorcing spouse who co-owned the home that is sold qualifies in their own right; a spouse who kept the home under §63 and sells later qualifies then. If the replacement costs more than 100/105/110% of the old home's value (depending on timing), an amount is added to the transferred base (§69.6(e); the statute's text and the BOE's guidance measure it differently, see the Prop 60/90 page). The property tax transfer guide and the Prop 19 calculator cover the claim (BOE-19-B) and the arithmetic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a divorce trigger property tax reassessment in California?
No. Revenue and Taxation Code §63 excludes transfers between spouses, including a transfer to a spouse or former spouse in connection with a property settlement agreement or a decree of dissolution or legal separation. The spouse who keeps the home keeps the Proposition 13 base-year value and the factored value exactly as they were. Registered domestic partners have the same exclusion under §62(p).
Does it matter that I paid my ex for their half of the house?
Not for the reassessment: §63 excludes "any interspousal transfer" and names transfers under a settlement agreement or decree of dissolution (§63(c)) without any condition about payment, so an equalizing payment or a refinance that cashes out a former spouse does not create a change in ownership. It can matter for documentary transfer tax if the deed is not part of the divorce: outside §11927, a payment over $100 is taxed at 55¢ per $500 (§11911). Inside a judgment or a written agreement made in contemplation of one, §11927 exempts the deed when it carries the signed recital.
Is there transfer tax on the deed between divorcing spouses?
Not if it divides community, quasi-community or quasi-marital property under a divorce or legal-separation judgment, a judgment of nullity, another Family Code order, or a written agreement executed in contemplation of one, and the deed includes a written recital signed by either spouse claiming the §11927 exemption. Cities with their own transfer tax (Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and others) have matching exemptions; most require their own exemption statement on the deed.
Who gets the Homeowners' Exemption after a divorce?
The exemption attaches to a dwelling occupied by its owner as a principal residence (§218), so each person holds it on one home at a time. The spouse who stays in the home and remains on title keeps it; the spouse who moves out loses it on that home and may claim it on a new principal residence by filing BOE-266 with that county's assessor. If the departing spouse's name was on the existing claim, tell the assessor so the exemption is not later found to have been incorrectly allowed (§531.6).
I am over 55. After the divorce can I carry my old tax base to a new home?
If you were an owner of the home that is sold, yes, within Proposition 19's rules in §69.6: the replacement home must be bought within two years of the sale, anywhere in California, and the base-year value carries over unchanged up to 100/105/110% of the old home's value (depending on timing), with an amount added above that line (§69.6(e); the statute and the BOE guidance measure it differently; see the Prop 60/90 page). The transfer may be used three times in a lifetime (disaster victims are not limited). A former spouse who kept the home and later sells it has the same right. The property tax transfer guide and the Prop 19 calculator work the numbers.
What forms are filed?
A Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (BOE-502-A) with the recorded deed (§480.3), with the interspousal box checked; the §11927 recital on the deed itself; and BOE-266 by a spouse claiming the Homeowners' Exemption on a new home. No supplemental assessment is issued because no change in ownership occurred.
Learn More
Sources: Revenue and Taxation Code §§62(c), 62(p), 63, 69.6, 110.1, 218, 255, 275, 480.3, 531.6 and 11911–11934, Legislature's bulk data (build of October 18, 2026); §11927 is quoted verbatim, the rest paraphrased with the section cited. Board of Equalization Property Tax Rule 462.220 (interspousal transfers) and forms BOE-502-A, BOE-266 and BOE-19-B. Educational information, not legal or tax advice; divorce also raises income-tax (basis, §1041 of the Internal Revenue Code) and Family Code questions that are not property tax.
Last reviewed: October 2026.