Joint Tenancy With Right of Survivorship: What It Does to California Property Tax
A joint tenancy with right of survivorship lets the surviving owners take a deceased owner's share without probate. For California property tax the question is different: whether creating, changing or ending the joint tenancy is a change in ownership that resets the Proposition 13 base-year value. Revenue and Taxation Code §65 answers it with one idea, the original transferor, and this page walks through it with the statute's own words.
Quick answer
Creating a joint tenancy is not a change in ownership if you stay on title as one of the joint tenants (§65(b), §62(f)); you and your spouse become the “original transferors”. Nothing is reassessed while an original transferor survives and keeps the interest. When the last original transferor dies, the whole portion they held is reappraised (§65(c)) unless another exclusion, such as the Prop 19 parent-child exclusion (§63.2), applies. Any joint tenancy among people who bought or inherited together reassesses only the share that passes (§65(a)).
The rule: R&T §65
§65(a) starts from the general rule, with partial reappraisal:
(a) The creation, transfer, or termination of any joint tenancy is a change in ownership except as provided in this section, Section 62, and Section 63. Upon a change in ownership of a joint tenancy interest only the interest or portion which is thereby transferred from one owner to another owner shall be reappraised.
Subdivision (b) is the exclusion most owners rely on, and it defines the original transferor:
(b) There shall be no change in ownership upon the creation or transfer of a joint tenancy interest if the transferor or transferors, after such creation or transfer, are among the joint tenants. Upon the creation of a joint tenancy interest described in this subdivision, the transferor or transferors shall be the “original transferor or transferors” for purposes of determining the property to be reappraised on subsequent transfers. The spouses of original transferors shall also be considered original transferors within the meaning of this section.
Subdivisions (c) and (d) decide what happens when an interest ends, by death or by deed:
(c) Upon the termination of an interest in any joint tenancy described in subdivision (b), the entire portion of the property held by the original transferor or transferors prior to the creation of the joint tenancy shall be reappraised unless it vests, in whole or in part, in any remaining original transferor, in which case there shall be no reappraisal. Upon the termination of the interest of the last surviving original transferor, there shall be a reappraisal of the interest then transferred and all other interests in the properties held by all original transferors which were previously excluded from reappraisal pursuant to this section.
(d) Upon the termination of an interest held by other than the original transferor in any joint tenancy described in subdivision (b), there shall be no reappraisal if the entire interest is transferred either to an original transferor or to all remaining joint tenants, provided that one of the remaining joint tenants is an original transferor.
§65(e) presumes, rebuttably, that every joint tenant holding an interest on March 1, 1975 is an original transferor; joint tenancies created after that date get no presumption. §62(f) repeats the creation rule in the general exclusions list.
Seven joint tenancies, and what §65 does to each
| Situation | Reassessed? | Original transferor(s) |
|---|---|---|
| You own a home alone and deed it to yourself and your adult child as joint tenants | No (§65(b)): you remain a joint tenant, so you are the original transferor | You |
| Spouses own a home and add their adult child as a third joint tenant | No (§65(b)); both spouses are original transferors ("the spouses of original transferors shall also be considered original transferors") | Both spouses |
| One of those spouses dies; the survivor and the child continue as joint tenants | No: the interest vests in a remaining original transferor (§65(c)); between spouses also §63 | The surviving spouse |
| The last surviving original transferor (the parent) dies; the child owns the home alone | Yes, the whole portion the original transferors held, unless the parent-child exclusion (§63.2) applies (§65(c)) | — |
| The child (not an original transferor) deeds their interest back to the parent while the parent is alive | No: the entire interest goes to an original transferor (§65(d)) | The parent |
| You sell a half interest to a friend and take title together as joint tenants | Yes, the half sold: the friend paid for it, and only the interest transferred is reappraised (§65(a), §65.1) | You, for your remaining half |
| Three siblings inherit and hold as joint tenants; one dies and the interest passes to the other two | Yes, the one-third that passed; none of them is an original transferor because the joint tenancy was not created by a transferor who stayed on title | None |
“Reassessed” means a new base-year value at market value for the portion that changed ownership, with a supplemental bill for the rest of the fiscal year. Transfers between spouses are also excluded on their own by §63, and between registered domestic partners by §62(p); see interspousal transfers.
Adding a child as joint tenant: the part people miss
Putting an adult child on the deed as a joint tenant is excluded at the time (§65(b)), and the child takes the home by survivorship without probate. But the child is not an original transferor, so when the last parent dies §65(c) reappraises everything the parents held, not a half or a third. Whether the Prop 13 value survives then depends on the parent-child exclusion (§63.2, Prop 19): the home must have been the parent's family home, the child must make it their family home within one year, and the exclusion is limited to the old taxable value plus the Board of Equalization's adjusted allowance. Other property passing the same way, such as a rental or a second home, is reassessed in full unless it is a family farm, which §63.2 treats separately. The Prop 19 calculator estimates the new value.
Transfer tax and forms
- Documentary transfer tax. A gift or a transfer at death is exempt, §11930: “Any tax imposed pursuant to this part shall not apply to any deed, instrument, or other writing which purports to grant, assign, transfer, convey, divide, allocate, or vest lands, tenements, or realty, or any interest therein, if by reason of such inter vivos gift or by reason of the death of any person, such lands, tenements, realty, or interests therein are transferred outright to, or in trust for the benefit of, any person or entity.” A joint tenant who pays for their share owes the county tax and any city transfer tax on the consideration.
- BOE-502-A with any recorded deed that creates or changes a joint tenancy: the Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (§480.3).
- BOE-502-D after a joint tenant dies, within 150 days of the death (§480(b)): the transferee files it in each county where the decedent owned real property, whether or not the transfer is excluded. BOE-19-P for the parent-child exclusion, within three years (§63.2(f)).
Frequently Asked Questions
Does creating a joint tenancy trigger property tax reassessment in California?
Not if you stay on title. Under R&T §65(b), there is no change in ownership on the creation or transfer of a joint tenancy interest "if the transferor or transferors, after such creation or transfer, are among the joint tenants." You become an "original transferor", and so does your spouse. A joint tenancy you create and then leave (deeding the whole property to two other people as joint tenants) is a change in ownership like any other transfer.
What happens to property tax when a joint tenant dies in California?
It depends on who the joint tenants were. When an original transferor dies and the interest vests in another original transferor (typically the surviving spouse), there is no reappraisal (§65(c); transfers between spouses are also excluded by §63). When the last surviving original transferor dies, §65(c) reappraises "the interest then transferred and all other interests in the properties held by all original transferors which were previously excluded": for a parent who added a child, that is the parent's whole original holding, not just a share, unless the Prop 19 parent-child exclusion (§63.2) applies.
If I add my child to my deed as a joint tenant, is the house reassessed?
Not when you add them: you stay on title, so §65(b) applies and you are the original transferor. The tax question comes when you die. Your interest then passes to the child by survivorship and is reappraised under §65(c) unless the parent-child exclusion applies; under Prop 19 (§63.2) that requires the home to be the parent's family home and the child to make it their family home within one year, and the exclusion covers the old taxable value plus the Board of Equalization's adjusted allowance; value above that is added to the base.
Is only the deceased joint tenant's share reassessed?
Usually yes: §65(a) says that on a change in ownership of a joint tenancy interest "only the interest or portion which is thereby transferred from one owner to another owner shall be reappraised," and §65.1(a) applies the same rule to partial interests. The exception is the original-transferor joint tenancy in §65(b): when the last original transferor's interest ends, §65(c) reappraises everything the original transferors held that was excluded before.
Do I pay documentary transfer tax to create or end a joint tenancy?
Not on a gift or a transfer at death: §11930 exempts a deed that transfers realty "by reason of such inter vivos gift or by reason of the death of any person". Adding a joint tenant who pays for their share is a purchase of that share, and the county tax (55 cents per $500, §11911) and any city tax apply to the consideration.
What forms are filed for a joint tenancy?
A Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (BOE-502-A) with any recorded deed that creates or changes a joint tenancy (§480.3). When a joint tenant dies, the Change in Ownership Statement — Death of Real Property Owner (BOE-502-D) is due within 150 days of the death (§480(b)); §480(b) applies to every transfer by reason of death, excluded or not. A parent-child exclusion is claimed separately on BOE-19-P.
Learn More
Sources: Revenue and Taxation Code §§62, 63, 63.2, 65, 65.1, 480, 480.3 and 11930, current text from the Legislature's bulk data (quotations verbatim; the examples apply §65's wording). Board of Equalization Property Tax Rules 462.001–462.260 apply the change-in-ownership sections case by case. Educational information, not legal or tax advice: a joint tenancy also has income-tax basis, gift-tax, creditor and estate-planning consequences that are not property tax.
Last reviewed: November 2026.