In this vlog, Litherland, Kennedy & Associates Attorney Maggie LaBranch-Gonzales discusses the Repeal the Death Tax Act, a project of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association to repeal the negative effects of Proposition 19.
Please note that the direct link to the petition is: https://reinstate58.hjta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Official-Repeal-the-Death-Tax-Petition-plus-Instructions-and-Top-Funders-Sheet-October2023.pdf. YOU MUST PRINT AND SIGN THE PETITION WITH PAPER AND INK AND MAIL IT IN. There
are specific instructions on the downloadable pdf you will find at https://reinstate58.hjta.org/. and signed petitions must be received by January 16.
Transcript:
Hi, everyone! I’m Maggie LaBranch-Gonzales and I’m an attorney with Litherland. Kennedy and Associates. Today I’m going to talk to you about Proposition 19. I know what you’re thinking – Maggie, we’re so sick of you talking about proposition 19! Believe me, I’m sick of talking about it, too. Just to remind you what Proposition 19 is, it was a voter-approved Constitutional Amendment passed in November 2020. It’s also known as “The Home Protection for Seniors, Severely Disabled, Families, and Victims of Wildfire or Natural Disasters Act”.
But what everyone remembers about Proposition 19 is how it impacted your property taxes. Proposition 19 severely limited how parents can pass their real property upon death to their children. To allow your children to keep your low property tax basis when you pass, now you must meet all kinds of very strict criteria for that to happen. And you’ve probably heard me talk about Proposition at nauseum since it was first passed, and all I’ve heard from you is how horrible it is and when are they going to do something about it?
Well, guess what!?! Now is your chance! Jarvis Taxpayers Association is currently working on a petition to get a constitutional amendment on the ballot for November 2024. They’re calling it “Repeal the Death Tax Act” and it will restore the constitutional rights that were lost in 2020 with Proposition 19 when it was narrowly passed, essentially the right for parents to continue to transfer their home and other properties to their children without triggering reassessment to fair market value and other unaffordable increases.
So, this measure that they’re trying to get on the ballot will not affect the good parts of Proposition 19. Remember there was a good part of Proposition 19 which allows you to transfer your low property tax basis anywhere in the State of California if you sold your primary residence and purchased a new one and met certain criteria.
The proposed Act simply affects the bad parts of Proposition 19 which nobody liked; it’s restoring the rights that Californians had for over 30 years to pass their low property tax basis to their children. So the Repeal the Death Tax Act will also enable anyone who’s already been impacted by Proposition 19. If they’ve already had their taxes increased because of Proposition 19, they’re going to get it to be restored back to 2020 so that their property tax basis will go back right to the former year before the date of death.
But – here’s the big but! They need over a million signatures to get it on the ballot! This is where you come in! I’ve been hearing about it, and this is your chance to get involved! Go to Repeal the Death Tax (hjta.org). and sign the petition. Tell everyone you know about it! Spread the word on social media! You can volunteer to collect signatures. If you’ve been impacted or you have family members who’ve been impacted by Proposition 19, share your story; we want to hear about it! Hold a party and have everyone sign the petition. This is your chance to get involved and do something about it! I’ll also put the QR code on here so you can just scan your phone and sign the petition that way. Let’s do this, everyone!
