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Lambda Legal Pens Bill to Protect Surviving Domestic Partners From Unequal Tax Assessment

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"This bill will make the difference for some surviving partners of same-sex couples who otherwise couldn't afford to stay in the home the couple shared."
February 22, 2007

(Sacramento, February 22, 2007) — California State Senator Christine Kehoe (D-San Diego) introduced a bill today, SB 559, drafted by Lambda Legal and sponsored by Equality California that would bring property tax relief to surviving domestic partners who inherited real estate from a partner who died before 2006.



“This bill will make the difference for some surviving partners of same-sex couples who otherwise couldn’t afford to stay in the home the couple shared,” said Brian Chase, Staff Attorney at Lambda Legal’s Western Regional Office in Los Angeles. “Lambda Legal was proud to provide our expertise and work with Senator Kehoe to draft legislation to fix this gross inequality between some domestic partners and married couples.”



Real estate is taxed in California according to Proposition 13, which limits the amount county assessors can raise real estate unless ownership is changed from one party to another. Under California law, transfers of real estate between married spouses, and from a parent to a child or from a grandparent to a grandchild, are exempt from being reassessed at the time of the transfer of property, which protects these family members from potentially devastating tax increases due to transfers ownership among family members.



State Senator Carole Migden (D-San Francisco) introduced SB 565 in 2005 that extended the property tax exemption to registered domestic partners. That law, however, did not go into effect until January 1, 2006 and only offers prospective protection. It did not cover couples that lived as domestic partners but did not register due to confusion about state law or registered couples that transferred property before January 1, 2006. The new bill protects surviving domestic partners who have been falling through the cracks of existing law at the worst possible time: upon the death of their loved one.



Lambda Legal has provided technical expertise to legislators across the nation on dozens of bills relating to marriage, domestic partnership, and parenting rights and duties for same-sex couples, including primary drafting of the California Domestic Partner Rights and Responsibilities Act of 2003 (known as AB 205). Lambda Legal received numerous calls from surviving same-sex partners who feared they would lose their homes due to property tax reassessment and who are not protected by SB 565.



“When I was told what my new property taxes would be after Jodi passed away, I was shocked—the taxes nearly doubled,” said Alta Dena resident Mary Newcombe whose partner of 12 years, Jodi Curlee, died in 2004. “Not only was I grieving the loss of the person I loved most in this life, but our family was at the same time hit with a huge tax burden that would never have happened if Jodi and I could have married. We did everything we could under existing law to protect our family, yet California tax law still treated us as if we were strangers.”



Constituents who are facing burdensome tax increases also alerted Sen. Kehoe to this problem, and she set out to fix this hardship with Lambda Legal’s assistance.



“Domestic partners who have built a home together over many years should not have to endure the enormous increases in property taxes that other California families are protected from under Prop 13,” said Sen. Kehoe. “Domestic partners who registered with the state, or who obtained legal advice, or who otherwise did the best they could to protect each other are falling through the cracks just because they lost their loved one before SB 565 took effect. The financial consequences for such families are terribly unfair.”



“Unexpected property taxes in this state sometimes force widowed partners out of their homes while they are grieving the loss of a loved one,” said Equality California (EQCA) Executive Director Geoff Kors. “Domestic partners have paid these unfair property taxes through no fault of their own deserve the same protection other families receive and depend on.”



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Mark Roy: 212-809-8585 ext. 267; mroy@lambdalegal.org.


Lambda Legal is a national organization committed to achieving full recognition of the civil rights of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals, transgender people and those with HIV through impact litigation, education and public policy work.


 

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