What Happens to Tax Basis When Property Moves Between Parents and Children Under Prop 19

For decades in California, family property transfers followed a certain logic. A home passed from parent to child, ownership changed, but the tax history often stayed intact. Basis was preserved. Property taxes remained low. The system rewarded continuity. Prop 19 disrupted that almost overnight. Wh

Why Two Owners Can Have Similar Properties but Completely Different Tax Outcomes

From the street, the houses look identical. Same square footage. Same lot size. Same neighborhood. They sell within weeks of each other for nearly the same price. To most observers, these are interchangeable transactions. To the tax system, they are not even close. Ownership is a timeline When the I

All About Capital Gains Taxes

Capital gains taxes are usually discussed as if they were a number you look up. A rate. A percentage. Something fixed and external that gets applied to your sale price at the end, like a toll you pass through on the way out. That framing is tidy, and it is also misleading. Capital gains taxes are no