Inheriting a Home in California

When inheriting a home from parents, one should always have a reliable estate attorney, if we’re looking to transfer a parent’s property taxes or we’re inheriting assets in trust or in a standard estate or probate; with an experienced eye on all  proceedings, especially the process of “equalizing trust loan distribution among beneficiaries” if a trust loan is a part of the process – a phrase often used by property tax specialists, and frequently misunderstood by heirs and beneficiaries.

“Equalizing trust loan distribution” simply means that each heir or beneficiary / sibling intent on selling their shares of inherited property  left to them by a parent, will receive an equal amount of money… settling expenses when there is little or no cash in the trust. 

Paying off a debt that a parent or grandparent has on a home can impact beneficiaries looking to borrow, as well as lenders. Having a competent attorney who knows how to structure a trust so that beneficiaries looking to keep inherited property at their parent’s low property tax base can retain that family property… while making sure that co-beneficiaries intent on selling their inherited property get an equal share of cash from a loan to an irrevocable trust.

This is where an experienced trust lender comes into play, preferably a lender that provides trust funding with their own capital, which ensures that interest charged will be as low as possible. Not using expensive money from investors, lenders with their own capital are free to charge as little as they wish, in terms of fees. In fact, a trust lender like this is free to exercise extreme flexibility with underwriting, maintaining particularly reasonable terms and conditions; as well as being able to implement trust loan transactions quickly, in seven to ten days.


“A private money lender that loans to irrevocable trusts, applies for and works in tandem with California Proposition 19… So all the beneficiaries [in the family] who are looking to sell their real property shares – for the purpose of facilitating “non pro-rata distribution”, in other words getting an equal share of the entire overall estate – however not necessarily of every asset.

If there is a family that goes to a conventional, pricey lender like Wells Fargo for instance – they will always require adult children, beneficiaries that want to sell an inherited property, to ‘go off-title’, and that always triggers present-day tax reassessment. And that spells an expensive 66.66% tax hike!

If the family in question uses the Commercial Loan Corp, a company we have been using for years… the loan they provide is to a trust, and not to beneficiaries; so there is no title, and no crippling 66.66% property tax reassessment. Their terms can be a lot more flexible than an institutional lender like Wells Fargo or Bank of America. Also, Commercial Loan Corp is self funded, and that’s basically why they can extend easier terms to clients.

Compliance for both commercial and residential property owners is far less strict. Commercial Loan Corp doesn’t charge any fees up-front, that’s another great benefit. Plus, they don’t require paying interest on their trust loan in advance. Not only that, there is never a “due-on-sale” clause… that requires the mortgage to be repaid in full when sold; or that all or some of the interest owed must be paid up-front to secure the mortgage. No “alienation clause”… in the event of a property transfer, stating that the borrower has to pay back the mortgage in full before the borrower can transfer the property to another person. There is none of that.”

Having access to private capital, along with seasoned advice, and expertise from a property tax consultant and a trust lender on how to transfer a parent’s property taxes,  becomes even more crucial in an inheritance scenario when a family is looking to keep a family home for a long period of time. 

California Proposition 19, which was (voted into law in 1986) formerly California Proposition 58, can enable a parent-to-child home transfer of a “principal residence” to be excluded from property tax reassessment even if associated with a “change in ownership”.  Which could trigger reassessment of property taxes, often by accident, resulting in  property tax reassessment – if not for experienced guidance from a trust lender and, frequently, from a property tax consultant or tax attorney as well, guiding the trust loan process and  property tax transfer; working in concert with Proposition 19 and parent-to-child exclusion (from high current  market rates).

Advice from property tax transfer specialists like this generally includes guidance for beneficiaries and new home owners within the process of being able to transfer a parent’s property taxes, plus showing inheritors what they need to do to keep parents property taxes when inheriting property and subsequently inheriting property taxes from a parent.

Contact Commercial Loan Corporation for all of your Trust Loan needs at https://cloanc.com/ or by phone at 877-464-1066.