Volume 1 - Opinions of Counsel SBEA No. 74
Aged exemption (transfers between spouses) - Real Property Tax Law, § 467:
The continuous ownership requirement of the aged exemption statute may be met even if all or part of the title to the property is transferred from one spouse to the other.
Our opinion has been requested as to whether the continuous ownership requirement of the aged exemption can be met in the event of a transfer of all or part of title to the subject real property by either a husband or wife to the other spouse.
Prior to 1971 real property so transferred would not have qualified for the aged exemption because title had to be solely in one spouse or jointly in both spouses, and the change in such a title would be subject to the requirement of sixty consecutive months of ownership. However, the law was amended in 1971 (Chapter 800) to provide that in the event of a transfer by either a husband or wife to the other spouse of all or part of the title to the property, the time of ownership of the property by the transferor spouse is deemed also a time of ownership by the tranferee spouse and such ownership shall be deemed continuous for the purposes of computing the time.
Therefore, if one spouse transfers title to the other spouse or to both spouses jointly the time of ownership before and after the transfer is deemed continuous for the purpose of meeting the sixty consecutive month ownership requirement.
March 7, 1972