Florida Form DR-501: Save Our Homes Portability After Death

Your parent paid $1,200 a year in property taxes on a house worth $450,000. The year after they die, you inherit it — and the county sends a tax bill for $3,800. Nothing changed except ownership. That shock is the "Save Our Homes" cap resetting, and it catches Florida heirs completely off guard.

Florida's Save Our Homes (SOH) amendment limits annual assessed value increases to 3% or CPI (whichever is lower) for homesteaded properties. Over decades, that creates a massive gap between the assessed value and actual market value. When ownership changes at death, Florida Statute §193.155 treats it as a "change of ownership," and the cap is wiped out on January 1 of the following year. The property reassesses to full market value — instantly.

For heirs who want to make the inherited home their primary residence, there is a remedy. It requires moving fast.

What Form DR-501T Does

Form DR-501T is the "Transfer of Homestead Assessment Difference" form. It is not a tax return and it does not go to the Florida Department of Revenue. It goes to the county property appraiser's office in the county where the new homestead will be located.

The form allows a surviving spouse or an heir who is establishing a new homestead to "port" some or all of the accumulated SOH benefit from the deceased's prior home to a newly claimed homestead. Without this filing, that benefit disappears permanently.

Key facts about portability:

• The maximum portable SOH benefit is $500,000 (the difference between assessed and just market value, capped at $500,000)
• The heir must establish their new homestead exemption in the county where they plan to live
• Portability applies only to the heir's own new homestead — you cannot port the benefit to a rental property or investment property

The March 1 Deadline Is Not Forgiving

To claim the homestead exemption on the inherited property (Form DR-501) and simultaneously apply for SOH portability (Form DR-501T), both must be filed with the county property appraiser by March 1 of the year for which the exemption is claimed.

If a parent dies in September 2025 and the heir wants their property taxes to reflect the homestead exemption for the 2026 tax year, the filings must be in the property appraiser's office by March 1, 2026. Miss that window, and the heir waits a full additional year — paying full market value assessed taxes in the meantime.

The $5,000 widow or widower exemption for surviving spouses works on the same March 1 deadline and also requires submitting a death certificate to the county property appraiser.

Surviving Spouse Protections Are Stronger

Florida's constitution gives surviving spouses additional homestead protections that go beyond portability. Under Article X, Section 4, the primary residence is protected from most creditors. If the decedent is survived by a spouse or minor child, the homestead cannot be devised away in a will to anyone else. An improper devise is constitutionally void.

A surviving spouse also has the right to remain in the homestead for their lifetime — even if the will attempted to leave the property to adult children from a prior marriage. This creates the most common homestead litigation in Florida probate courts.

For surviving spouses specifically:

• File Form DR-501 (homestead exemption application) with the county appraiser by March 1
• File Form DR-501T to port the SOH benefit if you are establishing a new homestead elsewhere
• Present a certified death certificate at the time of filing

What Happens If You Miss the Deadline

If the March 1 deadline passes without a filing, the property loses its homestead status and the SOH cap resets to full market value. The reassessment happens on January 1 of the following year. For a property where the prior owner had a $300,000 SOH benefit accumulated, that translates directly into the heir's tax bill roughly tripling.

There is no mechanism to retroactively reclaim the SOH benefit for a missed year. The county property appraiser cannot grant exceptions based on estate administration delays, grief, or family conflicts. The statutory deadline is absolute.

What Form DR-312 Is (And Why You Don't Need It)

Many online checklists still instruct executors to file Form DR-312 — the "Affidavit of No Florida Estate Tax Due" — before a title company will clear a real estate transfer. This is outdated information.

Florida eliminated the requirement to file Form DR-312 and Form DR-313 effective July 1, 2023. The Florida Department of Revenue no longer requires these forms under any circumstances. Title companies that still demand them are operating from stale procedures. The statutory lien that Form DR-312 was meant to release no longer exists for deaths after that date.

Do not spend time searching for Form DR-312. It is legally obsolete.

The County Property Appraiser Is Your Contact — Not the State

The Department of Revenue handles state tax matters, but homestead exemptions and SOH portability are administered locally by each county's property appraiser. The forms and processes are standardized statewide, but submission goes to the local office.

Florida has 67 counties, and each county's property appraiser office handles filings. Most now accept online applications, but some still require in-person submission with original documents. Confirm the county's current procedure before assuming an online portal will accept the filing.

The Save Our Homes issue is one of the most financially damaging mistakes a Florida executor or heir can make — and it is entirely preventable with a timely filing. If you are administering a Florida estate that includes homestead property, the Florida Final Tax & Estate Tax Guide covers the DR-501T process, the widow exemption claim, and all the other local tax traps that catch executors by surprise.

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