The Department is adopting the following procedure for determining the specific amount of assessment eligible to receive the surviving spouse exemption on a subsequently acquired property used as a residence by the spouse after 6/30/2013. Tax-Property Article §7-208(c)(3) provides that the exemption for the subsequently acquired dwelling house shall be "equal to the exemption for the former dwelling house" occupied by the veteran before his or her death. The exemption will equal the full market value (not phase-in value) of the former dwelling house at the time of the transfer. Once the value of the former dwelling house is determined, then that amount should be made part of the permanent assessment record for the granting of the exemption in succeeding taxable years. This value is to be entered in the property's exemption record in the override value field. Enter this value regardless of the current full market value of the new property.

This value is fixed and will not change due to future market fluctuations. The taxable value will automatically adjust based on the difference between the entered value and the current market value. A negative value will be $0 taxable.

Properties receiving a surviving spouse exemption on subsequently acquired properties prior to 7/1/2013 will be grandfathered in using the prior calculation method.