Many Loveland homeowners put off moving a house into a revocable trust because they worry the deed change will cost them their property tax exemption. It is a fair concern, and it comes up most often in late summer, when the county sends its annual reminders about exemption filing deadlines. Colorado law addresses the situation directly, though the answer depends on how the transfer is structured.
The Deadlines the County Flagged This Year
Larimer County Assessor Bob Overbeck issued a reminder in late July about late-filing deadlines for two programs: the Senior Homestead Exemption and the Disabled Veteran Exemption. The late deadline for the veteran program fell on August 3, 2026. For the senior program it was August 17, 2026. Applications arriving after those dates could be denied.
Both windows are now closed for this cycle. That makes the next several months the right time to sort out any titling questions, rather than discovering a problem next July.
Why a Trust Raises the Question at All
The senior exemption requires that the applicant be an owner-occupier. When you deed your home to a revocable trust, the trust becomes the owner of record. Your name no longer appears on the deed as an individual owner. On its face, that looks like a disqualifying change.
Colorado anticipated this.
What the Statute Requires
Under C.R.S. 39-3-202(2)(a)(III), an owner-occupier includes someone who is not an owner of record only because the property was purchased by or transferred to a trust, a corporate partnership, or another legal entity solely for estate planning purposes, and who is the maker of that trust or a principal of that entity. The exemption survives the transfer when those conditions are met.
Two phrases carry the weight. The transfer must be for estate planning purposes, and the applicant must be the maker of the trust. A deed to an adult child, or to a trust the homeowner did not create, is a different situation with a different outcome.
Where Applications Run Into Trouble
The statutory protection is real, but it is not automatic. A few points come up repeatedly:
- Trust-owned property calls for the long form application rather than the short form
- The application asks for the names of the trust’s maker, its trustee, and its beneficiaries
- The ten-year ownership and occupancy history has to be documented across the transfer, not just after it
- A deed that names the trust inconsistently with the trust instrument can stall review
- The property must remain the applicant’s primary residence throughout
None of these are difficult on their own. They tend to become problems when nobody looks at them until the filing deadline is a week away.
Planning Before the Next Window Opens
The application period runs from January 1 through July 15 each year, with late filings accepted until August 15 without appeal rights. Anyone considering a trust transfer between now and then has time to get the deed and the trust language aligned first. The state publishes Colorado’s senior exemption requirements with current forms and filing instructions.
A Loveland trust lawyer can review the deed, the trust document, and the ownership history together before anything is recorded. That review is faster and cheaper than untangling a denied application after the fact.
If you are weighing a trust transfer and want to protect an exemption you already hold, an experienced Loveland, CO trust lawyer can walk through the specifics with you.
The attorneys at W.B. Moore Law work with Northern Colorado homeowners on trust funding and deed transfers that hold up under assessor review. Reach out to discuss your property before the next filing period begins.