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(a) The exemptions granted to the homestead pursuant to this part shall extend to and shall apply to those properties the legal title to which is vested in one or more titleholders if actually occupied by one or more of such owners as a residence. In such instances, such exemptions shall be granted to such properties if claimed in the manner provided by law by one or more of the owners actually residing on such property. Such exemptions shall also extend to those homesteads the title to which is vested in an administrator, executor, or trustee if one or more of the heirs or cestui que uses residing on such property claims the exemption in the manner provided by law. The provisions of this Code section shall also apply to exemptions granted to the homestead by any local law adopted after July 1, 1984, unless the local law expressly provides to the contrary.
(b) The failure to file properly the application and schedule shall not be cause for waiver of the exemption where such waiver arises because of an administrator’s or executor’s deed transferring the property to a surviving spouse. In such instances, the board of tax assessors shall give notice of its intent to deny the exemption as required by Code Section 48-5-49, and the surviving spouse may make application for the amount of homestead exemption to which such applicant is entitled within 30 days from the date of the notice by the board of tax assessors. In the case of a base year assessed value homestead exemption, so long as the surviving spouse otherwise meets the requirements specified for such exemption and makes proper application under this subsection, upon approval of such application the exemption shall be continued with the same base year assessed value as had been established for the deceased spouse of such surviving spouse, unless otherwise provided by local law. History. Code 1981, § 48-5-54, enacted by Ga. L. 1984, p. 1058, § 6; Ga. L. 1985, p. 149, § 48; Ga. L. 1993, p. 1777, § 2; Ga. L. 2006, p. 1104, § 4/HB 81; Ga. L. 2017, p. 774, § 48/HB 323. The 2017 amendment, effective May 9, 2017, part of an Act to revise, modernize, and correct the Code, substituted “so long as” for “as long as” in the third sentence of subsection (b). Editor’s notes. Ga. L. 1984, p. 1058, § 9, not codified by the General Assembly, provided as follows: “In the event of any conflict between this Act and any other Act of the 1984 General Assembly the provisions of such other Act shall control over the provisions of this Act.” Ga. L. 2006, p. 1104, § 5/HB 81, not codified by the General Assembly, provides, in part, that the amendment to subsection (b) shall be applicable to all taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2007. The state-wide referendum (Ga. L. 2006, p. 1104, § 5/HB 81), which provided that, with respect to base year assessed value homestead exemptions, the surviving spouse of a deceased spouse who has been granted such a homestead exemption shall receive that exemption at the same base year valuation that applied to the deceased spouse so long as that surviving spouse continues to occupy the home as a residence and homestead, was approved by a majority of the qualified voters at the November 7, 2006 general election.