This question is about the Florida Homestead Exemption. My son has a homestead exemption on his house in Orange County which he has owned for several years. Earlier this year (2016), he purchased a new house in the same county and moved out of the old house and into the new house on May 12,
2016. He has now put the old house up for sale but hasn't sold it yet. No one is currently living in the old house. He has applied to transfer his homestead exemption from the old house to the new, but we are confused about how the sale of the old house will affect this.Specifically, if his old house sells in calendar year 2016, is it correct that he will receive the homestead exemption on the old house in 2016 and it will be transferred to the new house for 2017?
If that is the case, what happens if the old house does not sell until, say, January 2017? I assume he will have the exemption on his old house for
2016, but what happens for tax year 2017? Does he receive the exemption for the old house for the one month he will own it in 2017 and does he then get it for the other 11 months for the new house? Or does he get it for the one month he owns the old house in 2017 and then not receive it all for the rest of 2017.If the latter is the case, can he somehow remove the exemption from the old house while he still owns it and then transfer it to the new house for the rest of 2017?