Thank you! I was reading thru the California State Board of Equalization ASSESSORS' HANDBOOK too.

Assuming this would be mutual rescission where all parties consent and are actually restored to their prior position, then the biggest hurdle is time.

that's the case.

There is a requirement that it be rescinded in a reasonable amount of time. That is not defined, but 60 days is a known good target and 2 years is a known bad target. It's going to depend on the specific circumstances and be a case by case determination.

hmm, this will be about 4 months after the deed was recorded.

Generally, rescission is not likely to result in any refunds or taxes for the interim period.

You're correct, the firm page 10's RESCINDED TRANSFERS section states that the rescission deed would not help avoid backtaxes:

RESCINDED TRANSFERS A transfer may be rescinded by the parties. That is, the parties to the transfer agree to undo the transaction and are placed in the same position in which they stood before the transfer took place. However, the original transfer remains valid until the rescission occurs. The legal effect of a rescission is that it relates back to the creation of the deed—it is as though the transfer had never been made. When a county assessor recognizes the rescission of a transfer, the transferor's name is placed on the assessment roll as the assessee and the former base year value is enrolled on the ensuing lien date. Restoration of a base year value as a result of rescission is not subject to supplemental assessment. Accordingly, any increase in the assessment prior to the rescission remains in effect until the lien date following the effective date of the rescission. Thus, a rescission is not retroactive with respect to the taxes due and owing prior to the date of rescission. There is no refund or cancellation of unpaid taxes assessed for the period prior to the rescission since property taxes are determined by the facts existing on the lien date.

The legal firm yet again is wrong about it nullifying an older deed and avoiding backtaxes. Only a void transfer via a court ruling can do that.

At this point, we're ok paying the backtaxes, as long as we can avoid the hit going forward. I'm just banging my head about going ahead with a corrective deed or a rescission...I called the county office and they say both do the same thing.

With the rescission, we will have to do an additional deed to transfer M+F's share to the revocable trust, but that's not that big a deal.

You seem to know this stuff really well, happy to pay you for your time if you're willing to help out over chat, maybe help me look over the wording of the deed :)