Exemption of property of surviving spouses.
1. The property of surviving spouses, not to exceed the amount of $1,000 assessed valuation, is exempt from taxation, but no such exemption may be allowed to anyone but actual bona fide residents of this state, and must be allowed in but one county in this state to the same family.
2. For the purpose of this section, property in which the surviving spouse has any interest shall be deemed the property of the surviving spouse.
3. The person claiming such an exemption shall file with the county assessor an affidavit declaring his residency and that the exemption has been claimed in no other county in this state for that year. The affidavit must be made before the county assessor or a notary public. After the filing of the original affidavit, the county assessor shall mail a form for renewal of the exemption to the person each year following a year in which the exemption was allowed for that person. The form must be designed to facilitate its return by mail by the person claiming the exemption.
4. A surviving spouse is not entitled to the exemption provided by this section in any fiscal year beginning after any remarriage, even if the remarriage is later annulled.
5. Beginning with the 2005-2006 Fiscal Year, the monetary amount in subsection 1 must be adjusted for each fiscal year by adding to each amount the product of the amount multiplied by the percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index (All Items) from December 2003 to the December preceding the fiscal year for which the adjustment is calculated.
Last modified: February 27, 2006