how to enter a step up in basis on my rental property

Forum|Forum|1 month ago
May 24, 2026
1 reply
250 views

my wife died jan 5 last year, 2025. we are in california, so i want to step up the basis of the rental property. in california, we can step up the entire property. how do i handle that in turbo tax

TurboTax Online

M-MTax

Level 15

I am sorry for your loss.

Since you get a stepped up basis for 100% of the property you need to add the rental as a completely new asset at its new basis and with a recovery period of 27.5 years (depreciation starts over as of the date of death).

You also need to convert the current rental (the asset you and your late wife have been depreciating) to personal use as of the date of death in the TurboTax program. Converting the property to personal use stops the program from calculating depreciation after the date of death.

Once again, sorry for your loss.

death of spouseAuthor

Level 2

do i need to add all the income and expense to the prior property, or only to the new stepped up basis property?

death of spouseAuthor

Level 2

i got the answer to my second question i believe. my wife passed on Jan 5, 2025, so turbo telling me no need to show rental for 2025, becuase under 15 days.