Private review copy. Not published. Checkout, email, and the full-address nearest-office lookup are intentionally inactive. This copy does not track visitors and tells search engines not to index it.
Review-only video v4: Robin’s recorded opening, followed immediately by the Amendment 3 title card with continuous Robin B narration of the complete revised script and moving B-roll. Final video remains subject to review.
Establish it by December 31st, 2026 if you want a direct path to Amendment 3's larger homestead exemption on non-school taxes. That date is a residency cutoff, not the day you file. Don't wait. Don't expect the paperwork to finish itself on December 31st.
You don't have to own a home now. You can rent to become a Florida resident by December 31st, 2026, and get under the wire. Otherwise, you are on the five-year wait to claim a homestead for a tax year. You must own the home and occupy it as your permanent home by January 1 of that year and then apply with your county property appraiser.
To get the step-by-step guide on how to become a Florida resident, choose one of the Florida Residency Kits
These Florida residency kits help you along the way of becoming a Florida resident. Choose the help that fits your move.
Buying a kit does not make you a Florida resident and does not change your tax bill.
A practical gift for someone making Florida their home.
A dated move-in planner that works back from December 31, 2026, with reminders for each step.
Rent-first or buy-first path planner
Tracker for giving up residency in your old state (license, voter registration, taxes, bank accounts)
Questions list to take to your attorney, CPA and estate planner
Help desk by private email and text (the only kit with personal contact)
Why is December 31st such a big deal?
On-screen title while narration continues: Amendment 3 passed.
Maybe you already own a home in Florida, but it isn't your permanent residence. You have another house somewhere else, and this is your second home. As it stands, it can't qualify for the larger exemption. But if you establish your Florida residency in that home by December 31, 2026, it becomes your homestead on January 1st, and you can apply for the larger exemption.
Maybe you don't own a home in Florida yet. If you move to Florida and rent a home by December 31, 2026, you can establish your residency before you've even picked the home you want to buy. Then once you buy a home and live in it on January 1st of a tax year, you can apply for the larger exemption that year. In other words, if you don't live in Florida today, just moving here and renting by December 31, 2026 means that when you do buy, you'll qualify for the larger exemption starting with the first January 1st you own and live in that home.
If you are not a Florida resident by December 31, 2026, you take the longer path. You must own a home and live in it with the smaller homestead exemption for four years, and the larger exemption begins in your fifth year. The amendment doesn't appear to require the same home each of those years.
Renting doesn't count toward those years. So if you miss December 31, you can't just rent your way in.
This is the official description as the amendment reads now. It is not a promise that a particular home qualifies.
Important disclaimer
Trust Reliable LLC and the Florida Residency Kit are not attorneys, not CPAs, and not estate planning professionals. The kits provide general educational information only. They are not legal, tax, financial, or estate planning advice, and they do not create an attorney-client, accountant-client, or other professional relationship. Before acting on anything in a kit, consult your own Florida attorney, your own CPA, and your own estate planning professional.
Three dates that are not the same day
Residency cutoffDec. 31, 2026
The Florida-residency date for the direct path to Amendment 3’s larger non-school exemption. It is not a homestead filing deadline.
Qualification dateJanuary 1
The usual date you must own the home and keep it as your permanent residence for that tax year.
Filing, generallyMarch 1
The usual date to file Form DR-501 with your county property appraiser. Late filing for good cause is a narrow backup, not the plan.
Florida residency doesn’t happen overnight. Allow time for paperwork and appointments. It will not all come together on December 31. This site does not promise a processing time, a place in line, or a tax result.
What Amendment 3 changed
Voters approved Constitutional Amendment 3 on November 3, 2026. Department of Revenue bulletin PTO 26-21 says it takes effect January 1, 2027 and first applies to the 2027 tax roll.
For qualifying homestead property, the non-school exemption rises to up to $150,000 beginning January 1, 2027 and up to $250,000 beginning January 1, 2028, with CPI (consumer price index) adjustments afterward as the enrolled resolution describes them.
In plain English: you get an exemption on the value of your house. The county property appraiser puts a value on your house, and the exemption comes off that value.
Example: your house is worth $300,000. Normally the county would tax all $300,000. If it's your homestead, in the first year the county taxes only $150,000, because $150,000 is exempt. In the second year it taxes only $50,000, because $250,000 is exempt. So if your yearly property tax was $2,000, once the full non-school exemption applies, you'd pay mostly just the school portion.
Savings vary by county and depend on your home's value and local millage rates. Reports indicate the full exemption can save up to roughly 80 percent on regular (non-school) property taxes. This is general information, not legal or tax advice.
A CPI adjustment is not itself a dollar exemption.
School levies stay separate. The school exemption structure remains up to $25,000 of assessed value. School taxes continue.
The longer path: fifth year
If you are not a Florida resident by December 31, 2026, you take the longer path. You must maintain the homestead exemption for four years with the smaller exemption. The increased exemption begins in the fifth year of homestead exemption.
This is the official description. It is not a promise that a particular home qualifies. Official amendment