Is there any way to get homestead exemption on a second home bought for my mom?

This is one of those situations where I would not add your mom to the deed until you talk with both the mortgage lender and a Texas property-tax professional. The Family Opportunity Mortgage may help with the financing, but it doesn't automatically make your mom an owner for purposes of a Texas homestead exemption. Texas homestead exemptions generally depend on the property being the owner's qualifying residence, and the person claiming the exemption generally needs an ownership interest. Since you and your spouse are currently on title, the county may be correct that your mom cannot claim the exemption simply because she lives there. Adding your mom to the deed could potentially change the situation, but it can also create mortgage, title, tax, gift, and estate-planning consequences. More importantly, your mortgage documents may contain a due-on-sale or transfer provision, so I would get the lender's written approval before making any ownership change. I'd also ask the county appraisal district specifically whether your mom could qualify for a homestead exemption based on the particular ownership structure and whether there are any exemptions available to her as an elderly homeowner. Don't assume that adding her to the deed is the only solution. Because you also have your own homestead exemption on your primary residence, I'd have a Texas real estate attorney or property-tax attorney review both properties before making a change. They can look at the deed, mortgage, homestead status, and your mom's occupancy and determine whether there is a legal way to structure this without jeopardizing your existing exemption or loan. The important thing is don't change title first and ask questions afterward. Get the lender and county's position in writing, then have a Texas professional determine the safest structure. Juan Picos Real Estate Agent JohnHart Real Estate

If this is in Texas, the key issue is that the homestead exemption generally follows **ownership plus occupancy**, not simply the fact that the home was financed as owner-occupied. Texas generally requires the person claiming the residence homestead exemption to have an ownership interest in the property and use it as their principal residence. So if your mother isn't on the deed, the appraisal district may have a legitimate reason for denying her homestead exemption. Adding her to the deed could potentially change that, but **I would not do it before talking to the mortgage servicer and a Texas real estate attorney**. Adding an owner after closing can have consequences under the mortgage documents and could potentially trigger lender issues. Also, your mother generally cannot claim a Texas residence homestead exemption on this property while you and your spouse continue claiming your own exemption on your primary residence if she isn't an owner/occupant in the way required by the statute. Texas generally limits a person to one residence homestead exemption. I'd start by asking the county appraisal district exactly what documentation they would accept if your mother were added to title. Then have the lender confirm **in writing** whether adding her to the deed is permitted under your mortgage. The important thing is not to change the deed first and ask questions later. The mortgage, title, and property-tax consequences should all be checked together. Juan Picos Real Estate Agent JohnHart Real Estate

Ezra, adding your mom to the deed adds further complications that can make the situation worse. Additionally, owner occupied is a requirement. Just because you filed paperwork stating it is owner occupied, you truly have to owner occupy the property or that can be consider tax fraud. I would suggest you speak to an attorney to discuss your legal options as that is outside our purview here. Keith Jean-Pierre Managing Principal The Dapper Agents Real Estate Operations in ALL 50 States

Ezra, the exemption follows ownership plus occupancy, so your county is applying the rule correctly, and Alla is right that a life estate is the classic way to give your mom an ownership interest without handing over the whole property. I hold the SRES designation, which is the Seniors Real Estate Specialist credential, and this exact problem comes up constantly with adult children housing a parent. Two things nobody has raised yet, and one of them is a bigger prize than the exemption you are chasing and the other is a bigger risk than you may realize. Start with the prize. If your mom is 65 or older, the general residence homestead exemption is not the main event. The over 65 exemption comes with a school tax ceiling, which freezes the school district portion of the tax bill at the dollar amount from the qualifying year. Rates go up in later years and that portion of her bill does not. Over a long tenure that ceiling is usually worth considerably more than the up front exemption amount. For context, the general school district residence homestead exemption is 140,000 of appraised value as of the 2026 tax year, and the over 65 exemption stacks an additional school district exemption on top of it. I saw conflicting figures for the current additional over 65 amount while checking this, so do not take a number from me on that one. Call the Williamson Central Appraisal District and ask them directly, and while you have them on the phone ask what evidence of ownership they will accept. That last question matters, because the Texas application, Form 50-114, has a path for exactly your situation. An applicant for the age 65 or older exemption who is not named as an owner on a recorded instrument can provide an affidavit or other compelling evidence establishing an ownership interest. Different appraisal districts apply that differently, so ask Williamson CAD what they want before you record anything. It is possible you need less paperwork than you think. Now the risk, and please do not skip this part. Your deed of trust almost certainly has a due on sale clause, and conveying an interest in the property is the kind of event that can trigger it. Federal law, the Garn-St Germain Act at 12 USC 1701j-3, blocks lenders from enforcing that clause for a specific list of family transfers. The list covers things like transfers on the death of a borrower, transfers to a spouse or children, and transfers into a living trust where the borrower stays a beneficiary. Notice who is missing from that list: a parent, during your lifetime. A transfer to your mother is not one of the protected categories. That does not mean your lender will call the loan, and in practice they usually do not. It does mean you would be doing it without the federal protection people assume they have, and on a Family Opportunity structured loan where occupancy was already part of the underwriting, I would not do it quietly. Have a Texas real estate attorney read the deed of trust and tell you what it actually says, and consider asking the servicer in writing before, not after. Two smaller points. Adding your mother should not put your own homestead exemption at risk, because Texas allows one homestead per person and yours is tied to the home you occupy, not to how many properties you are on title to. And whatever structure you use, get it recorded before the filing deadline for the tax year you want it to apply to, because these exemptions are not retroactive by default. So the sequence I would follow: call Williamson CAD first and find out what ownership evidence they accept and what the current over 65 amounts are, then take that answer plus your deed of trust to a Texas real estate attorney, then record whatever the two of them agree on. Doing it in that order costs you one phone call and saves you from recording the wrong instrument. I am a real estate professional, not an attorney or a CPA, so the deed and the loan questions genuinely need a Texas attorney's eyes. Round Rock is not my market. I work the Palos Verdes Peninsula and the South Bay here in Los Angeles. If you want a referral to a strong Williamson County agent or help finding a Texas real estate attorney who does this regularly, tell me and I will connect you. It is a good thing you are doing for your mom, and it is worth getting the structure right. Zoltan Peresztegi, SRES

Ezra, maybe, but not by quietly adding your mom to the deed. Two things are pulling against each other here. The county wants the person living in the house to hold an ownership interest, while your lender approved the loan on the promise that you own it and she occupies it, so any change to title needs their written okay first or you risk the loan being called. That's the call to make before anything else. Then sit down with a Round Rock real estate attorney, because there may be options short of a full gift of the house, and some counties recognize partial interests or a life estate for exemption purposes. I'd loop in an elder law attorney too, since putting an asset in your mom's name can affect benefits she relies on now or later. I'm licensed in California, so I can't tell you how Texas or your county will treat any of this. Ask the appraisal district directly what forms of ownership they accept. Alla Novytska, Realtor®, JohnHart Real Estate, DRE #02254775