Moving out of California: the checklist
The sale, the taxes, the DMV, your vote, your mail and the homeowners' exemption: the loose ends of leaving California, in the order people tie them up.
In this guide: Before you list · Taxes · DMV and car · Voter registration · Mail · Utilities · Insurance · Homeowners' exemption · For your CPA · Common questions
Leaving California is one decision and about forty errands. Most of them are small. A few, like the home sale and the tax year you move, carry real money. This checklist puts them in the order people usually handle them, with links to the official source for each. It's general information, not tax or legal advice: a CPA and, where needed, an attorney are the people to confirm what applies to you.
1. Before you list the LA home
- Pick your order of operations. Sell first, buy first, or sell with a rent-back. Each changes your cash, your timeline and how many moves you make. (The seller's guide compares all three.)
- Know your number. Your equity is the budget for everything that comes next. Get a value from recent comparable sales, a mortgage payoff statement, and a rough estimate of selling costs and transfer taxes.
- Book the CPA before the listing, not after the closing. The timing of the sale relative to your move date can matter, and the options narrow once you're in escrow.
- Prop 19 stays in California. Prop 19 lets eligible owners (such as those 55 and older) carry their property tax base to a replacement home, but the Board of Equalization lists the replacement location as anywhere in California. A home in another state is assessed under that state's rules.
Still choosing where to land? Start with where to move from LA or browse by state.
2. Taxes: the part with the most money in it
Three things tend to come up for people leaving California. All of them depend on your facts, so treat this as a map for the conversation with your CPA.
- The part-year return. The year you move, you're generally a part-year resident. According to the Franchise Tax Board, part-year residents are taxed on all income received while a resident, plus income from California sources while a nonresident, and they file Form 540NR.
- When residency actually ends. It isn't simply the day the truck leaves. The FTB's Publication 1031 looks at where you have the closest connections, and lists factors such as time spent in and out of California, the location of your principal residence, the state that issued your driver's license, where your vehicles are registered, where you're registered to vote, where your bank accounts are, and where your professional licenses are held. No single factor decides it. That's why the DMV and voter steps below are more than paperwork.
- The home sale itself. The FTB lists the sale or transfer of California real property as California-source income, which generally stays taxable by California even after you move. Federal law (IRS Publication 523) lets many owners exclude up to $250,000 of gain, or $500,000 for married couples filing jointly, if they meet the 2-of-5-year ownership and use tests. More in does California tax my home sale after I move?
- Form 593 withholding at closing. California generally requires escrow to withhold 3⅓% of the total sales price on a California real estate sale unless an exemption applies, such as a principal residence or a loss on the sale. There's also an alternative calculation based on estimated gain. Withholding is a prepayment credited on your return. Details are on the FTB's real estate withholding guide.
- Keep records. Closing statements, your original purchase documents, receipts for improvements, the Form 593 copy from escrow, and proof of your move date and new residence (lease or closing, new license, new registration).
A couple moves from Pasadena to Arizona in August and closes on their Pasadena home in October. In this simplified illustration, they would generally file a California part-year return for that year, and the sale of the Pasadena home would generally still be reported to California even though they had moved. Whether any of the gain is taxable, and whether withholding applied at closing, depends on their basis, the exclusion and their other facts. Their CPA would work through the actual numbers.
3. DMV, your car and your license
- Register in the new state within its deadline. Each state sets its own. Texas, for example, gives new residents 30 days to register a vehicle and 90 days to get a Texas driver license, according to the Texas DMV, and the Texas DPS says you surrender your out-of-state license when you get the Texas one. Check your destination state's DMV (or the motor vehicle agency named on its state page) for its rules.
- Tell the California DMV. The California DMV asks people moving out of state to report the change of address within 10 days. If a California renewal notice still arrives, the DMV says to write the date the vehicle left California and the name of the new state on the back of the stub and mail it back. It also offers a refund request if you paid registration early and then moved.
- Selling the car instead? File a Notice of Transfer and Release of Liability with the California DMV.
State pages with tax and logistics notes: Texas, Nevada, Arizona and Washington.
4. Voter registration
Register in your new state once you're eligible there. Where you're registered to vote is one of the residency factors in FTB Publication 1031, so leaving an active California registration behind can blur the picture. The California Secretary of State has the details on California registration.
5. Mail forwarding
File a permanent change of address with USPS. The Postal Service says to allow at least 7 to 10 business days for it to take effect, and notes that sensitive items like driver's licenses, financial statements and some government mail aren't forwarded. Update the FTB, IRS, banks, insurers and your employer directly.
6. Utilities and services
- Schedule shutoff or transfer for power, gas, water, trash, internet and any security or alarm monitoring for the day after closing, not before.
- If there's a rent-back, agree in writing who carries which utilities during that period.
- Set up utilities at the new address before you arrive.
7. Insurance
- Keep the LA homeowners policy active until the sale closes, and ask the insurer about coverage if the home will sit vacant before closing.
- Get quotes in the new state early. Costs vary a lot by state and by address.
8. Remove the homeowners' exemption
California's homeowners' exemption takes $7,000 off the taxable value of an owner-occupied principal residence. Per the Board of Equalization, claimants are responsible for telling the assessor when they're no longer eligible, and December 10 is the last day to terminate it without penalty. If you move out and keep the home, contact the LA County Assessor. After a sale, the buyer files their own claim.
9. What to bring to your CPA
- Original purchase closing statement and any refinance documents
- Receipts and permits for improvements (remodels, additions, roof, systems)
- The estimated and final closing statements from the sale
- The Form 593 from escrow, if any withholding was taken
- Your move date, plus proof: new lease or purchase, new driver's license, new vehicle registration, new voter registration
- Any history of renting the home or a home office (depreciation matters)
- Prior two years of federal and California returns
The full seller-side picture, including transfer taxes and timing, is in selling your LA home and moving out of state.
Common questions
Do I have to file a California tax return the year I move out?
Generally, yes: the FTB says part-year residents are taxed on income received while a resident and on California-source income afterward, filed on Form 540NR. A CPA can confirm what applies to your year.
Does moving out of California stop California from taxing my home sale?
Generally, no. The FTB lists the sale of California real property as California-source income, which it can tax for nonresidents. The federal exclusion still applies for many sellers, and California generally follows it.
How long do I have to register my car in another state?
It depends on the state. Texas, for example, allows 30 days for vehicle registration. Your destination state's DMV sets the rule.
Do I need to tell the California DMV I moved out of state?
Yes, the California DMV asks for a change of address within 10 days of moving, and explains how to update a vehicle record once it's registered in the new state.
General information only, not tax, legal or financial advice. Rules, amounts and deadlines above are from the FTB, IRS, BOE, California DMV, Texas DMV and DPS, California Secretary of State and USPS as checked in October 2026 and can change. Tyler Drinkwater, Revel Real Estate, CA DRE 02112336.
