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Family Benefits

Charles County Survivor Benefits

Survivor BenefitsUpdated June 2013

REAL ESTATE TAX CREDIT

Contact:
Charles County Treasury
200 Baltimore St.
La Plata, MD 20646
Phone: (301) 645-0685
Fax: (301) 645-0686
Website: www.charlescountymd.gov/fas/treasury/treasury-your-taxes

Dwelling Means Real Property that:

  1. Is the legal residence of a surviving spouse; and
  2. Is occupied by not more than 2 families
  3. Includes the lot or curtilage and structures necessary to use the real property as a residence.

Fallen Rescue Worker: Means and individual who dies in the line of duty, while in the active service of a law enforcement, corrections, fire, rescue or emergency medical service, unless the death was the result of the individual’s own willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol or drugs.

Surviving Spouse: Means a surviving spouse, who has not remarried, of a fallen law enforcement officer, corrections officer, firefighter, rescue worker or emergency services worker.

Credit: In accordance with Section 9-210 of the tax-property article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, an owner of real property may receive a tax credit under this section against the county property tax imposed on the dwelling if the owner is a surviving spouse of a fallen law enforcement officer, corrections officer, firefighter, rescue worker or emergency medical services worker and:

  1. The dwelling was occupied by the fallen officer or rescue worker at the time of the fallen officer’s or rescue worker’s death;
  2. The fallen officer or rescue worker or the surviving spouse was domiciled in the state as of the date of the fallen officer or rescue worker’s death and the dwelling was acquired by the surviving spouse within 2 years of the fallen officer’s or fallen rescue worker’s death; or
  3. The dwelling was acquired after the surviving spouse qualified for a credit for a former dwelling under item (1) or (2) of this subsection, to the extent of the previous credit.

Duration of Credit: The tax credit continues until the surviving spouse remarries.

Amount of Credit:

  1. If the fallen officer’s or fallen rescue worker’s primary place of employment or volunteerism was in the county, then the amount of the tax credit is equal to 100% of the county property tax imposed on the dwelling.
  2. If the fallen officer’s or fallen rescue worker’s domicile is in the county, but the primary place of employment or volunteerism was outside of the county, then the amount of the tax credit is equal to 50% of the county property tax imposed on the dwelling.

Administration – A surviving spouse:

  1. Is eligible for the tax credit beginning in the first taxable year after the date of the fallen officer’s or rescue worker’s death;
  2. May apply for the tax credit on or before September 30 in the taxable year for which the credit is requested to begin

Authority: Chapter 281-22, Code of Charles County, MD as amended by Bill No. 2009-05.


Disclaimer: The material contained in the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation Survivor Benefits website is not the result of legal research, but rather is based on a scan of public documents. We have made every effort to be accurate and timely, but errors may exist. The material on this website is advisory only and should not be cited as evidence or proof that a benefit exists or that our facts are accurate. Always consult the decedent’s fire department for benefits assistance, or a benefits’ attorney. If, in the course of your own research, you see errors of fact, or new benefit information, please pass this information along to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.