SACRAMENTO (AP) — Registered domestic partners will get the same tax benefits as married couples who transfer property under tax rule changes adopted July 9 by the California Board of Equalization.

Previously, transferring real estate from one domestic partner to the other brought an automatic reassessment of the property’s value.

Board Chair Carole Migden, who pushed for the rule change, said such reassessments could result in the surviving partner losing his or her house while they were mourning the loss of a loved one. She called the rule change “a major victory for equal rights,” rejecting county assessors’ concerns that the rules will cost local governments increased taxes they would have received on the higher assessed value. The board estimated the statewide tax cost at $737,000 the first year and $3.2 million after five years. “County revenue targets should not be achieved on the backs of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community,” said Migden, the first openly gay board member, and a former California Assemblymember.

But she said the regulations were designed to prevent tax-avoidance transfers during the four-month rule-making process.

The new rule lets registered domestic partners use wills, trusts and other estate planning tools to become original transferors under the state’s joint tenancy law.

Equality California Executive Director Geoffrey Kors testified in support of the rule changes at a July 9 hearing along with representatives of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the Stonewall Democratic Club of Greater Sacramento, the Spectrum GLBT Center of Marin County and Marriage Equality California, as well as the City and County of San Francisco.

“The Board of Equalization has done the right thing by removing a significant part of the unfair and extremely burdensome tax penalty faced by surviving domestic partners,” said Kors.

The three Democratic members of the board, Migden, State Controller Steve Westly and board member John Chiang, all voted for the rule changes. The Board’s two Republican members, Vice-chair Claude Parrish and board member Bill Leonard, voted against the changes.

Also July 9, Secretary of State Kevin Shelley announced his regional offices in Fresno, Los Angeles, San Diego and San Francisco will immediately begin processing new domestic partner registrations at the front counters.

The partners get a newly designed domestic partnership certificate, suitable for framing. Previously, they only received a copy of a “government issue” registration form. Couples who previously registered also will automatically be sent the new certificates.

Besides tax and legal benefits, Shelley said the registrations are frequently used by employers to recognize partners for worker related benefits.

As an assemblymember from San Francisco, Shelley authored the legislation that in 2000 created the state’s Domestic Partnership Registry. In addition to the over-the-counter registrations, couples can download a form from the secretary of state’s website, notarize it and mail it with a $10 filing fee to Shelley’s Sacramento office.