During the 2024 legislative session, Florida elected officials missed an opportunity to advance home ownership and to codify the added value of spouses of quadriplegics. Marriage is a partnership that makes life goals like
home ownership, raising a family, and active participation in the community a reality for everybody. This truth is even more significant for quadriplegics who rely on their spouses to be the glue that makes independent living,
competitive employment, and retirement a possibility. To achieve these basic life goals, quadriplegics face additional financial barriers. These include, but are not limited to, significant home remodeling, daily out of pocket nursing services, the high cost of adaptive technology, and the never-ending homemaking responsibilities that are divided unequally in a home with one living with a quadriplegia.
During the recent legislative session, Rep. Allison Tant, D-Tallahassee, and Sen. Corey Simon, R-Tallahassee, were trying to facilitate home ownership and spousal benefits recognition with HB 55 and SB 616. These bills cleared five of seven committees unanimously before all property tax issues were eliminated from debate. The goal of this legislation was predicated on eliminating barriers to independent living and home ownership. Home modifications for basic access can exceed $100,000 and daily medical support can easily exceed $5,000/month or $60,000 annually (in today’s dollars). This is in addition to traditional medical expenses such as prescription drugs, co-pays, medical supplies, and hospital bills, as well as home ownership (maintenance and insurance) and daily ongoing living expenses like food, electricity, and gas. The family budget which includes a quadriplegic is most often significantly higher than those without paralysis.
Often, the spouse is the last line of defense when natural supports and in-home (paid) supports fail to show up. Circumstances like the Covid-19 pandemic, natural disasters, and other emergencies have exposed how vulnerable quadriplegics are when living in the community. Spouses must be the ones to make career sacrifices to mitigate these unforeseen challenges. The loss of income, the increase in out-of-pocket expenses,
and domestic duties keep rising. Our spouses represent the “best of us”. They do not simply fulfill the marriage vows of “in sickness and in health…” – they epitomize the meaning of love. In my experience, many families disintegrate in the face of these kinds of demanding circumstances. When a spouse chooses to stay with their partner, they have chosen a unique badge of courage that should be celebrated, rewarded, and not penalized. The only alternative to community-based living for quadriplegics is institutional life. We all abhor the concept of institutionalization and are flabbergasted with the cost. This expense never equals the added value of a place called home.
Florida law currently requires the surviving spouse of a quadriplegic to pay a new property tax from which the family was previously exempted. Homeownership is encouraged for quadriplegics under FL Statute 196.101
(1), which states permanent exemption on ad valorem tax for any real estate used as a homestead. This modest savings helps mitigate home renovation, daily living support, adaptive technology, and many other unique
costs associated with adaptive living. Our spouses, who have given so much to make the years work have unquestionably earned the continuation of the exemption. This will help them to stay in the home in which they built, created memories, and raised their families.
Please help support this effort to secure a permanent homestead exemption for a surviving spouse of a quadriplegic in 2025. After all, these spouses represent “the best of us” and should rewarded for their service and not
penalized with a “new tax” for the remainder of their life.
JR Harding is an advocate, author, speaker, and Florida State University faculty member.
(Source: Tallahassee Democrat)