STAR follows two things: you own the home, and you live in it. Most life changes don't break either one, but several of them need a quick update in the state's Homeowner Benefit Portal so the payments keep coming. Here's what each change does.
You sell and move
STAR doesn't move with you. Close the registration on the old home in the portal, and register the new one. The state looks at who owned the new home on July 1. Buy before July 1 and you get that year's STAR. Buy after, and it starts the next year. Our sign-up post has the steps.
If the seller had the old STAR exemption, that line may stay on your bill for the first year only. After that, you need your own registration.
Your spouse dies
If you were 62 or older by December 31 of the year your spouse died, you keep Enhanced STAR. If you were younger, you get Basic until the year you turn 65, and then the state moves you back up on its own.
Update the registration in the portal to show you as the owner. If the state asks for proof of age, send it. If you co-owned the home and inherited your spouse's share, you keep STAR.
You divorce or separate
A married couple gets one STAR benefit, no matter how many homes they own, unless they're legally separated. After a separation or divorce, the spouse who stays in the home as owner keeps STAR there. The other spouse can register their new home. Update the registration, and if the state asks, send a copy of the separation agreement or the divorce judgment.
You put the home in a trust or a life estate
You keep STAR as long as you still live there and you're the trust's beneficiary or the life tenant. Update the registration with the trust's legal name. In a life estate, only the life tenant is listed as the owner for STAR.
A home owned by an LLC or a company doesn't qualify.
You add a child to the deed
Since 2026, only the owners who live in the home count toward the income limit, and only one of them needs to be 65 for Enhanced. So a child who lives elsewhere adds nothing to the income test. A child who moves in does. Either way, update the registration to show the new owner.
If you still have the old exemption on your bill rather than the check, call the state at 518-457-2036 before you change the deed. The exemption's ownership rules are stricter.
You move into a nursing home
You keep STAR as long as nobody but a co-owner or your spouse lives in the house.
You rent the house out
You lose it. STAR is for your primary residence only, and rental income on your tax return is one of the things the state checks. An owner who keeps the old exemption on a rented home can be billed for three years of tax savings plus a $500 fee.
You spend winters somewhere warm
The home has to be where you live for more than half the year, and each owner can have only one primary residence. If the state asks, it looks at where you're registered to vote, the address on your driver's license and car registration, and whether you claim a residency tax break in another state. Utility bills don't count as proof.
You turn 65
Nothing to do. The state moves you to Enhanced on its own in the year an owner who lives in the home turns 65, as long as the income fits. Turning 65 on December 31 counts for that whole year.
You refinance or take a reverse mortgage
The STAR rules don't mention either one. What matters is that you still own the home and live in it, and that the property taxes get paid. If taxes fall more than a year behind, Basic STAR stops.
How to tell the state
Log in at the state's STAR page, open the Homeowner Benefit Portal, choose Actions, then Edit registration. Use Close registration when you sell. The phone line is 518-457-2036.
Every rule here comes from the New York State tax department's STAR eligibility page and its STAR questions page. Updating your registration is free, and you can do it yourself.