Dedication and Dissolution Clauses is a Welfare Exemption sheet published by the San Diego County Assessor. It explains the irrevocable dedication clause and the dissolution clause that a nonprofit's governing document must contain, and it prints sample articles of incorporation wording. It is one of the San Diego County property tax exemption documents that organizations use when they seek the Welfare Exemption. On this page you can fill out the form online on FillingPDF and download or print the completed PDF; the official PDF lives at the agency.
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What is Dedication and Dissolution Clauses – San Diego County, CA?
Dedication and Dissolution Clauses is the San Diego County Assessor's Welfare Exemption sheet that explains the irrevocable dedication clause and the dissolution clause an organization's governing document must contain, and gives sample articles of incorporation wording that meets the statutory requirements.
The Welfare Exemption comes from section 214 of the Revenue and Taxation Code. It is available for property used exclusively for religious, hospital, scientific, or charitable purposes and owned and operated by community chests, funds, foundations, or corporations organized and operated for those purposes. The property must be irrevocably dedicated to those purposes, and on liquidation, dissolution or abandonment it must not benefit any private person, except a fund, foundation, or corporation organized and operated for such purposes.
The sheet covers three points:
- Irrevocable dedication (section 214.01): the statement must appear in the articles of incorporation of a corporation or, for any other fund or foundation, in its bylaws, articles of association, constitution, or regulations.
- Educational purposes: where educational purposes that are also charitable are indicated, added language is given.
- Dissolution (section 214(a)(6)): remaining assets must go to an organization organized and operated exclusively for the qualifying purposes.
It has no application lines of its own. The Assessor's forms page lists the Welfare Exemption (First Filing) and Welfare Exemption (Annual Filing) as separate items under Institutional Exemptions.
Who needs to file Dedication and Dissolution Clauses – San Diego County, CA?
Organizations seeking the Welfare Exemption under section 214 of the Revenue and Taxation Code need this wording in their governing document. The exemption covers property used exclusively for religious, hospital, scientific, or charitable purposes and owned and operated by community chests, funds, foundations, or corporations organized and operated for those purposes.
- Corporations: the statement of irrevocable dedication belongs in the articles of incorporation.
- Other funds or foundations: it belongs in the bylaws, articles of association, constitution, or regulations.
- Organizations with educational purposes that are also charitable: the Welfare Exemption may also be available, and if educational purposes are indicated in the dedication statement, the sheet's added language should be used.
- Organizations whose assets will go to an entity organized in whole or in part for charitable and educational purposes: limiting language similar to the qualified dedication clause must be added.
The sheet addresses organizational documents only. It does not say who may sign or file on an organization's behalf.
When to file Dedication and Dissolution Clauses – San Diego County, CA
The trigger is an amendment of your organizational document: when the articles, bylaws or similar document lack the required dedication and dissolution wording, you revise them. After you file the amended document with the Secretary of State's office in Sacramento, you submit an endorsed copy to the Assessor's office to satisfy the filing requirements for the Welfare Exemption. No separate due date is printed on the sheet, and it sets no renewal cycle. The sheet itself is a guide to wording, so it is used whenever an organization drafts or revises the dedication and dissolution provisions that support a Welfare Exemption claim.
Documents you need
- An endorsed copy of the amended articles of incorporation or other organizational document, after it has been filed with the Secretary of State's office, to satisfy the Assessor's filing requirements for the Welfare Exemption.
How to fill out Dedication and Dissolution Clauses – San Diego County, CA
Confirm the dedication requirement
Read the Irrevocable Dedication Clause section: property must be irrevocably dedicated to religious, hospital, scientific, or charitable purposes under section 214, and the statement must appear in your articles of incorporation or, for another fund or foundation, in its bylaws, articles of association, constitution, or regulations.
Choose your qualifying purposes
Decide whether your organization is dedicated to religious, charitable, scientific or hospital purposes, or to charitable and educational purposes meeting the requirements for exemption under section 214.
Add educational language if it applies
If educational purposes as well as charitable purposes are indicated, add the sheet's sentence dedicating the assets and property to charitable and educational purposes meeting the requirements of section 214.
Enter your legal entity name
In the sample articles of incorporation, replace each [legal entity] placeholder with the name of your corporation, fund or foundation.
Insert the purposes in both places
Replace the bracketed purposes list in the dedication sentence and again in the dissolution sentence with the purposes you chose in the earlier step.
Check the dissolution recipient
The remaining assets, after payment or provision for payment of all debts and liabilities, must go to a nonprofit fund, foundation or corporation organized and operated exclusively for those purposes and with section 501(c)(3) status.
Place the wording in your document
Put the completed wording in the articles of incorporation, or in the bylaws or other governing document if you are a fund or foundation, and keep the statement that no part of the net income or assets benefits any private person.
File the amended document
File the amended organizational document with the Secretary of State's office in Sacramento, then obtain an endorsed copy to give to the Assessor's office.
Review and download the completed PDF
Check that no bracketed placeholder remains and that the purposes match in both sentences. Download or print the completed PDF from FillingPDF and follow the channels under How to submit.
How to submit Dedication and Dissolution Clauses – San Diego County, CA
There are two steps: file the amended document with the Secretary of State, then submit an endorsed copy to the Assessor.
- Secretary of State: file the amended organizational document with the Secretary of State's office in Sacramento. The sheet gives (916) 657-5448 for information.
- Assessor's office: after filing, submit an endorsed copy to the San Diego County Assessor's office to satisfy the filing requirements for the Welfare Exemption.
The sheet prints no mailing address, portal or appointment rule for the Assessor's office; check the Assessor's forms page for current contact details. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the channels above.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Placing the irrevocable dedication statement anywhere other than the articles of incorporation (corporations) or the bylaws, articles of association, constitution, or regulations (other funds and foundations).
- Dedicating the property to purposes beyond religious, charitable, scientific or hospital; the statement must dedicate to only these purposes, plus educational where it is also charitable.
- Leaving out the added educational language when educational purposes are also indicated in the dedication statement.
- Naming a recipient on dissolution that is not organized and operated exclusively for the qualifying purposes, without adding the limiting language the sheet requires for charitable and educational entities.
- Leaving the bracketed placeholders, such as [legal entity] and the purposes list, unreplaced in the sample articles wording.
- Omitting the recipient's tax-exempt status under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code from the dissolution wording.
- Sending the Assessor the amendment before it is filed with the Secretary of State, or sending an unendorsed copy instead of an endorsed one.
Frequently asked questions
What are the Dedication and Dissolution Clauses for the Welfare Exemption?
They are the two statements that an organization's governing document must contain to support the Welfare Exemption under section 214 of the Revenue and Taxation Code: an irrevocable dedication to qualifying purposes, and a dissolution clause sending remaining assets to a qualifying organization.
Where must the irrevocable dedication statement appear?
For a corporation, in the articles of incorporation. For any other fund or foundation, in its bylaws, articles of association, constitution, or regulations. Section 214.01 treats property as irrevocably dedicated only if the statement appears there.
What wording do I add if my organization also has educational purposes?
If educational purposes as well as charitable purposes are indicated, add a sentence saying the assets and property are irrevocably dedicated to charitable and educational purposes meeting the requirements for exemption provided by section 214 of the Revenue and Taxation Code.
What must the dissolution clause say?
On dissolution or winding up, assets left after debts and liabilities are paid or provided for must go to a nonprofit fund, foundation, or corporation organized and operated exclusively for the qualifying purposes and holding section 501(c)(3) status, so nothing benefits a private person.
Where do I send the amended articles of incorporation?
File the amended document with the Secretary of State's office in Sacramento; the sheet lists (916) 657-5448 for information. Then submit an endorsed copy to the San Diego County Assessor's office to satisfy the Welfare Exemption filing requirements.
Is this one of the San Diego County property tax forms?
It is a San Diego County Assessor document in the property tax exemption and exclusion forms section, tied to the Welfare Exemption. It is a wording guide, not an application: the Welfare Exemption claim itself uses the First Filing or Annual Filing forms the Assessor lists.
Can I fill out Dedication and Dissolution Clauses online?
You can fill out the PDF online on FillingPDF and download or print it. FillingPDF is independent of the San Diego County Assessor and does not file anything; the amended document goes to the Secretary of State and an endorsed copy goes to the Assessor.
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