Homestead Exemption Laws by State — How Much Home Equity Is Protected in Each State

“(a) The homestead of every resident of this state, including improvements and appurtenances, which does not exceed 160 acres in size and is valued at no more than: (i) fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000); or (ii) fifty-six thousand four hundred dollars ($56,400) if the resident is either 62 years of age or older or an individual with a disability, shall be exempt from levy, sale, execution or other process for debt collection during his or her lifetime and occupancy to the …”

“(c) If property that includes a homestead is sold under an execution, the sale becomes effective upon confirmation by order of the court. The court shall enter the order of confirmation unless, within 60 days after the sale, the individual repurchases the property under this section or the court extends the time for confirmation upon the filing of a timely motion by a party in interest. The individual may repurchase property, including that individual's homestead, at a …”

“D. The homestead exemption provided by this section shall be adjusted annually beginning on January 1, 2024 and thereafter on January 1 of each successive year by the increase in the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living shall be measured by the percentage increase as of August of the immediately preceding year over the level as of August of the previous year of the consumer price index (all urban consumers, United States city average for all items) or its …”

“(5) The exemptions granted in subsection (a) of this section shall be in addition to the present exemptions granted by Arkansas law as listed below: The personal property of an unmarried person not the head of a family not exceeding a value of two hundred dollars ($200) in addition to such person's wearing apparel — Arkansas Constitution, Article 9, Section 1;”

“(a) If a declared homestead is voluntarily sold, the proceeds of sale are exempt in the amount provided by Section 704.730 for a period of six months after the date of sale.”

“(1) Every homestead in the state is exempt from execution and attachment arising from any debt, contract, or civil obligation not exceeding in actual cash value in excess of any liens or encumbrances on the homesteaded property in existence at the time of any levy of execution thereon:”

“(14) Alimony and support, other than child support, but only to the extent that wages are exempt from execution under section 52-361a ;”

“(b) Except as otherwise provided in the declaration, a lien under this section is prior to all other liens and encumbrances on a unit except (i) liens and encumbrances recorded before the recordation of the declaration and, in a cooperative, liens and encumbrances which the association creates, assumes, or takes subject to, (ii) a first or second security interest on the unit recorded before the date on which the assessment sought to be enforced became delinquent, or, in …”

“A decedent’s surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner is entitled to a homestead allowance of $15,000. If there is no surviving spouse or surviving domestic partner, each surviving minor child and each surviving dependent child of the decedent is entitled to a homestead allowance amounting to $15,000 divided by the number of surviving minor and surviving dependent children of the decedent. The homestead allowance is exempt from and has priority over all claims …”

“(b) “Disposable earnings” means that part of the earnings of any head of family remaining after the deduction from those earnings of any amounts required by law to be withheld.”

“(a) In any year in which the General Assembly appropriates by line item, and with reference to this Code section, funds necessary to provide grants to counties to aid in the construction and maintenance of county roads, such grants shall be allotted to each county pro rata according to each county’s share of the total number of homesteads in the state for the immediately preceding year. For purposes of this Code section and Code Section 36-17-22, the term “homestead” …”

“(f) Option of cotenant to compel others to buy or sell. In case two or more persons become cotenants under any existing right of purchase lease, certificate of occupation, or homestead lease by inheritance or otherwise, any one or more of the persons, less than the whole number, may file in the office of the land agent an offer to the remainder of the persons to buy their interest in the premises or to sell them their own interest therein at a stated price, according to …”

“A homestead may consist of lands, as described in section 55-1001, Idaho Code, regardless of area, but the homestead exemption amount shall not exceed the sum of one hundred seventy-five thousand dollars ($175,000).”

“(a) Beginning with taxable year 2007, an annual homestead exemption is granted to persons with disabilities in the amount of $2,000, except as provided in subsection (c), to be deducted from the property's value as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue. The person with a disability shall receive the homestead exemption upon meeting the following requirements: (1) The property must be occupied as the primary residence by the person with a disability. (2) The …”

“Sec. 11. In all cases in which real property is claimed as exempt from sale on execution, if the real property is susceptible of division by metes and bounds without material injury, the real property shall be divided to exempt the principal dwelling house or homestead of the debtor.”

“Where there has been a change in the limits of the homestead, or a new homestead has been acquired with the proceeds of the old, the new homestead, to the extent in value of the old, is exempt from execution in all cases where the old or former one would have been.”

“The proceeds from the execution of any such lease, whether denominated bonus, rental, royalty, or otherwise, shall be wholly exempt from liability for payment or satisfaction of any debts or other obligations of either spouse, except taxes, encumbrances and liens on the homestead, the necessary cost of the proceeding for the execution of such lease, and the support, maintenance and education of the conservatee, his or her spouse, and children.”

“In addition to any exemption of personal property, an individual debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000) in value, in real or personal property that such debtor or a dependent of such debtor uses as a permanent residence in this state, or in a burial plot for such debtor or a dependent of such debtor is exempt from sale under execution, attachment or judgment, except to foreclose a mortgage given by the owner of a homestead or for …”

“A. Except as otherwise provided in Subsection C of this Section, a judgment creditor shall not cause the seizure or sale of the homestead of the judgment debtor in the execution of a judgment for consumer credit card charges. For purposes of this Section, a judgment for consumer credit card charges is a judgment for the payment of money consisting solely of amounts due from a consumer for unsecured consumer loans incurred through the use of a lender credit card or seller …”

“''Automatic homestead exemption'', an exemption in the amount of $125,000 pursuant to section 4; provided, however, that: (1) with respect to a home owned as joint tenants or as tenants by the entirety, the automatic homestead exemption shall remain whole and unallocated between the owners, provided that the owners together shall not be entitled to an automatic homestead exemption in excess of $125,000; and (2) with respect to a home owned by multiple owners as tenants in …”

“(g) A homestead of not more than 40 acres of land and the dwelling house and appurtenances on that homestead that is not included in a recorded plat, city, or village, or, at the option of the owner, a quantity of land that consists of not more than 1 lot that is within a recorded town plat, city, or village, and the dwelling house and appurtenances on that land, owned and occupied by any resident of this state, not exceeding in value $3,500.00. This exemption applies to …”

“The house owned and occupied by a debtor as the debtor's dwelling place, together with the land upon which it is situated to the amount of area and value hereinafter limited and defined, shall constitute the homestead of such debtor and the debtor's family, and be exempt from seizure or sale under legal process on account of any debt not lawfully charged thereon in writing, except such as are incurred for work or materials furnished in the construction, repair, or …”

“There shall be exempt from seizure under execution or attachment:”

“1. The homestead of every person, consisting of a dwelling house and appurtenances, and the land used in connection therewith, not exceeding the value of fifteen thousand dollars, which is or shall be used by such person as a homestead, shall, together with the rents, issues and products thereof, be exempt from attachment and execution. The exemption allowed under this section shall not be allowed for more than one owner of any homestead if one owner claims the entire …”

“(2) If a claimant who is an owner of an undivided interest in real property claims a homestead exemption, the claimant is limited to an exemption amount proportional to the claimant's undivided interest.”

“Each natural person residing in this state shall have exempt from judgment liens and from execution or forced sale, except as provided in sections 40-101 to 40-116 , a homestead not exceeding one hundred twenty thousand dollars in value consisting of the dwelling house in which the claimant resides, its appurtenances, and the land on which the same is situated, not exceeding one hundred and sixty acres of land, to be selected by the owner, and not in any incorporated city …”

“1. The following property is exempt from execution, except as otherwise specifically provided in this section or required by federal law:”

“III. Notwithstanding paragraph I, homestead exemptions, totaling not more than $550,000, may be held or claimed, or $400,000 for a single person under this section.”

“Every person, a citizen and resident of this State of the age of 65 or more years, or less than 65 years of age who is permanently and totally disabled, having an annual income not in excess of the limitations provided in this section and residing in a dwelling house owned by him which is a constituent part of his real property or residing in a dwelling house owned by him which is assessed as real property but which is situated on land owned by another or others, or …”

“A. A person shall have a homestead exemption in a domicile or land owned by the person that is the primary residence of the person. Such homestead is exempt from attachment, execution or foreclosure by a judgment creditor and from any proceeding of receivers or trustees in insolvency or bankruptcy proceedings and from executors or administrators in probate.”

“§ 5205. Personal property exempt from application to the satisfaction\nof money judgments. (a) Exemption for personal property. The following\npersonal property when owned by any person is exempt from application to\nthe satisfaction of a money judgment except where the judgment is for\nthe purchase price of the exempt property or was recovered by a\ndomestic, laboring person or mechanic for work performed by that person\nin such capacity:\n 1. all stoves and home heating …”

“The debtor may elect to take the personal property and homestead exemptions provided in Article X of the Constitution of North Carolina instead of the exemptions provided by G.S. 1C-1601. If the debtor elects to take his constitutional exemptions, the exemptions provided in G.S. 1C-1601 shall not apply and in that event the exemptions provided in this Article shall not be construed so as to affect the personal property and homestead exemptions granted by Article X of the …”

“1. In lieu of the homestead exemption, up to twenty-five thousand dollars. This exemption is not available if the resident exemption claimant, the spouse of the resident exemption claimant, or other head of the family of the resident exemption claimant has chosen the homestead exemption provided for under subsection 7 of section 28-22-02.”

“(C) The reduction shall equal the same amount as the homestead's applicable homestead exemption for the tax year and shall be applied concurrently with the homestead exemption. The reduction is subject to the same provisions as provided in sections 323.151 to 323.159 or sections 4503.064 to 4503.069 of the Revised Code as are applicable to a homestead exemption, except that no application shall be required under section 323.153 or 4503.066 of the Revised Code for a …”

“2. A lien created pursuant to this section shall affect and attach to all real property, including the homestead, of judgment debtors whose names appear in the Statement of Judgment; however, judgment liens on a homestead are exempt from forced sale pursuant to Section 1 of Title 31 of the Oklahoma Statutes and Section 2 of Article XII of the Oklahoma Constitution. C. Judgment Index. A judgment index shall be kept by each county clerk in which the name of each person …”

“(4) The amount of the exemption allowed under subsection (2) or (3) of this section shall equal 103 percent of the amount of the exemption for the prior tax year.”

“(1) In accordance with the limits established on the exclusion for homestead property in Article VIII of the Constitution of Pennsylvania, no governing body of a political subdivision shall authorize an exclusion for homestead property in excess of the amount which is one-half of the median assessed value of homestead property in the political subdivision. The median assessed value of homestead property shall be determined by the information provided to the governing body …”

“(b) For the purposes of this section, “owner of a home” includes a sole owner, lessee (but only a lessee who or that was the owner of a home prior to a transfer to the lessor), joint tenant, tenant by the entirety, or tenant in common; provided, that only one individual may acquire an estate of homestead in the home for the benefit of his or her family; and provided further, that an estate of homestead may be acquired on only one principal residence for the benefit of a …”

“(1)(a) The debtor's aggregate interest, not to exceed fifty thousand dollars in value, in real property or personal property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, in a cooperative that owns property that the debtor or a dependent of the debtor uses as a residence, or in a burial plot for the debtor or a dependent of the debtor, except that the aggregate value of multiple homestead exemptions allowable with respect to a single living unit may …”

“A conveyance or encumbrance of a homestead by its owner, if married and both husband and wife are residents of this state, is valid if both husband and wife concur in and sign or execute such conveyance or encumbrance either by joint instrument or by separate instruments. However, for the sole purpose of a spouse of a person in the armed forces making application for a home loan under 38 U.S.C. 1701, et seq., the signature of the spouse alone is sufficient to convey or …”

“(1) An individual, whether a head of family or not, shall be entitled to a homestead exemption upon real property which is owned by the individual and used by the individual or the individual's spouse or dependent, as a principal place of residence. The aggregate value of such homestead exemption shall not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000); provided, individuals who jointly own and use real property as their principal place of residence shall be entitled to homestead …”

“(d) In addition to the exemptions provided by Subsections (b) and (c) of this section, an individual who is disabled or is 65 or older is entitled to an exemption from taxation by a taxing unit of a portion (the amount of which is fixed as provided by Subsection (e) of this section) of the appraised value of his residence homestead if the exemption is adopted either:”

“(5) Property that includes a homestead may not be sold at execution if there is no bid which exceeds the amount of the declared homestead exemption.”

“The provisions of 27 V.S.A. chapter 3 shall apply to cooperative interests in cooperative housing corporations, notwithstanding characterization of cooperative interests as personal property.”

“On April 1, 2027, and at each three-year interval ending on April 1 thereafter, each monetary limit in effect under this section immediately before such April 1 shall be adjusted to reflect the change in the Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers (CPI-U), as published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor, for the most recent three-year period ending immediately before January 1 preceding such April 1, and rounded to the nearest $25, the …”

“(c) Where the homestead is subject to execution, attachment, or seizure by or under any legal process whatever to satisfy a judgment in favor of any state for failure to pay that state's income tax on benefits received while a resident of the state of Washington from a pension or other retirement plan, no dollar limit.”

“(1) A low-income person who is allowed a $20,000 homestead exemption from the assessed value of his or her homestead for ad valorem property tax purposes, as provided in section three, article six-b of this chapter, shall be allowed a refundable credit against the taxes imposed by this article equal to the amount of ad valorem property taxes paid on up to the first $10,000 of taxable assessed value of the homestead for property tax years that begin on or after January 1, …”

“(h) “Exempt” means free from any lien obtained by judicial proceedings and is not liable to seizure or sale on execution or on any provisional or final process issued from any court, or any proceedings in aid of court process.”

“(c) The notice shall state that there may be additional exemptions not listed which may be applicable. Failure by the person to claim an exemption on the request for hearing form does not preclude him from claiming other exemptions or defenses at a hearing on the matter. If a person fails to make a written request for a hearing and claim exemptions pursuant to this section within ten (10) days after the date the notice was mailed to him, the notice shall state he may …”