Can a Full Time RVer Claim a Homestead in Washington?
Full Question:
Answer:
The property claimed as a homestead must be actually intended or used as the principal home for the owner. Primary residence refers to a dwelling where a person usually lives. It may be a house or apartment, and at a given time, a person shall not have more than one primary residence. Primary residence is the legal residence of an individual, for purposes of income tax calculation or for acquiring a mortgage. Generally a person’s primary residence is determined based on the mailing address, telephone listing, the time spent at the residence per year and such other factors.
Please see the following Wa statute:
RCW 6.13.010 (1) The homestead consists of real or personal property that
the owner....
(1) The homestead consists of real or personal property that the owner
uses as a residence. In the case of a dwelling house or mobile home, the
homestead consists of the dwelling house or the mobile home in which the
owner resides or intends to reside, with appurtenant buildings, and the
land on which the same are situated and by which the same are surrounded,
or improved or unimproved land owned with the intention of placing a house
or mobile home thereon and residing thereon. A mobile home may be exempted
under this chapter whether or not it is permanently affixed to the
underlying land and whether or not the mobile home is placed upon a lot
owned by the mobile home owner. Property included in the homestead must be
actually intended or used as the principal home for the owner.
(2) As used in this chapter, the term "owner" includes but is not limited
to a purchaser under a deed of trust, mortgage, or real estate contract.
(3) As used in this chapter, the term "net value" means market value less
all liens and encumbrances senior to the judgment being executed upon and
not including the judgment being executed upon.
RCW 6.13.020 If the owner is married, the homestead may consist of the
community or....
If the owner is married, the homestead may consist of the community or
jointly owned property of the spouses or the separate property of either
spouse: PROVIDED, That the same premises may not be claimed separately by
the husband and wife with the effect of increasing the net value of the
homestead available to the marital community beyond the amount specified in
RCW 6.13.030 as now or hereafter amended. When the owner is not married,
the homestead may consist of any of his or her property.
RCW 6.13.030 A homestead may consist of lands, as described in RCW
6.13.010,....
A homestead may consist of lands, as described in RCW 6.13.010,
regardless of area, but the homestead exemption amount shall not exceed
the lesser of (1) the total net value of the lands, manufactured homes,
mobile home, improvements, and other personal property, as described in
RCW 6.13.010, or (2) the sum of one hundred twenty-five thousand dollars
in the case of lands, manufactured homes, mobile home, and improvements,
or the sum of fifteen thousand dollars in the case of other personal
property described in RCW 6.13.010, except 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, in which
event there shall be no dollar limit on the value of the exemption.
RCW 6.13.040 (1) Property described in RCW 6.13.010 constitutes a homestead
and is....
(1) Property described in RCW 6.13.010 constitutes a homestead and is
automatically protected by the exemption described in RCW 6.13.070 from and
after the time the real or personal property is occupied as a principal
residence by the owner or, if the homestead is unimproved or improved land
that is not yet occupied as a homestead, from and after the declaration or
declarations required by the following subsections are filed for record or,
if the homestead is a mobile home not yet occupied as a homestead and
located on land not owned by the owner of the mobile home, from and after
delivery of a declaration as prescribed in RCW 6.15.060(3)(c) or, if the
homestead is any other personal property, from and after the delivery of a
declaration as prescribed in RCW 6.15.060(3)(d).
(2) An owner who selects a homestead from unimproved or improved land
that is not yet occupied as a homestead must execute a declaration of
homestead and file the same for record in the office of the recording
officer in the county in which the land is located. However, if the owner
also owns another parcel of property on which the owner presently resides
or in which the owner claims a homestead, the owner must also execute a
declaration of abandonment of homestead on that other property and file the
same for record with the recording officer in the county in which the land
is located.
(3) The declaration of homestead must contain:
(a) A statement that the person making it is residing on the premises or
intends to reside thereon and claims them as a homestead;
(b) A legal description of the premises; and
(c) An estimate of their actual cash value.
(4) The declaration of abandonment must contain:
(a) A statement that premises occupied as a residence or claimed as a
homestead no longer constitute the owner's homestead;
(b) A legal description of the premises; and
(c) A statement of the date of abandonment.
(5) The declaration of homestead and declaration of abandonment of
homestead must be acknowledged in the same manner as a grant of real
property is acknowledged.
