Does filing a homestead exemption in Texas protect against losing your home in a lawsuit?
Full Question:
Answer:
Homestead laws deal with such matters as the ability of creditors to attach a person's home, the amount of real estate taxes owed on the home, or the ability of the homeowner to mortgage or devise the home under a will, among other issues.
The Homestead Exemption law of Texas states:
B' 41.001. Interests in Land Exempt from Seizure
A homestead and one or more lots used for a place of burial of the dead are exempt from seizure for the claims of creditors except for encumbrances properly fixed on homestead property.
Encumbrances may be properly fixed on homestead property for:
purchase money;
taxes on the property;
work and material used in constructing improvements on the property if contracted for in writing as provided by Sections 53.254 (a), (b),and (c);
an owelty of partition imposed against the entirety of the property by a court order or by a written agreement of the parties to the partition, including a debt of one spouse in favor of the other spouse resulting from a division or an award of a family homestead in a divorce proceeding; or
the refinance of a lien against a homestead, including a federal tax lien resulting from the tax debt of both spouses, if the homestead is a family homestead, or from the tax debt of the owner.
The homestead claimant's proceeds of a sale of a homestead are not subject to seizure for a creditor's claim for six months after the date of sale.
B' 41.002. Definition of Homestead
If used for the purposes of an urban home or as both an urban home and a place to exercise a calling or business, the homestead of a family or a single, adult person, not otherwise entitled to a homestead, shall consist of not more than 10 acres of land which may be in one or more contiguous lots, together with any improvements thereon.
If used for the purposes of a rural home, the homestead shall consist of:
for a family, not more than 200 acres, which may be in one or more parcels, with the improvements thereon; or
for a single, adult person, not otherwise entitled to a homestead, not more than 100 acres, which may be in one or more parcels, with the improvements thereon.
