A homestead generally refers to the primary residence owned and occupied by a person or family. So, a homestead exemption is a legal provision designed to protect the value in a principal dwelling place. Thus, homestead exemptions can provide asset protection from creditors for at least some of the value in the homestead. Typically, no creditors with the exception of a mortgage holder, taxing agency or mechanic’s lien (liens placed by those who provided home improvement services, for example) may seize more of the equity than the homestead laws allow.
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR STATE-BY-STATE HOMESTEAD EXEMPTION TABLE
A homestead exemption may also refer to statutes in some jurisdictions that offer property tax reductions for a primary residence. For example, as of this writing, Article VII, Section 6 of the Florida Constitution reduces the value of a home for assessment of property taxes by $50,000. It may also may refer to the protection provisions for spouses and children.
In Florida, a married person must have consent of both spouses in order to sell a primary residence even of the property was paid for and is in the name of only one spouse. Upon death the surviving spouse can enjoy a life estate and use the home until passing. Alternatively, a widow may elect to timely file to take a 50% interest in the home and the remaining 50% is held in a life estate for the benefit of the decedent’s children. In particular, this article focuses on the amount of equity that one can protect from judgment creditors in each jurisdiction.
We have people ask us all the time, “If someone sues you can they take your house?” The answer is yes unless you live in a state with sufficient homestead protection.
Homestead Exemption Statutes Vary By State
State, federal and territorial homestead exemption statutes vary. Some states, such as Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas have provisions, if followed properly, allowing 100% of the equity to be protected. Other states, such as New Jersey and Pennsylvania do not offer any homestead protection. Whereas, the degree of protection in New York varies by county. What is more, with the 2005 federal bankruptcy code revision, residences purchased within 40 months (three years and four months) of a bankruptcy filing receive a maximum exemption of $125,000.
In summary, there is great diversity in homestead protection state-by-state:
- Some states allow you to protect 100% of your home. Others protect little to none.
- Some states allow married couples to double their exemption. Others do not have this provision.
- Some of the states make you file a declaration of homestead before filing for bankruptcy. In others, it is automatic.
- The majority of states require you to follow the state homestead rules. Some allow you to choose between state and federal homestead exemption statutes.
- This is the first and only list we could find online that includes not only all US States and DC, but also US territories, American Samoa, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
There are some notable variations among some US territories. American Samoa, for example, allows protection only for those of Samoan descent. Northern Mariana Islands allows one to keep the amount of land needed to support oneself. Puerto Rico requires a note to be certified by a notary public and filed with the Land Registrar.
Can I Keep My House if I File for Bankruptcy?
Whether or not you can protect your home can be a major consideration when contemplating a bankruptcy filing. The majority of states and territories do allow some protection under their homestead exemption statutes. This exemption is a factor in both Chapter 7 liquidation bankruptcy as well as Chapter 13 where a payment plan can be arranged. So by knowing the rules, you may be able to protect some, most or all of your personal residence, and decrease the repayment amount in a Ch. 13 filing.
Homestead Exemption Laws Change
Please keep in mind that whereas we make every effort to keep the information up to date and accurate, that there are well over 50 states, districts and territories listed below and changes in regional and federal laws and rulings may occur before we have a chance to update the list. Additionally, some of the data on which we relied may, itself, be inaccurate or we may have misinterpreted our findings.
So, this may be used as a helpful reference, but you are responsible for confirming the accuracy of this information before relying upon it. In addition, there may be exceptions for child support, taxes, and/or acquiring real property with criminal proceeds. This exemption is one small part of an overall plan to protect assets from lawsuits. We encourage anyone who notices that an update needs to be made to fill out the contact form on this page and let us know.
Table of Homestead Exemptions by State & Territory
Below you will find the amount of exemption allowed in your state or territory, the statutes applicable to the jurisdiction and some noteworthy points about the state or territory’s statutes and how they are interpreted. You will also see whether or not a particular state allows a doubling, or other increase, of the exemption for married couples. Where there is not an increase allowed the column is left blank. Again, laws change and we make no guarantees. So double check with a licensed attorney who specializes in this arena before relying on it.
On a related note, if you are married, you may want to know if you live in a tenancy by the entirety state. Do you live in a community property state where the debts of one spouse can jeopardize the assets of another? What about IRA creditor exemptions? Wage garnishment exemptions? All of these factor can help you determine the types of assets you need to protect.
Copyright Notice
And another thing. This page was a lot of work to put together. You can view it, link to it, tell others about it. But please don’t copy it. This website has a federally registered copyright and we would much rather meet you on the golf course than in the courtroom. See items that need to be updated? Let us know by completing the inquiry form on this page.
| State / Region | Homestead Exemption Amount | Married Couples / Joint Owners [1] | Homestead Exemption Statute and Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $18,800 | $37,600 | Ala. Code §§ 6-10-2, 6-10-12. Covers up to 160 acres. The amount rises to $56,400 for an owner who is 62 or older or disabled, effective June 1, 2026, and each joint owner files a separate claim. A built-in cost-of-living adjustment pushes the base figure to $20,475 starting April 1, 2027. |
| Alaska | $72,900 | Alaska Stat. § 09.38.010; 8 AAC 95.030. Applies to a primary residence with no cap on acreage. The dollar figure is a single ceiling per residence and is not multiplied for co-owners. | |
| Arizona | $400,000* | Ariz. Rev. Stat. § 33-1101. The $400,000 floor came from a 2022 ballot measure (Prop. 209) and has climbed every January since 2024 under a CPI formula; the state itself doesn’t publish the running total, though outside trackers put the 2026 figure near $437,600. A married couple shares one exemption rather than doubling it, and cash from a home sale stays protected for 18 months. | |
| Arkansas | Unlimited | Ark. Const. art. 9, §§ 3-5. Land is protected without a dollar cap, limited instead to ¼-1 acre in a city or 80-160 acres outside one. The catch: only a married resident or the head of a household qualifies, so an unmarried person with no dependents isn’t covered. | |
| California | $300,000 to $600,000 | Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 704.730. Protection runs from a $300,000 floor up to a cap tied to the median home price in the owner’s county, capped at $600,000. Both ends of that range have risen with inflation each year since 2022, but no state office publishes the updated numbers directly. | |
| Colorado | $250,000 | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 38-41-201. Covers a house, mobile home, or manufactured home the owner lives in. The figure jumps to $350,000 if the owner, a spouse, or a dependent is 60 or older or has a disability. Money from selling the home stays exempt for up to three years if kept in a separate, traceable account. | |
| Connecticut | $250,000 | Conn. Gen. Stat. § 52-352b(21). Protects the owner-occupied home, calculated as market value minus existing liens. That protection shrinks to $75,000 when the underlying judgment stems from sexual assault or other intentional, reckless misconduct. | |
| Delaware | $200,000 | Del. Code tit. 10, § 4914(c)(1). This figure only helps in a bankruptcy or state insolvency filing — Delaware gives no shield against an ordinary civil judgment outside that process. A married couple filing together doesn’t get to double it. | |
| District of Columbia | Unlimited | D.C. Code § 15-501(a)(14). No dollar ceiling applies to a residence used by the debtor or a dependent, including a co-op interest, and there’s no acreage restriction — but the filer must qualify as a householder or head of family. | |
| Florida | Unlimited | Fla. Const. art. X, § 4. One of the strongest protections in the country: real property, a mobile home, or a modular home is shielded without a dollar limit, subject to ½ acre inside a municipality or 160 acres outside one. A surviving spouse or child can inherit the protection, and married couples can effectively double the safeguarded acreage. Bankruptcy filers need 40 months of residency to claim the full state-level benefit. | |
| Georgia | $21,500 | Ga. Code § 44-13-1. That’s the number that matters against an everyday judgment creditor. Inside a bankruptcy case, the figure is different — $50,000, or $100,000 where a married debtor is the sole owner on title — under a separate statute (Ga. Code § 44-13-100(a)) that took effect July 1, 2026. | |
| Hawaii | $20,000 to $30,000 | Haw. Rev. Stat. § 651-92(a). The higher figure, $30,000, applies to a head of family or an owner 65 or older; everyone else gets $20,000. The exemption is calculated net of any existing liens, and only one claim is allowed per parcel. | |
| Idaho | $175,000 | Idaho Code § 55-1003. Covers real property or a mobile home with no acreage cap, and protection attaches the moment the owner moves in — no paperwork required. | |
| Illinois | $50,000 | $100,000 | 735 ILCS 5/12-901. Reaches real or personal property — a farm, a house and lot, a condo, a co-op, or a mobile home. Joint owners together can claim $100,000. Lawmakers raised both figures effective January 1, 2026. |
| Indiana | $22,750 | $45,500 | Ind. Code § 34-55-10-2(b); 750 Ind. Admin. Code 1-1-1. The doubled figure is reserved for spouses who hold the property as tenants by the entirety — it’s not available to just any joint owners. An administrative rule sets the number, with the next review due by March 1, 2028. |
| Iowa | Unlimited | Iowa Code §§ 561.2, 561.16. No dollar cap, bounded instead by ½ acre in a city or 40 acres in the country. The homestead keeps its protected status even if the city later annexes the property. | |
| Kansas | Unlimited | Kan. Const. art. 15, § 9; Kan. Stat. § 60-2301. Also uncapped in dollar terms, with the same rural/urban split seen elsewhere — 1 acre in town, 160 acres outside it. | |
| Kentucky | $5,000 | Ky. Rev. Stat. § 427.060. One of the thinnest protections on this list, and it hasn’t moved since 1980. It covers real or personal property used as a residence, but offers nothing at all if the debt existed before the home was purchased. | |
| Louisiana | $35,000 | La. Rev. Stat. § 20:1. Applies to the home the owner occupies, capped at 5 acres in a city or town and 200 acres elsewhere. The cap disappears entirely for debt tied to a catastrophic or terminal illness, though an owner can sign the protection away in writing for anything other than medical treatment. | |
| Maine | $80,000 | $160,000 | 14 Me. Rev. Stat. § 4422(1). The higher figure covers a household with minor children, or an owner who is 60+ or disabled; joint debtors in that category can combine amounts. The state recalculates for inflation every three years, with the next update due April 1, 2027. |
| Maryland | $31,575 | Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 11-504(f). This is purely a bankruptcy number, borrowed from the federal exemption schedule (good through March 31, 2028) — Maryland offers nothing against a regular judgment creditor outside of bankruptcy, and spouses can’t both claim it. Couples there more often rely on tenancy-by-the-entirety ownership instead. | |
| Massachusetts | $125,000 to $1,000,000 | Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 188, §§ 1-5. Every homeowner gets $125,000 automatically. Recording a Declaration of Homestead with the county Registry of Deeds raises that ceiling all the way to $1,000,000. | |
| Michigan | $3,500 | Mich. Comp. Laws § 600.6023(1)(g). A very old, very low number — fixed by the 1963 state constitution and never updated since. It covers 40 acres outside a platted area or a single lot inside one. Bankruptcy filers do better: $51,150, or $76,725 if the debtor is 65 or older or disabled. | |
| Minnesota | $540,000 | Minn. Stat. § 510.02. Rises to $1,350,000 for property used mainly for farming, subject to a 160-acre limit. This figure took effect July 1, 2026. | |
| Mississippi | $75,000 | Miss. Code § 85-3-21. Covers up to 160 acres, with the dollar amount measured after subtracting any mortgages or other liens against the property. A mobile home owned without the underlying land is capped separately, at $30,000. | |
| Missouri | $15,000 | Mo. Rev. Stat. § 513.475. No acreage restriction, and co-owners don’t get to stack the exemption. This number is scheduled to jump to $40,000 on January 1, 2027. | |
| Montana | ~$425,829 | Mont. Code § 70-32-104(3). Started at $350,000 in 2021 and climbs automatically by 4% every January under the statute itself — there’s no published state table, so this is a calculated figure. A homeowner must file a recorded declaration before the protection applies in a bankruptcy case. | |
| Nebraska | $120,000 | Neb. Rev. Stat. § 40-101. Restricted to heads of household, covering 2 city lots or 160 rural acres. Lawmakers doubled this figure in 2024. | |
| Nevada | $605,000 | Nev. Rev. Stat. § 115.010. Covers real property or a mobile home, but only after the owner files a homestead declaration — which can technically be recorded as late as the day of a forced sale. | |
| New Hampshire | $400,000 | $550,000 | N.H. Rev. Stat. § 480:1. Combined claims on one property can reach $550,000. To qualify, the home must have served as the claimant’s primary residence for the prior 12 months, and the full value is protected against medical debt from a catastrophic or terminal illness. These figures took effect January 1, 2026. |
| New Jersey | None | New Jersey has no homestead exemption statute at all — one existed until a 1951 recodification dropped it and nothing replaced it. A spouse’s survivorship interest in property held as tenants by the entirety is still shielded from that spouse’s individual creditors, but that’s a separate protection. | |
| New Mexico | $150,000 | N.M. Stat. § 42-10-9(B). No acreage cap. The figure only rises to $300,000 when the claimant’s spouse died within the two years before the claim — a married couple where both spouses are living still gets $150,000, not the doubled amount. | |
| New York | $102,400 to $204,825 | Doubled where both spouses are debtors | N.Y. C.P.L.R. § 5206. The amount depends on which of three county tiers the property sits in, a figure the Superintendent of Financial Services set effective April 1, 2024. The next scheduled update is April 1, 2027. |
| North Carolina | $35,000 | $70,000 | N.C. Gen. Stat. § 1C-1601(a)(1). The exemption belongs to each individual debtor, so a married couple who are both named on a judgment can protect $70,000 combined. An unmarried debtor 65 or older who outlived a co-owner gets $60,000, and the same dollar figure has to stretch to cover a burial plot too. |
| North Dakota | $150,000 | N.D. Cent. Code § 47-18-01. Covers a primary residence on contiguous land with no acreage ceiling — the property itself is shielded from the judgment lien. | |
| Ohio | $182,625 | Ohio Rev. Code § 2329.66(A)(1). Covers real or personal property used as a home. The state revisits this number every three years; the current figure runs from April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2028. | |
| Oklahoma | Unlimited | Okla. Const. art. XII, §§ 1-2; Okla. Stat. tit. 31, §§ 1-2. No dollar ceiling, bounded by 1 acre in town or 160 acres in the country — unless more than a quarter of the structures on the property are used for business, in which case protection drops to just $5,000. | |
| Oregon | $158,300 | $316,700 | Or. Rev. Stat. § 18.395. The higher figure applies whenever two or more people living in the household — not necessarily married to each other — are named as judgment debtors. Coverage extends to 1 city block or 160 rural acres. The dollar figures are recalculated annually; the current ones took effect July 1, 2026. |
| Pennsylvania | None | Pennsylvania has no dedicated homestead statute. The only protection reaching a residence is a general $300 exemption that hasn’t been updated since 1982. | |
| Rhode Island | $500,000 | R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-26-4.1. Covers the land and buildings the owner occupies or plans to occupy as their main home, and it applies automatically — nothing needs to be filed. It won’t help against a bank debt or a debt that existed before the home was purchased. | |
| South Carolina | $80,125 | $160,250 | S.C. Code § 15-41-30(A)(1). When more than one person owns the home, the combined protection tops out at $160,250. The state recalculates this figure for inflation every two years; the current numbers took effect July 1, 2026. |
| South Dakota | Unlimited | S.D. Codified Laws §§ 43-45-3, 43-31-4. No dollar cap for owners under 70, covering 1 acre in town or 160 acres rural; once an owner turns 70, the exemption caps at $170,000. Proceeds from a home sale stay protected for a year, up to $100,000. | |
| Tennessee | $35,000 | $52,500 | Tenn. Code § 26-2-301. No limit on acreage. Owners who jointly claim the exemption in the same proceeding can protect $52,500 together. |
| Texas | Unlimited | Tex. Const. art. XVI, §§ 50-51; Tex. Prop. Code § 41.001. Among the most generous exemptions in the country — no dollar cap, covering 10 urban acres or 200 rural acres for a family (100 for a single adult). Sale proceeds stay protected for 6 months. An exception applies for anyone convicted of a securities violation, whose protection caps at $125,000. | |
| Utah | $53,700 | $107,500 | Utah Code § 78B-5-503. The figure applies per household and covers up to 1 acre, but only after a declaration is filed and recorded. It’s adjusted annually for inflation. |
| Vermont | $125,000 | Vt. Stat. tit. 27, § 101. No acreage restriction — covers the dwelling, outbuildings, and the land they sit on. It doesn’t reach back to protect against debts or claims that already existed when the homestead was acquired. | |
| Virginia | $50,000 | $100,000 | Va. Code §§ 34-4, 34-6. On top of the base amount, owners get a $5,000 general exemption ($10,000 if 65 or older) plus $500 per dependent, and a veteran with a service-connected disability rated 40% or higher gets an extra $10,000. A homestead deed has to be recorded before filing for bankruptcy for the protection to apply. Every dollar figure here adjusts for inflation starting April 1, 2027 and every three years after that. |
| Washington | $125,000 to $940,000 | Wash. Rev. Code § 6.13.030. The protected amount is whichever is greater: $125,000, or the county’s median sale price for a single-family home from the prior year. In King County, that pushes the 2026 figure to $940,000. There’s no acreage limit. | |
| West Virginia | $5,000 | W. Va. Code § 38-9-1. No cap on acreage, but the dollar figure itself is small outside of bankruptcy. Filing for bankruptcy raises it to $35,000 — or $250,000 for a physician facing a malpractice judgment. | |
| Wisconsin | $75,000 | $150,000 | Wis. Stat. § 815.20. Covers a home an owner occupies or plans to occupy, on between 0.25 and 40 acres. Each spouse can claim $75,000 on the same property, for $150,000 combined, and proceeds from a sale stay protected for two years if the owner intends to buy another home. |
| Wyoming | $100,000 | $200,000 | Wyo. Stat. § 1-20-101. Covers real property or a house trailer the owner occupies. Two or more joint owner-occupants — not necessarily a married couple — can together claim $200,000. |
| Federal Bankruptcy | $214,000 | 11 U.S.C. § 522(p)(1). This cap applies to home equity built up in the roughly 40 months (1,215 days) before filing — and it applies even in a state like Florida or Texas that has no cap of its own. The figure is good for cases filed between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2028. In states that let a filer choose the federal exemption instead of the state one, that alternate figure is $31,575 per person under § 522(d)(1), through the same date. | |
| US Territories | |||
| American Samoa | Unlimited for Samoan and certain ethnic Pacific Islanders | A.S.C.A. § 43.1528(a). Real property belonging to a Samoan can’t be sold to satisfy a court judgment, other than foreclosing a valid mortgage. The territory defines “Samoan” to include people of at least half Samoan ancestry, along with residents of at least half Polynesian, Melanesian, or Micronesian ancestry. | |
| Guam | $40,000 | 21 GCA Ch. 43 Art. 1 § 43123. A head of family or anyone 65 or older can claim up to $40,000; everyone else is capped at $25,000. A declaration has to be recorded with the Department of Land Management first. | |
| Northern Mariana Islands | Based on amount of land needed to support oneself | 7 CMC § 4210(c). A court can order a debtor’s solely-owned land sold or transferred, but has to leave enough behind to support the debtor. Separately, only people of Northern Marianas descent may generally acquire an interest in land there. | |
| Puerto Rico | Unlimited | PR Home Protection Act No. 195 (“Ley del Derecho a la Protección del Hogar Principal y el Hogar Familiar”). To get the protection, the owner has to file a notarized declaration with the Property Registry designating the home as a “hogar seguro.” | |
| US Virgin Islands | $30,000 | 5 V.I.C. § 478(a). Covers a family home actually lived in and owned by the family or some of its members, up to $30,000 in value, on no more than 5 rural acres or ¼ acre in a town. |
[1] Where a married couple or joint owners don’t get an increased amount, this column is left blank; check the notes for any doubling conditions that do apply.
Note: Homestead laws change through new legislation, court rulings, and agency updates. This chart reflects our research as of September 2026, but readers should confirm current figures with an attorney licensed in the applicable jurisdiction before relying on it.
