A homestead or homestead estate generally includes a house, outbuildings, and the adjoining land owned and occupied by a person or family as a primary residence.

Many states—but not all—have laws that protect a person’s homestead from forced sale for the satisfaction (payment) of debts—at least up to a certain amount of the homestead’s value. These laws may be referred to as homestead exemptions or homestead laws and may be located in a state’s constitution or in its statutes.

The homestead exemption exists to provide a secure home for the family against creditors. The exemption is liberally construed to further its purposes. No specific writing is needed to claim a homestead exemption, but instead merely proof of concurrent usage and intent on the part of the owner to claim the land as a homestead.

In some states the constitutional family homestead exemption applies to the entire family, and not to either spouse individually. Therefore, so long as real property is a family homestead due to one spouse's intention and use, that property is protected by the homestead exemption, unless full abandonment has been pleaded and proved. Once a property has been established as a homestead, the property remains exempt unless it ceases to be a homestead due to abandonment, alienation, or death.

Abandonment of a homestead occurs when the homestead claimant ceases to use the property and intends not to use it as a home again. Anyone asserting abandonment of a homestead has the burden of proving it by competent evidence.

In Florida, the homestead exemption is a powerful legal provision that offers significant protection for a person's primary residence from forced sale by creditors. This exemption is enshrined in the Florida Constitution (Article X, Section 4) and further detailed in state statutes. Florida's homestead exemption is particularly generous; it provides unlimited financial protection for the homestead property, subject to acreage limitations—up to 160 acres of contiguous land and improvements for rural properties, and up to one-half acre for properties located within a municipality. The exemption applies automatically upon the establishment of a primary residence; no specific declaration is required. However, the homeowner must be a permanent resident of Florida and the property must be the person's primary place of residence. The protection extends to surviving spouses and heirs. The homestead exemption in Florida also protects the property from being forcibly sold to meet the demands of most creditors, except for obligations related to property taxes, mortgages, construction liens, and other specified types of debts. If a homestead property is abandoned, which means the owner no longer uses and does not intend to use the property as a primary residence, the exemption may be lost. The burden of proving abandonment lies with the party challenging the homestead status.