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 Iowa, the homestead exemption is a legal provision that protects a portion of a person's home and adjoining land from being sold to satisfy debts. This exemption is designed to ensure that individuals and their families have a secure place to live, even in the face of financial difficulties. Iowa's homestead exemption is quite generous, allowing an exemption of up to one-half acre of land in a city or town, or up to 40 acres of land in the country, along with the dwelling house and improvements. The value of the homestead is not capped, meaning that the entire value of the property falling within these size limits is protected. The exemption applies to the entire family and not to individual spouses, ensuring that the family homestead is safeguarded as long as one spouse has the intention and uses the property as such. The homestead remains exempt from forced sale unless there is evidence of abandonment, alienation, or death of the owner. To claim abandonment, the party asserting it must provide competent evidence that the homestead claimant has ceased to use the property as a home and does not intend to return.