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 Oklahoma, the homestead exemption is a legal provision that protects a person's primary residence from being forcibly sold to satisfy debts, up to a certain value. This exemption is designed to ensure that families have a secure home. Oklahoma law does not require a specific writing to claim a homestead exemption; rather, it requires proof of concurrent usage and the intent of the owner to claim the property as a homestead. The exemption applies to the entire family and not just to individual spouses, meaning that as long as one spouse intends and uses the property as a family homestead, it is protected under the homestead exemption. The exemption remains in place unless the property is abandoned, alienated, or in the event of the owner's death. Abandonment is defined as the cessation of use of the property as a home with the intent not to return, and the burden of proof for abandonment lies with the party asserting it. Oklahoma's homestead exemption is codified in the Oklahoma Constitution at Article XII, Section 2 and in statutory law under Title 31 of the Oklahoma Statutes.