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 Pennsylvania, the concept of a homestead exemption is designed to protect a portion of a person's home and adjoining land from being seized or forced to be sold to satisfy most types of creditors' claims. Pennsylvania's homestead protection is not as robust as some other states, but it does offer some level of security. The state's exemption amount is relatively modest, allowing for an exemption of up to $300 of any property owned by the debtor, which can be doubled for married couples filing jointly. This means that the homestead exemption in Pennsylvania may not fully protect the value of a home from creditors, except for certain debts like property taxes and mortgages for which the property itself was collateral. It's important to note that the homestead exemption in Pennsylvania does not require specific documentation to claim; rather, it is based on the actual use of the property as a primary residence and the intent to maintain it as such. The exemption applies to the family unit and is not specific to either spouse. If a homestead is abandoned, which means the owner no longer uses the property as a primary residence and does not intend to return, the exemption can be lost. The burden of proving abandonment lies with the party asserting it.