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CHAPTER 510. HOMESTEAD EXEMPTIONS

Table of Sections
SectionHeadnote
510.01HOMESTEAD DEFINED; EXEMPT; EXCEPTION.
510.02510.02 AREA AND VALUE; HOW LIMITED.
510.03EXISTING EXEMPTION NOT AFFECTED BY CHANGES.
510.04TITLE MAY BE IN EITHER SPOUSE; EQUITABLE TITLE EXEMPT.
510.05510.05 LIMITATIONS.
510.06EXEMPTION NOT LOST BY DEATH OR DESERTION.
510.07SALE OR REMOVAL PERMITTED; INSURANCE PROCEEDS; NOTICE.
510.08SELECTION AFTER LEVY.
510.09SELECTION, HOW MADE.
510.01 HOMESTEAD DEFINED; EXEMPT; EXCEPTION.
The house owned and occupied by a debtor as the debtor's dwelling place, together with the
land upon which it is situated to the amount of area and value hereinafter limited and defined, shall
constitute the homestead of such debtor and the debtor's family, and be exempt from seizure or sale
under legal process on account of any debt not lawfully charged thereon in writing, except such as
are incurred for work or materials furnished in the construction, repair, or improvement of such
homestead, or for services performed by laborers or servants and as is provided in section 550.175.
History: (8336) RL s 3452; 1986 c 444; 1993 c 79 s 1
510.02 AREA AND VALUE; HOW LIMITED.
    Subdivision 1. Exemption. The homestead may include any quantity of land not exceeding
160 acres. The exemption per homestead, whether the exemption is claimed by one or more
debtors, may not exceed $300,000 or, if the homestead is used primarily for agricultural purposes,
$750,000, exclusive of the limitations set forth in section 510.05.
    Subd. 2. Adjustment of dollar amounts. The dollar amounts in subdivision 1 must change
periodically in the manner provided for under section 550.37, subdivision 4a. The commissioner
of commerce shall include the changes in the dollar amounts as part of the announcement and
publication made under those provisions.
History: (8337) RL s 3453; 1907 c 335 s 1; 1969 c 414 s 1; 1973 c 123 art 5 s 7; 1986 c
398 art 16 s 1; 1993 c 79 s 2; 2007 c 105 s 2; 2007 c 106 s 11
510.03 EXISTING EXEMPTION NOT AFFECTED BY CHANGES.
As against debts which are not a lien upon such property the area of the homestead shall
not be reduced or enlarged by reason of any change in the population of the place in which it
is situated, by extending the limits of an incorporated place so as to include the same or by the
platting of surrounding or adjoining lands or the vacation of existing plats.
History: (8338) RL s 3454; 1951 c 346 s 1
510.04 TITLE MAY BE IN EITHER SPOUSE; EQUITABLE TITLE EXEMPT.
If the debtor be married the homestead title may be vested in either spouse, and the
exemption shall extend to the debts of either or of both. Any interest in the land, whether legal or
equitable, shall constitute ownership, within the meaning of this chapter, and the dwelling house
so owned and occupied shall be exempt, though situated on the land of another.
History: (8339) RL s 3455; 1986 c 444
510.05 LIMITATIONS.
    The amount of the homestead exemption shall not be reduced by and shall not extend to
any mortgage lawfully obtained thereon, to any valid lien for taxes or assessments, to a claim
filed pursuant to section 246.53 or 256B.15 , to any charge arising under the laws relating to
laborers or material suppliers' liens or to any charge obtained pursuant to a valid waiver of the
homestead exemption.
History: (8340) RL s 3456; 1982 c 621 s 1; 1982 c 641 art 1 s 18; 1986 c 444; 2007 c
105 s 3; 2007 c 106 s 12
510.06 EXEMPTION NOT LOST BY DEATH OR DESERTION.
If the owner dies leaving a spouse or minor children constituting the owner's family
surviving, the homestead exemption shall not be affected by the death. If the owner shall abscond,
or otherwise desert the family, the spouse and the minor children comprising the family may
retain the homestead, with all the rights of owners therein. They shall not have power to sell or
mortgage it, except in cases expressly provided for by law.
History: (8341) RL s 3457; 1981 c 31 s 10
510.07 SALE OR REMOVAL PERMITTED; INSURANCE PROCEEDS; NOTICE.
The owner may sell and convey the homestead without subjecting it, or the proceeds of such
sale for the period of one year after sale, to any judgment or debt from which it was exempt in the
owner's hands, except that the proceeds of the sale are not exempt from a judgment or debt for a
court ordered child support or maintenance obligation in arrears. The proceeds of an insurance
claim for an exempt homestead are exempt for one year. The owner may remove therefrom
without affecting such exemption, if the owner does not thereby abandon the same as the place
of abode. If the owner shall cease to occupy such homestead for more than six consecutive
months the owner shall be deemed to have abandoned the same unless, within such period, the
owner shall file with the county recorder of the county in which it is situated a notice, executed,
witnessed, and acknowledged as in the case of a deed, describing the premises and claiming the
same as the owner's homestead. In no case shall the exemption continue more than five years
after such filing, unless during some part of the term the premises shall have been occupied as
the actual dwelling place of the debtor or the debtor's family.
History: (8342) RL s 3458; 1976 c 181 s 2; 1986 c 444; 1987 c 403 art 3 s 75; 1993 c 79 s 3
510.08 SELECTION AFTER LEVY.
(a) If the premises so owned and occupied by the debtor or claimed under the debtor by
another as exempt shall exceed the area herein prescribed, and the homestead shall not have been
set apart as such and its boundaries defined, an attachment or execution may be levied upon
the whole. Thereupon the person entitled to the benefits of such exemption shall deliver to the
officer making the levy a description of the part claimed as exempt, and the remainder only
shall be subject to the levy so made.
(b) If the premises so owned and occupied by the debtor or claimed under the debtor by
another as exempt exceeds the value prescribed in section 510.02, an attachment or execution
may be levied upon the whole.
History: (8343) RL s 3459; 1986 c 444; 1993 c 79 s 4
510.09 SELECTION, HOW MADE.
Such selection shall embrace the site of the dwelling and its appurtenances, shall be compact
in form, and shall be so made as not unreasonably to affect the value of the remaining part. If
the selection be not made within 20 days after notice of the levy, or if, when made, it be not
satisfactory to the creditor procuring such levy, the sheriff shall cause such homestead to be set
apart by a survey, beginning at a point designated by the claimant, or, if no such designation be
made, at such point as the sheriff shall direct, and the cost of such survey shall be added to
the debt and paid out of the proceeds of sale.
History: (8344) RL s 3460

Official Publication of the State of Minnesota
Revisor of Statutes