Florida’s Homestead Exemption and the “Intent to Return”
Are you considering Chapter 7 bankruptcy in South Florida but worried about losing your home? If you have substantial equity in your home, or if your home is fully paid off, you should know that Florida’s extremely generous homestead exemption will likely allow you to “exempt” (and therefore keep) your house, condo, or townhome. Florida’s homestead exemption actually allows those who qualify to use it to exempt all of the equity in their home as long as they meet certain requirements.
To be eligible to use Florida’s homestead exemption in your bankruptcy case to exempt most or all of the equity in your home, you must have owned the property for 1,215 days or more before filing for bankruptcy, the property must be half an acre or less (within a municipality, otherwise 160 acres or less), and it must be your residence. In some situations, a debtor will own a home but currently be living elsewhere. To be able to use Florida’s homestead exemption, that debtor in general must have an “intent to return.” Our West Palm Beach bankruptcy lawyers can explain further.
What is an Intent to Return?
When determining whether you qualify for Florida’s homestead exemption in your bankruptcy case, the court will need to determine whether the real property for which you are seeking to exempt all equity is your residence. A second property that you purchased for the purpose of turning into an “Airbnb” or another type of rental property, generally speaking, is not going to be eligible. Instead, the property needs to be your home.
Yet in some situations, even if you are not present living in the home, the court may allow you to apply Florida’s homestead exemption if you have an “intent to return.” In other words, even if the property is not your residence at this moment, if you intend to return to it to live there, then the homestead exemption may be applicable.
Who Has an Intent to Return?
There are various situations that might arise for a person who is not currently living in their home but has an intent to return, such as someone who:
- Had to leave involuntarily due to an issue with the property;
- Is currently in a hospital or long-term care setting to recuperate; or
- Temporarily moved to provide in-home care for an ailing parent or other family member.
The key question will be whether there is an intent to return, which you can prove with various types of evidence. For example, you may be able to show that you are still paying the utility bills at the property, or that you have been paying someone to maintain the property or to check in during your absence.
Contact Our West Palm Beach Bankruptcy Attorneys Today
Florida’s bankruptcy exemptions are crucial to understand if you are planning to file for personal bankruptcy in South Florida, and especially if you are planning to file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy. As we noted above, Florida’s homestead exemption is among the most generous of its type in the country, but there are limitations to its application in an individual’s bankruptcy case. If you have any questions about the homestead exemption, other bankruptcy exemptions, or any other aspects of consumer bankruptcy in Florida, you should get in touch with an experienced West Palm Beach bankruptcy lawyer at Kelley, Kaplan & Eller. We can speak with you today about your bankruptcy plans and answer any questions you have. Contact us for additional information.
Source:
leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0222/0222.html
