[Montana Rancher]

I'm getting ready to file a homestead on my property. Here in Montana it protects up to $250,000 of your equity in the your primary residence. For example I live in a home that has a Taxable Market Value of $79,775 so since I am under the $250K NOBODY can put a lien on my house for any reason. I am not sure if that also applies to personal property in the home but I believe it does.

Cars yes, wages yes, retirement accounts yes, bank accounts yes, but they cannot put a lien on my home. Here is a bit of information I pulled up on the internet:

Homestead law allow an individual to register a portion of his real and personal property as "homestead," thereby making that portion of the individual's estate off-limits to most creditors. The idea behind these homestead laws is the preservation of the family farm, home, or other assets in the face of severe economic conditions.

State laws greatly vary with respect to homestead law. The laws of some of the states relating to homestead law can be found at the following links.

Homestead Laws by State - Homestead Laws

Even if your home is not paid off you can file a homestead and preserve the value you do have in equity.

 

[PrepConsultant]

Good info.. It is also wise to set up a trust.. You can put it under whatever "name" you choose. The only other person that would know that "name" would be your attorney that set up the trust.. From what I know Montana and Nevada are the best places to set them up ..

Think about this. If you are pulled over for speeding, the officer runs the tag and sees who it is registered to,sees a pic of the person,ss# of the person and even knows if that person holds a CCW.. If the vehicle is put under the trust. None of that info comes up..

 

[Ripon]

It costs very little to do in CA. I'm not convinced it will protect you from govt leins though. Them is the only ones I worry about since I can handle any other.

 

[PaulS]

In Washington, the homestead act will protect you from monetary losses due to owner incurred debt but will not protect the actual property from sale to satisfy any court ordered collection or any tax lien.
It is practically worthless with a top protection value at $120,000. That is considerably less than the value of my property now and in the future ???.