California: Homestead Exemption Amounts

Requirements one by one

Governing law

The automatic exemption lives in Code of Civil Procedure §§ 704.710-704.850 (Article 4, "Homestead Exemption"). A separate, optional layer, recording a Declaration of Homestead, lives in §§ 704.910-704.995 (Article 5, "Declared Homesteads"). A third, more recent law, CCP § 699.730 (added by AB 2463 in 2020, effective 2021), sits outside the homestead article entirely but does real work: it bars most unsecured consumer debt from forcing a home sale regardless of the dollar exemption.

Exemption amount

CCP § 704.730(a) sets the amount as the greater of (1) the countywide median sale price for a single-family home in the prior calendar year, capped at $600,000, or (2) a flat $300,000. Both the floor and the cap adjust every January 1 for inflation, based on the change in the California Consumer Price Index for the one-year period ending the prior December 31 (§ 704.730(b), as amended effective January 1, 2025, an earlier version of this statute measured the adjustment period differently, ending each June rather than each December, so older secondary sources describing a "fiscal year" calculation are describing the prior rule). Neither the Legislature nor the Department of Industrial Relations publishes an official table of the resulting current-year dollar figures; independent bankruptcy practitioners who track the calculation each year have placed the 2026 range at roughly $371,500 to $743,500-$744,000, but treat that as an unofficial estimate, not a verified statutory figure, if the exact current number matters to your situation, have it calculated from the state's own published CPI data or confirmed by an attorney rather than relying on any single source, including this one.

Size or acreage limit

None. Unlike states that cap the exemption by the size of the land (Texas and Florida, for example, use an acreage limit with no dollar cap at all), California limits purely by dollar value regardless of lot size.

Automatic, or do you have to file something?

The base exemption is automatic: it applies "from sale under this division" the moment the judgment debtor or their spouse resides in the dwelling, with no recording required (CCP § 704.720(a)). But automatic protection alone doesn't stop a judgment lien from attaching to the property's title, it only protects you when a creditor actually tries to force a sale, and even then a lien can sit on the record in the meantime. Recording a Declaration of Homestead with the county recorder (§ 704.920) creates a "declared homestead," which does more: under § 704.950, if the declaration is recorded before a judgment lien is created, that lien does not attach to the property at all except for any value above the exemption amount plus existing liens. In other words, recording proactively shields the equity from a lien attaching in the first place, rather than just giving you a defense after a creditor tries to sell.

Who qualifies, and can spouses double it?

The exemption is available to a judgment debtor or their spouse who resides in the dwelling as their principal residence (CCP § 704.710). It runs per homestead, not per person: if spouses live in separate homes, only one home is exempt (§ 704.720(c)); a debtor who moves out but whose separated or former spouse keeps living in the home stays entitled to the exemption only until the community property is divided (§ 704.720(d)). Nothing in the current text doubles the exemption amount for a married couple sharing one home, or enhances it for age or disability, an older version of California's exemption (pre-2021) did have separate, lower tiers for a single person, a head of household, and a person 55 or older with limited income, but that scheme was replaced; don't rely on a source describing $75,000/$100,000/$175,000 figures, which is the old law.

What it actually protects you from

Two separate, layered protections. First, the dollar exemption protects your equity, up to the current amount, from a FORCED SALE by an ordinary judgment creditor (§ 704.720(a)); a declared homestead additionally keeps a judgment lien from attaching above that amount (§ 704.950). Second, and separately from the dollar figure entirely, CCP § 699.730 bars a judgment based on unsecured consumer debt from forcing a home sale at all, regardless of your equity, unless that debt was secured by the home when you incurred it, so for a debtor whose judgment debt is ordinary unsecured consumer debt, the practical protection can be stronger than the dollar cap alone suggests.

Debts that can still reach your home

The homestead exemption does not apply against a mortgage, deed of trust, or other consensual lien or encumbrance on the property, CCP § 703.010(b) excludes any judgment enforcing "the foreclosure of a mortgage, deed of trust, or other lien or encumbrance on the property" from the exemption scheme entirely. Property taxes are likewise outside the exemption's reach. For the separate consumer-debt sale ban, § 699.730(b) lists its own exceptions: unpaid wages or employment benefits, taxes, child support, spousal support, government fines and fees, tort judgments, and debt (other than student loan debt) owed to a financial institution if both the original and currently-outstanding judgment exceed $75,000 (a figure that itself adjusts under § 703.150).

Protection for sale proceeds

Two different rules depending on which layer of protection applies. Under the automatic exemption, § 704.720(b) protects the cash proceeds of an EXECUTION sale, or of insurance/condemnation payments for the home, for six months after actual receipt, unless the debtor re-homesteads other property during that window, which cuts the exemption short. That automatic six-month rule does not cover a VOLUNTARY sale. Only a declared homestead reaches that: § 704.960(a) separately exempts the proceeds of a VOLUNTARY sale of a declared homestead for six months. Anyone planning to sell voluntarily while a judgment or lawsuit is pending should record a declaration first if they want the proceeds protected.

What trips people up

Recording a Declaration of Homestead does not increase the dollar amount of the exemption, both the automatic and declared versions use the same figure from § 704.730. What changes is the legal mechanism: a declaration blocks lien attachment above the exemption amount and protects voluntary-sale proceeds, neither of which the automatic exemption alone provides. Also, because no official government table publishes the current CPI-adjusted dollar figures, don't treat any specific number found online, including a range given in this page, as certain without checking how recently it was calculated and by what method; the statute itself was amended in 2025 to change the measurement window, so pre-2025 calculation guides may use the wrong months.

Common questions

Do I need to file anything to get the homestead exemption in California? No. The base exemption applies automatically the moment you live in the home. Filing a Declaration of Homestead is optional, but it adds real protection, see "Automatic, or do you have to file something?" above.

Can a credit card company force the sale of my house? Generally no, if the debt is unsecured consumer debt and wasn't secured by your home when you took it on, CCP § 699.730 blocks that regardless of your equity. This is separate from, and can be more protective than, the dollar exemption.

Does the homestead exemption stop my mortgage lender from foreclosing? No. The exemption only protects against an unsecured judgment creditor. A lender with a mortgage or deed of trust on the property can still foreclose under its own lien.

Statutes and sources

• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 704.730, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=704.730.&lawCode=CCP (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 704.710, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=704.710.&lawCode=CCP (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 704.720, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=704.720. (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 704.920, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=704.920.&lawCode=CCP (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 704.950, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=704.950.&lawCode=CCP (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 704.960, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=704.960.&lawCode=CCP (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 703.010, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=703.010.&lawCode=CCP (accessed 2026-07-09)
• Cal. Civ. Proc. Code § 699.730, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=699.730.&lawCode=CCP (accessed 2026-07-09)