Homestead Exemption Amounts in Michigan

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Michigan's homestead exemption starts in the state constitution: Mich. Const. art. X, Sec. 3 guarantees "a homestead in the amount of not less than $3,500" exempt "from forced sale on execution or other process of any court." The Legislature implements that floor in the Revised Judicature Act at MCL 600.6023(1)(g), and has set the statutory figure at exactly $3,500, the constitutional minimum, never using its authority to go higher. Two related sections matter: MCL 600.6023a, which separately protects property spouses hold as tenants by the entirety, and MCL 600.6060, which blocks a judgment creditor from forcing a sale of a mortgaged homeowner's equity of redemption.

Exemption amount

$3,500. That's not a typo, it's the same number written into the 1963 Michigan Constitution, still the operative statutory figure today. A 2012 amendment to MCL 600.6023 (2012 PA 553, effective Jan. 2, 2013) updated other parts of the exemption statute but left this dollar figure untouched. Given how far home values have risen since 1963, this exemption offers little real protection in most Michigan judgment cases today.

Size or acreage limit

Michigan caps the exempt land at 40 acres outside a recorded plat, city, or village, or 1 lot within one, with the dwelling house and appurtenances on it. In practice this rarely matters, since the $3,500 dollar cap is almost always the binding limit regardless of lot size.

Automatic, or do you have to file something?

Automatic. MCL 600.6023(1)(g) applies to "any resident of this state" who owns and occupies the property, with no filing or recording step. Michigan has no optional recorded homestead declaration under this chapter at all, unlike some states, there's no stronger protection available by choosing to record something. (Michigan's "Principal Residence Exemption" is a different, unrelated property-TAX filing that lowers your tax bill; it has no effect on protection from a judgment creditor.)

Who qualifies, and can spouses double it?

Any Michigan resident who owns and occupies the property as a homestead qualifies, and the statute doesn't provide an explicit per-person or per-couple doubling of the $3,500 figure. What matters far more in practice is a separate protection: under MCL 600.6023a, real property that spouses hold jointly as tenants by the entirety is "exempt from execution under a judgment entered against only 1 spouse", the entire property, not capped at $3,500, as long as the judgment isn't against both spouses jointly. For a married couple who own their home together, this entireties protection typically does far more work than the homestead exemption itself.

What it actually protects you from

The homestead is "exempt from levy and sale under an execution" (MCL 600.6023(1)). Separately, MCL 600.6060 blocks a creditor holding a judgment on a mortgage debt from forcing a sale of the mortgaged property's equity of redemption through execution. Neither protection stops a lawfully obtained mortgage from being enforced through its own foreclosure process.

Debts that can still reach your home

A lawfully obtained mortgage on the home isn't blocked by the exemption, and a mortgage isn't valid against a married debtor's homestead without that debtor's spouse's signature, unless it's a purchase-money mortgage or it's gone unchallenged on the public record for 25 years (MCL 600.6023(1)(g)). MCL 600.6023(2) also preserves any lien that other law excludes from exemption. Delinquent property taxes are the clearest example in practice: Michigan collects those through an entirely separate foreclosure process under the General Property Tax Act, not through this execution exemption.

Protection for sale proceeds

None under this general judgment scheme. MCL 600.6023 contains no provision protecting cash proceeds after a voluntary sale.

What trips people up

Michigan has a separate exemption statute for bankruptcy cases, but it does not replace the $3,500 exemption that applies to an ordinary state-court judgment. Sources discussing a much larger Michigan homestead figure may be describing that different bankruptcy-only scheme.

Common questions

Do I need to file anything to protect my home under Michigan's homestead exemption? No. It applies automatically to any resident who owns and occupies the property. There's no recorded declaration available or required under this chapter.

I heard Michigan has a larger homestead exemption, is that the same rule? No. Michigan has a separate bankruptcy-only exemption, but the general exemption governing an ordinary state-court judgment remains $3,500.

My spouse and I own our home together, are we better protected than the $3,500 figure suggests? Often, yes. If you hold the property as tenants by the entirety (the default for married co-owners in Michigan), the entire property is exempt from a judgment against only one spouse, regardless of the $3,500 homestead cap. That protection disappears, though, against a joint debt owed by both spouses together.

Statutes and sources

• Mich. Const. art. X, Sec. 3, https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-Article-X-3 (accessed 2026-08-15)
• MCL 600.6023(1)(g), https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-6023 (accessed 2026-08-15)
• MCL 600.6023(2), https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-6023 (accessed 2026-08-15)
• MCL 600.6023a, https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-6023a (accessed 2026-08-15)
• MCL 600.6060, https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-600-6060 (accessed 2026-08-15)