Homestead Exemption Amounts in Washington

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Exemption amount

RCW 6.13.030(1) uses the greater of $125,000 or the preceding year's county median sale price of a single-family home. Subsection (2) directs a court to use Washington Center for Real Estate Research data, or data from a successor designated by the Office of Financial Management. The dollar figure therefore depends on county and year. A narrow exception removes the dollar cap when a judgment is for another state's income tax on specified pension or retirement benefits received while the person lived in Washington.

Automatic, or do you have to file something?

Under RCW 6.13.040(1), occupancy as the owner's principal residence starts automatic protection. For land claimed before it is occupied as a homestead, subsection (2) requires a recorded declaration. If the owner already lives on or claims another homestead, that subsection also calls for a recorded abandonment declaration for the earlier property. The section states separate delivery procedures for certain unoccupied mobile homes and other personal property.

What it actually protects you from

RCW 6.13.070(1) exempts the home from attachment, execution, or forced sale for the owner's debts up to the applicable amount. Under RCW 6.13.090, a recorded judgment becomes a lien on value above the exemption.

Debts that can still reach your home

RCW 6.13.080 lists exceptions, including specified liens tied to the property, qualifying security agreements and mortgages, support obligations, Washington Medicaid recovery, association liens, and collected but unremitted sales or use taxes. The full statutory list also has a condition involving separate bankruptcy filings by spouses or domestic partners.

Protection for sale proceeds

RCW 6.13.070(3) protects proceeds of a voluntary, good-faith sale made to acquire a new homestead and insurance proceeds held to restore or replace destroyed homestead property. Protection runs for one year from receipt, up to the exemption amount; a new homestead acquired with the proceeds is also protected. RCW 6.13.010(2)(c) expressly treats a bankruptcy sale as a forced sale and excludes its proceeds from this reinvestment rule.

What trips people up

The county figure uses the preceding calendar year's median sale price, not an estimate of the current value of the owner's house. RCW 6.13.030(2) identifies the data source a court must use. A declaration is a different question: under § 6.13.040, the ordinary occupied home is already protected.

Common questions

Does lot size reduce the exemption? RCW 6.13.010(1) permits improved or unimproved land “regardless of area” when it is owned with the intent to place a home there and reside in it. The dollar measure in § 6.13.030 still applies.

Does a judgment become a lien on my protected equity? RCW 6.13.090 limits a recorded judgment lien to value exceeding the homestead exemption.

Statutes and sources

• RCW 6.13.010: The homestead includes land “regardless of area”; subsection (2)(c) says bankruptcy-sale proceeds are outside the reinvestment provisions. Washington Legislature (accessed 2026-10-07).
• RCW 6.13.030: “The homestead exemption amount is the greater of” $125,000, the prior-year county median sale price, or no dollar limit for the specified pension-income-tax judgment. Subsection (2) names the required data source. Washington Legislature (accessed 2026-10-07).
• RCW 6.13.040: Occupied principal residences are “automatically protected”; subsection (2) requires a recorded declaration for unoccupied land claimed as homestead. Washington Legislature (accessed 2026-10-07).
• RCW 6.13.070: The home is “exempt from attachment and from execution or forced sale” up to the statutory amount; subsection (3) protects qualifying proceeds “for one year from receipt.” Washington Legislature (accessed 2026-10-07).
• RCW 6.13.080: The exemption is unavailable against the listed judgment categories. Washington Legislature (accessed 2026-10-07).
• RCW 6.13.090: A recorded judgment becomes a lien on value “in excess of the homestead exemption.” Washington Legislature (accessed 2026-10-07).