November 21, 2007

By Mark T. Curry
Copyright 1999 Hughes Watters Askanase, L.L.P.

Texas homestead law exempts qualifying real property from forced sale by general creditors. In Texas, every family and every single adult person is entitled to a homestead exempt from seizure for claims of creditors, except for encumbrances properly fixed on homestead property. Senate Bill 496, which was forwarded to Governor Bush for signing on May 31, 1999, would eliminate the statutory definition of a rural homestead and add a new definition for the urban homestead. The bill deletes the rural homestead definition of Texas Property Code §41.002(c) and replaces it with the following definition: A homestead is considered to be urban if, at the time the designation is made, the property is: located within the limits of a municipality or its extraterritorial jurisdiction or a platted subdivision; and served by police protection, paid or volunteer fire protection, and at least three of the following services provided by a municipality or under contract to a municipality: electric; natural gas; sewer; storm sewer; and water.(13)

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