THE AMERICAN LAW REGISTER. JANUARY, 1871. HOMESTEAD AND EXEMPTION LAWS OF THE 1. Synopsis of the Constitutions and Statutes of the Southern States relative to Homesteads and Exemptions; and the decisions of the Supreme Courts of the respective States under said Constitutions and Statutes. 2. The constitutionality, construction, effect, &c., of said Homestead and Exemption Laws. I. SYNOPSIS OF THE HOMESTEAD AND EXEMPTION LAWS OF THE SOUTHERN STATES, &c. ALABAMA.-Article XIV. of the Constitution of 1868 provides as follows: "SEC. 1. The personal property of any resident of this state to the value of one thousand dollars, to be selected by such resident, shall be exempted from sale on execution or other final process of any court, issued for the collection of any debt contracted after the adoption of this Constitution. "SEC. 2. Every homestead, not exceeding eighty acres of land and the dwelling and appurtenances thereon to be selected by the owner thereof, and not in any town, city, or village, or in lieu thereof at the option of the owner, any lot in the city, town, or village, with the dwelling and appurtenances thereon, owned and occupied by any resident of this state, and not to exceed the value of two thousand dollars, shall be exempted from sale, on execution, (1) VOL. XIX.-1 or any other final process from a court, for any debt contracted after the adoption of this Constitution. Such exemption, however, shall not extend to any mortgage lawfully obtained, but such mortgage, or other alienation of such homestead, by the owner thereof, if a married man, shall not be valid without the voluntary signature and assent of the wife of the same. "SEC. 3. The homestead of a family, after the death of the owner thereof, shall be exempt from the payment of any debts contracted after the adoption of this Constitution, in all cases, during the minority of the children. "SEC. 4. The provisions of sections 1 and 2 of this article shall not be so construed as to prevent a laborer's lien for work done and performed for the person claiming such exemption, or a mechanic's lien for work done on the premises. "SEC. 5. If the owner of a homestead die, leaving a widow, but no children, the same shall be exempt, and the rents and profits thereof shall enure to her benefit." And by the Revised Code, page 565, the following property is exempt from execution: SEC. 2878 (2460). The goods and chattels in possession of and upon the premises of a tenant held by lease for one or more years until the rent due or to fall due during the current year is paid or tendered to the landlord. SEC. 2879 (2461 a). The growing crop, except for the purpose of enforcing the lien of the landlord for rent. SEC. 2880 (2462). Property exempt for the use of every family in this state: "1. Household and kitchen furniture of the value of one hundred and fifty dollars, to be selected by the head of the family; all necessary and proper wearing apparel of each and every member of the family, not to exceed in value fifty dollars for each member of the family, the value thereof to be assessed by three disinterested persons, to be selected by the sheriff. "2. All books not kept for sale, all family portraits, one gun, one loom, two spinning-wheels, one man's and one woman's saddle. "3. Two cows and calves, twenty head of sheep, twenty head of hogs, one work-horse or mule, or one pair of oxen, one horse or ox cart, all poultry on the place, five hundred pounds of meat, one hundred bushels of corn, one thousand pounds of fodder, twenty-five bushels of wheat, one thousand pounds of oats in the sheaf, twenty-five bushels of sweet potatoes, all the meal at any time on hand not kept for sale, thirty pounds of wool or woolrolls, two hundred pounds of lint cotton for spinning purposes, one hundred pounds of ginned cotton or four hundred pounds of seed cotton, all cloth on hand at any one time, not made or kept for sale, all tools or implements of any mechanical trade not kept for sale, not to exceed two hundred dollars in value, two ploughs and plough-gear, and two hoes. "4. Such real property as may be selected by the head of the family, to include the homestead, not to exceed three hundred and twenty acres, and not to exceed in value five hundred dollars; all burying grounds and lots set apart for the interment of deceased persons, and the improvements and appurtenances to the same appertaining, are reserved for the use of the families to whom they respectively belong." SEC. 2881 (2463). This section directs how the value of the homestead shall be settled. SEC. 2882 (2463 a). “In addition to the property herein before exempted, there may be in like manner exempted, for the use of any mechanic, the head of a family in this state, two hundred dollars' worth of such stock and materials as may be used by him in the prosecution of his trade." SEC. 2883 (2463 6). This section exempts one-half of the salary or wages of the head of a family, when the exemptions under other laws do not exceed five hundred dollars in value, and in no case to be less than twenty-five dollars per month of such salary or wages. SEC. 2884 (2463 c). "In addition to the real and personal property permanently exempted [by other laws] from levy and sale under legal process, there shall be retained by virtue of this section, adopted 19th February 1867, for the use and benefit of every family, twelve hundred dollars' worth of real estate, including the homestead, and one thousand dollars' worth of personal property provided that nothing contained in this section shall have the effect to exempt any property from levy and sale in satisfaction of any liability incurred by the execution of any official bond or bonds, or other bond required by law. The provisions of this section shall not apply to administrators, guardians, or trustees or their sureties on their official bonds, for liabilities in curred in their representative character. This section shall not operate against the liens of laborers and mechanics."1 ARKANSAS.-The statutes of this state are still unpublished. The legislature have recently adopted the Code, thereby changing, to a great extent, the statutes of the state. Under the present homestead and exemption laws, the head of a family is entitled to five thousand dollars in real property and two thousand in personal property-in all seven thousand dollars.2 FLORIDA. The provision of the Constitution is as follows:"A homestead to the extent of 160 acres of land, or the half of one acre within the limits of any incorporated city or town, owned by the head of a family residing in this state, together with one thousand dollars' worth of personal property, and the improvements on the real estate, shall be exempted from forced sales under any process of law; and the real estate shall not be alienable without the joint consent of husband and wife, when that relation exists. But no property shall be exempt from sale for taxes, or for the payment of obligations contracted for the purchase of said premises, or for the erection of improvements thereon, or for house, field, or other labor performed on the same. The exemption herein provided for in a city or town shall not extend to more improvements or buildings than the residence or business house of the owner." Const. of 1868, Art. 9, sec. 1. In addition to the exemption provided for in section 1st, section 2d provides for an additional exemption to the head of a family of such property as he or she may select, to the amount of $1000, which exemption shall only prevent the sale of property in cases where the debt was contracted, liability incurred, or judgment obtained, before the 10th day of May, A. D. 1865. Said property is not exempt from the payment of the purchase-money for the same, or the payment of taxes or labor."3 GEORGIA. The provision of the Constitution is as follows:"Each head of a family, or guardians or trustee of a family of 1 For the foregoing we are indebted to Hon. T. M. Peters, of Moulton. 2 For the foregoing summary we are indebted to Garland & Nash, Esqs., of Little Rock. 3 For the foregoing we are indebted to George P. Raney, Esq., of Tallahassee. minor children shall be entitled to a homestead of realty to the value of $2000 in specie, and personal property to the value of $1000 in specie, both to be valued at the time they are set apart. And no court or ministerial officer in this state shall ever have jurisdiction or authority to enforce any judgment, decree, or execution against said property so set apart, including such improvements as may be made thereon from time to time, except for taxes, money borrowed or expended in the improvements of the homestead, or for the purchase-money for the same, and for labor done thereon or material furnished therefor, or removal of encumbrances thereon:" Const. of 1868, Art. 7, Sec. 1; also Act of October 3d 1868, passed to carry said provision into effect. If the applicant seeks to have a homestead set apart out of town property exceeding in value $2000 in specie, and it cannot be so divided as to give a homestead of that value, an order is granted by the court that should said property thereafter be sold by virtue of any order, judgment, or decree of any court of this state, $2000 in specie, or its equivalent in currency, of the proceeds of such sale (or the whole of said proceeds if they do not exceed that amount), shall be paid over to the court to be invested in a home for the benefit of the family of the applicant, &c. : Act of October 3d 1868. By the Act of October 3d 1868, enacted to carry into effect the Constitution of 1868 (Art. 7, Sec. 1, supra), as to homesteads and exemptions, it is declared that "nothing contained in said acts shall be construed to prevent any debtor, who does not wish to avail himself of the benefit of the homesteads and exemptions as set forth in the Constitution of 1868, and said act, from claiming the homesteads and exemptions allowed in section 2013 of the Code. But the applicant cannot take the benefit of both acts:" Acts of 1868, p. 29. Under section 2013 of the Code "the following property of every debtor, who is the head of a family, shall be exempt from levy and sale by virtue of any process whatever, under the laws of this state; nor shall any valid lien be created thereon, &c. "1. Fifty acres of land, and five additional acres for each of his or her children under the age of sixteen years. This land includes dwelling-house, if value of house and improvements do not exceed $200, provided none of the above land be within the limits of a city, town, or village, and does not include any cotton |