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(a) If a rural homestead
of a family is part of one or more parcels containing a total of more than
200 acres, the head of the family and, if married, that person's spouse
may voluntarily designate not more than 200 acres of the property as the
homestead. If a rural homestead of a single adult person, not otherwise
entitled to a homestead, is part of one or more parcels containing a total
of more than 100 acres, the person may voluntarily designate not more than
100 acres of the property as the homestead.
(b) If an urban homestead
of a family, or an urban homestead of a single adult person not otherwise
entitled to a homestead, is part of one or more contiguous lots containing
a total of more than 10 acres, the head of the family and, if married, that
person's spouse or the single adult person, as applicable, may voluntarily
designate not more than 10 acres of the property as the homestead.
(c) Except as provided
by Subsection
(e) or Subchapter
B, to designate property as a homestead, a person or persons, as applicable,
must make the designation in an instrument that is signed and acknowledged
or proved in the manner required for the recording of other instruments.
The person or persons must file the designation with the county clerk of
the county in which all or part of the property is located. The clerk shall
record the designation in the county deed records. The designation must
contain:
(1) a description
sufficient to identify the property designated;
(2) a statement
by the person or persons who executed the instrument that the property is
designated as the homestead of the person's family or as the homestead of
a single adult person not otherwise entitled to a homestead;
(3) the name of
the current record title holder of the property; and
(4) for a rural
homestead, the number of acres designated and, if there is more than one
survey, the number of acres in each.
(d) A person or persons,
as applicable, may change the boundaries of a homestead designated under
Subsection
(c) by executing and recording an instrument
in the manner required for a voluntary designation under that subsection.
A change under this subsection does not impair rights acquired by a party
before the change.
(e) Except as otherwise
provided by this subsection, property on which a person receives an exemption
from taxation under Section 11.43, Tax Code, is considered to have been
designated as the person's homestead for purposes of this subchapter if
the property is listed as the person's residence homestead on the most recent
appraisal roll for the appraisal district established for the county in
which the property is located. If a person designates property as a homestead
under Subsection
(c) or Subchapter
B and a different property is considered to have been
designated as the person's homestead under this subsection, the designation
under Subsection
(c) or Subchapter
B, as applicable, prevails for purposes of this chapter.
(f) If a person or
persons, as applicable, have not made a voluntary designation of a homestead
under this section as of the time a writ of execution is issued against
the person, any designation of the person's or persons' homestead must be
made in accordance with Subchapter
B.
(g) An instrument
that made a voluntary designation of a homestead in accordance with prior
law and that is on file with the county clerk on September 1, 1987, is considered
a voluntary designation of a homestead under this section.
Added by
Acts 1987, 70th Leg., ch. 727, § 1, eff. Aug. 31, 1987. Amended by
Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 48, § 3, eff. Sept. 1, 1993; Acts 1993,
73rd Leg., ch. 297, § 1, eff. Aug. 1, 1993; Acts 1997, 75th Leg.,
ch. 846, § 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1510,
§ 3, eff. Jan. 1, 2000.
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