CRC - 2017                                   COMMITTEE AMENDMENT
       Proposal No. P 17
       
       
       
       
       
       
                                Ì620722xÎ620722                         
       
                              LEGISLATIVE ACTION                        
                    Senate             .             House              
                  Comm: FAV            .                                
                  12/04/2017           .                                
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       The Committee on General Provisions (Plymale) recommended the
       following:
       
    1         CRC Amendment (with title amendment)
    2  
    3         Delete everything after the proposal clause
    4  and insert:
    5         Section 4 of Article X of the State Constitution is amended
    6  to read:
    7                              ARTICLE X                            
    8                            MISCELLANEOUS                          
    9         SECTION 4. Homestead; exemptions.—
   10         (a) There shall be exempt from forced sale under process of
   11  any court, and no judgment, decree or execution shall be a lien
   12  thereon, except for the payment of taxes and assessments
   13  thereon, obligations contracted for the purchase, improvement or
   14  repair thereof, or obligations contracted for house, field or
   15  other labor performed on the realty, the following property
   16  owned by a natural person:
   17         (1) a homestead, if located outside a municipality, to the
   18  extent of one hundred sixty acres of contiguous land and
   19  improvements thereon, which shall not be reduced without the
   20  owner’s consent by reason of subsequent inclusion in a
   21  municipality; or if located within a municipality, to the extent
   22  of one-half acre of contiguous land, upon which the exemption
   23  shall be limited to the residence of the owner or the owner’s
   24  family;
   25         (2) personal property to the value of one thousand dollars.
   26         (b) These exemptions shall inure to the surviving spouse or
   27  heirs of the owner.
   28         (c) The homestead shall not be subject to devise if the
   29  owner is survived by spouse or minor child, except the homestead
   30  may be devised to the owner’s spouse if there be no minor child.
   31  The owner of homestead real estate, joined by the spouse if
   32  married, may alienate the homestead by mortgage, sale or gift
   33  and, if married, may by deed transfer the title to an estate by
   34  the entirety with the spouse. If the owner or spouse is
   35  incompetent, the method of alienation or encumbrance shall be as
   36  provided by law.
   37         (d) Notwithstanding subsection (a), a homestead is not
   38  exempt from the claim of a creditor if the creditor:
   39         (1) Establishes in an action against the owner of the
   40  homestead that the creditor’s funds were fraudulently used by
   41  the owner to acquire or improve the homestead; or
   42         (2) Obtains a judgment against the owner of the homestead
   43  for damages caused by an intentional tort or intentional
   44  criminal or fraudulent act by the owner of the homestead, so
   45  long as the homestead was not the primary residence for the
   46  owner’s spouse or minor child when the tort or act occurred or
   47  at the time of the judgment in the action.
   48  
   49  ================= T I T L E  A M E N D M E N T ================
   50  And the title is amended as follows:
   51         Delete everything before the proposal clause
   52  and insert:
   53                         A proposal to amend                       
   54         Section 4 of Article X of the State Constitution to
   55         create exceptions to the homestead exemption from
   56         creditor claims.