If a married couple are both disabled veterans living in separate homes in different counties, can each one claim a separate disabled-veteran property tax exemption?

Plain-English summary

Representative Sarah Capp asked whether two spouses, each a disabled veteran qualifying for the property-tax exemption under Ark. Code Ann. § 26-3-306, could each claim the exemption on their own homestead when the spouses lived in separate homes in different counties. She also asked whether the answer changed if both spouses jointly owned both homes.

Attorney General Leslie Rutledge concluded the answer to both questions was no. The statute exempts a disabled veteran from state taxes on "the homestead" owned by the disabled veteran. The definite article "the" was the key: it limits the exemption to one homestead per qualifying veteran, regardless of marital status, regardless of how the properties are titled, and regardless of whether the spouses live in the same county or different counties. The AG cited Stout v. Stinnett, 210 Ark. 684 (1946), and American Bus Ass'n v. Slater, 231 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2000), for the proposition that "the" particularizes its subject and signals limitation rather than generalization.

The opinion was careful to flag a fact pattern it did not decide: where each spouse owns separate property as their own homestead. The opinion's answer assumed both homes were jointly owned, so the analysis would not necessarily extend to a case where the spouses had clearly separate ownership.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2019. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

The disabled-veteran property-tax exemption sits in a politically active area of Arkansas tax law. Section 26-3-306 has been amended periodically, and the Arkansas General Assembly has expanded eligibility categories in some sessions. Anyone advising a disabled-veteran household today should pull the current text of § 26-3-306 and check whether either the eligibility rules or the "one homestead" reading have changed. The AG also did not address a fact pattern in which each spouse owns a separate homestead in his or her own name; that scenario was expressly left open and may be handled differently under current law.

Historical context

What the legislator was asking

A married couple where both spouses are disabled veterans, both individually qualifying for the exemption, lived in separate homes in different Arkansas counties. They wanted to know if each could claim the exemption on his or her own residence. The follow-up: does it matter whether the homes are owned jointly (as joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, or tenants in common)?

What the AG concluded (as of 2019)

The exemption statute says "[a] disabled veteran ... shall be exempt from payment of all state taxes on the homestead ... owned by the disabled veteran." Ark. Code Ann. § 26-3-306(a)(1)(A)(i) (emphasis in opinion). The AG read "the homestead" as a textual cap of one. Two consequences followed:

1. The married-couple, separate-homes question. Both homes were jointly owned by both spouses (per the framing of the question). Each spouse therefore "owned" both homes, but the statute contemplated only one exempt homestead per qualifying disabled veteran. The exemption could not stretch across two properties.

2. The joint-ownership question. Same answer. Whether the spouses held both homes as joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, or tenants in common, the textual cap of "the homestead" still operated to limit each veteran to one.

What the AG explicitly did not decide

The AG flagged in footnote 3 that the analysis assumed both homes were "owned by" both spouses (which the legislator's question posited). The AG wrote: "Therefore, this opinion does not address the situation in which each spouse owns his or her own separate property claimed as a homestead." That is a real carve-out. A factual scenario in which Spouse A owns Home A in her sole name and Spouse B owns Home B in his sole name, each as a homestead and each as a qualifying disabled veteran, was not decided by this opinion.

Why the textual analysis matters for tax administrators

The opinion is a textbook application of the rule that the definite article "the" narrows rather than generalizes. The AG cited:

• Stout v. Stinnett, 210 Ark. 684, 687 (1946), where "the" Chief reflected a single office.
• American Bus Ass'n v. Slater, 231 F.3d 1, 4-5 (D.C. Cir. 2000): "It is a rule of law well established that the definite article 'the' particularizes the subject which it precedes. It is a word of limitation as opposed to the indefinite or generalizing force of 'a' or 'an.'"

For county assessors and collectors, that textual move is the heart of the opinion. Under the AG's reading, a married couple of qualifying veterans living separately and jointly owning both homes had one exemption to allocate, not two.

Common questions

Q: If both spouses are disabled veterans, why can't each claim one exemption?
A: According to the AG, the statute caps the exemption at "the homestead ... owned by the disabled veteran." The "the" was read to limit each veteran to one homestead for purposes of the exemption. Marriage did not create an exception, but the AG did note that joint ownership of both homes was the stipulated fact pattern, and a different fact pattern (separate ownership) was not addressed.

Q: Does it matter how the property is titled, joint tenancy, tenancy by the entirety, tenancy in common?
A: Per the AG, no. The "one homestead" cap applies regardless of the form of co-ownership.

Q: What if one spouse owns one home in her name only, and the other spouse owns the second home in his name only?
A: The opinion did not decide this. Footnote 3 expressly reserved that scenario. Anyone in this situation should not assume the opinion's answer extends, and should verify current law.

Q: What is "the homestead" for purposes of § 26-3-306?
A: The opinion did not provide a separate definition. Under Arkansas property-tax law generally, the homestead is the principal place of residence claimed by the owner. A veteran who maintains two residences and tries to claim both as the homestead would face the AG's "one homestead" reading.

Q: Is this still the rule today?
A: Maybe. The legislature can amend § 26-3-306 (and has revisited it). Anyone advising a disabled-veteran household should pull the current statute and confirm there has been no later AG opinion or court decision modifying this reading.

Background and statutory framework

Ark. Code Ann. § 26-3-306 grants disabled veterans (and certain surviving spouses and children) an exemption from state property taxes on the homestead owned by the qualifying veteran. The statute reads in pertinent part: "[a] disabled veteran ... shall be exempt from payment of all state taxes on the homestead ... owned by the disabled veteran" (emphasis added in the opinion).

The exemption is significant. For households with substantial property values, the difference between one exemption and two exemptions can be thousands of dollars per year. The legislator's question reflected a real-life pattern: a couple of qualifying veterans, with adult lives that have led them to maintain separate homes in different counties, asking whether the statute treats them as one household or two.

The AG's textual reading, anchored to the definite article "the," is a tight piece of statutory construction. It avoids importing equitable considerations (e.g., that a married couple living apart for legitimate reasons might be treated like two unmarried qualifying veterans) and treats the statute as a fixed cap of one. Whether the legislature intended that result, or simply did not anticipate this fact pattern, is a question the AG did not address.

Citations and references

Statutes:

• Ark. Code Ann. § 26-3-306 (disabled-veteran property-tax exemption)

Cases:

• Stout v. Stinnett, 210 Ark. 684 (1946), Ark. Supreme Court, "the Chief" referred to a single office
• American Bus Ass'n v. Slater, 231 F.3d 1 (D.C. Cir. 2000), federal appellate court, definite article "the" particularizes and limits

Reference:

• Black's Law Dictionary 1280 (10th ed. 2014) (defining "own" as "to rightfully have or possess as property; to have legal title to")

Source

• Landing page: https://arkansasag.gov/divisions/opinions-foia/attorney-general-opinions-search/

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain, the linked PDF is authoritative.

Opinion No. 2018-142
April 2, 2019

The Honorable Sarah E. Capp
State Representative
P.O. Box 1184
Ozark, AR 72949-1184

Dear Representative Capp:

This is in response to your request for an opinion concerning whether a married couple is entitled to two disabled veteran homestead tax exemptions under Ark. Code Ann. § 26-3-306, where each spouse is a veteran entitled to the exemption and the spouses reside in separate homes. In this regard, you have asked the following questions:

1. Can the disabled veteran property tax exemption under Ark. Code Ann. § 26-3-306 be applied to two separate properties owned by a married couple, if a married couple made up of two veterans entitled to the exemption are claiming separate homesteads because they reside in separate homes that are located in different counties?

2. Does the answer to Question No. 1 differ if the exempt veterans are joint owners of both homes, either as joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, or tenants in common?

RESPONSE

It is my opinion, based on the statute's plain language, that a qualifying disabled veteran may own only one homestead for the purpose of claiming an exemption under the statute. Therefore, the answer to each of your questions is "no."

DISCUSSION

Question 1: Can the disabled veteran property tax exemption under Ark. Code Ann. § 26-3-306 be applied to two separate properties owned by a married couple, if a married couple made up of two veterans entitled to the exemption are claiming separate homesteads because they reside in separate homes that are located in different counties?

The answer to your first question is "no." The disabled veteran's homestead tax exemption statute provides, in pertinent part, that "[a] disabled veteran ... shall be exempt from payment of all state taxes on the homestead ... owned by the disabled veteran." Ark. Code Ann. § 26-3-306(a)(1)(A)(i) (emphasis added) (Supp. 2017). The definite article entails that a disabled veteran may own only one homestead for the purpose of claiming an exemption under the statute. See Stout v. Stinnett, 210 Ark. 684, 687 (1946) (holding that a statute's references to "the" Chief reflects the lawmakers' intention to refer to only one office of Chief); see also American Bus Ass'n v. Slater, 231 F.3d 1, 4-5 (D.C. Cir. 2000) ("It is a rule of law well established that the definite article 'the' particularizes the subject which it precedes. It is a word of limitation as opposed to the indefinite or generalizing force of 'a' or 'an.'").

Because your question posits that the married couple owns each of the properties claimed as a homestead, I assume that both homesteads would be "owned by" both spouses. But the statute contemplates an exemption for only one homestead "owned by" a qualifying disabled veteran. Therefore, an exemption cannot be claimed for both properties.

As your letter observes, the statute does not contain any language limiting a disabled veteran's right to claim an exemption based on marital status. But, regardless of whether he or she is married or unmarried, a disabled veteran may own only one homestead for the purpose of claiming an exemption.

This opinion does not address the situation in which each spouse owns his or her own separate property claimed as a homestead.

Question 2: Does the answer to Question No. 1 differ if the exempt veterans are joint owners of both homes, either as joint tenants, tenants by the entirety, or tenants in common?

It follows that the answer to this question is also "no." The statute's use of the definite article entails that a disabled veteran may own only one homestead for the purpose of claiming an exemption, regardless of whether he or she owns it as a joint tenant, tenant by the entirety, or tenant in common.

Sincerely,

Leslie Rutledge
Attorney General