Missouri: Homestead Exemption Amounts
The short answer
Missouri automatically protects $15,000 of a home's value from attachment and execution, no filing required, but unlike most states, that $15,000 is a single cap per homestead: it does not double for a married couple or multiple owners. The exemption only reaches debts that arose after you acquired the homestead, and neither spouse can sell or mortgage the home alone without the other's consent. A 2026 law now on the books raises the cap to $40,000, but not until January 1, 2027; the $15,000 cap controls until then.
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This is the general rule in Missouri. Ezel applies current Missouri law to your specific facts and answers with citations to the statutes.
| Governing law | Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 513.475 to 513.530 (Title XXXV, Ch. 513, "Executions and Exemptions"): wholly statutory, no constitutional homestead provision. The current $15,000 figure was set by 2003 H.B. 613 (eff. 2003-08-28), raised from $8,000. A 2026 act (HB 1870, signed 2026-05-06; see pending_legislation) raises it to $40,000 effective January 1, 2027, and adds a triennial inflation adjustment starting April 1, 2029 (new Sec. 513.423); the $15,000 figure controls through 2026-12-31 |
|---|---|
| Exemption amount | $15,000 total, per homestead: NOT doubled for a married couple or for multiple owners. Sec. 513.475.1 is explicit: if only one owner claims the exemption, that owner gets the full $15,000; if more than one owner of the SAME homestead claims it, their combined exemptions still can't exceed $15,000 in the aggregate |
| Size or acreage limit | None: Missouri caps the exemption purely by dollar value. It covers "a dwelling house and appurtenances, and the land used in connection therewith," with no separate acreage restriction |
| Automatic, or do you have to file something? | Automatic: no filing or recording is required for the exemption to exist. It only gets applied at the point a creditor actually levies execution: if the property is worth more than $15,000, the owner has the first right to designate and choose which part of the property the exemption applies to, up to the limit (Sec. 513.480). If the owner refuses or fails to choose, the sheriff appoints three disinterested appraisers, sworn to a faithful discharge of their duties, to fix the location and boundaries of the exempt homestead instead, and the remainder is levied on as in any other case |
| Who qualifies, and can spouses double it? | Any person who uses a dwelling as their homestead. There is no spousal doubling, the $15,000 aggregate applies regardless of how many owners share the home. Separately, Sec. 513.475.2 gives the homestead a distinctive family-protection feature unrelated to the dollar cap: neither spouse, acting alone, can sell, mortgage, or otherwise alienate the homestead, any such solo transaction is null and void, though the husband and wife can jointly convey, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of it together |
| What it actually protects you from | The homestead, together with its rents, issues, and products, is exempt from attachment and execution, but only for debts and causes of action that arose AFTER the homestead was acquired (Sec. 513.510). A cause of action that already existed at the time the person acquired title (measured from the date the deed was filed for record, or from when they became invested with title by descent or devise) can still reach the homestead. Separately, if a person later trades up to a new, larger homestead using proceeds from selling the old one, the PRIOR homestead loses its exemption and becomes liable for the person's debts once the new one is acquired (Sec. 513.515), Missouri only protects one homestead at a time |
| Debts that can still reach your home | Sec. 513.510's carve-out is itself the main exception: any debt or cause of action that existed before the homestead was acquired isn't blocked by the exemption. Beyond that, ordinary consensual liens (like a mortgage) are handled through the same value-and-location-fixing procedure as an unencumbered homestead (Sec. 513.485) rather than through a separate statutory exception list |
| Protection for sale proceeds | No general rule protects the cash proceeds of an ordinary voluntary or involuntary sale of the homestead for a set window the way some states' laws do. The one proceeds-related mechanism that does exist is narrow: when a homestead is shared among co-owners and can't practically be divided or occupied separately, a court may order the property sold and then "control the investment of the proceeds of such sale in a new homestead, or their payment out of court" (Sec. 513.525, 513.530), but this only applies to that specific co-ownership dispute scenario, not to an ordinary sale by a sole owner |
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Requirements one by one
Governing law
Missouri's homestead exemption is entirely statutory, found in Mo. Rev. Stat. Sections 513.475 through 513.530 (Title XXXV, Chapter 513, "Executions and Exemptions"). There's no constitutional homestead provision. The current $15,000 figure was set by a 2003 law that raised it from $8,000, and it hasn't moved since. A 2026 law (HB 1870, signed May 6, 2026) raises it further to $40,000 effective January 1, 2027, see the note on pending legislation below.
Exemption amount
$15,000 total, for the whole homestead. The statute is explicit that if a
single owner claims the exemption, they get the full $15,000; but if more than
one owner of the same homestead claims it, their combined exemptions still
cannot exceed $15,000. A married couple who jointly own their home therefore
shares the same $15,000 cap rather than receiving $15,000 each.
Size or acreage limit
None. Missouri's cap is purely a dollar figure covering the dwelling house, its appurtenances, and the land used in connection with it, regardless of lot size.
Automatic, or do you have to file something?
Automatic. No filing or recording is required for the exemption to exist. It only becomes relevant once a creditor actually levies execution on property worth more than $15,000. At that point, the owner gets first choice: they can designate which part of the property the exemption applies to, up to the $15,000 limit. If the owner refuses or fails to make that choice, the sheriff appoints three disinterested, sworn appraisers to fix the location and boundaries of the exempt homestead instead, and the rest of the property is levied on as usual.
Who qualifies, and can spouses double it?
Any person who uses a dwelling as their homestead. There's no spousal doubling, the $15,000 aggregate cap applies no matter how many people share ownership. Separately, Missouri gives the homestead a distinctive protection that has nothing to do with the dollar cap: neither spouse, acting alone, can sell, mortgage, or otherwise transfer the homestead. Any such solo transaction is void from the start. The husband and wife can still dispose of the property together, just not one without the other.
What it actually protects you from
The homestead, along with its rents, issues, and products, is exempt from attachment and execution, but only for debts and causes of action that arose AFTER the person acquired the homestead. If a creditor's claim already existed at the time you got title to the property (measured from when the deed was recorded, or from when you inherited or were devised the property), the homestead exemption doesn't protect against it. There's also a one-homestead-at-a-time rule: if you sell your home and buy a new, presumably larger one, the OLD homestead loses its exemption and becomes liable for your debts once the new one is acquired.
Debts that can still reach your home
The main carve-out is the pre-existing-debt rule described above: anything you owed before you acquired the homestead can still reach it. Beyond that, an ordinary mortgage is handled through the same value-and-boundary-fixing procedure as any other levy, rather than through a separate list of exceptions.
Protection for sale proceeds
Missouri doesn't have a general rule protecting the cash from an ordinary sale of your home for a set period of time, the way some states do. The one place proceeds get explicit statutory attention is narrow: if a homestead is shared among co-owners and can't practically be divided or occupied separately, a court can order it sold and then control how the proceeds get reinvested in a new homestead, or paid out. That mechanism only applies to that specific co-ownership dispute, not to an ordinary sale.
What trips people up
A key difference is the lack of spousal doubling, a married couple gets the
same $15,000 total that a single owner would get, not double. The pre-existing-
debt rule in Sec. 513.510 is also easy to miss: if you already owed money to a
creditor before you bought your current home, that debt can reach the homestead
even though a debt you took on afterward could not.
Common questions
Do my spouse and I get $30,000 in protection since we co-own our home? No. Missouri caps the exemption at $15,000 per homestead regardless of how many owners share it, so a married couple splits the same $15,000 a single owner would get.
Do I need to file anything to get Missouri's homestead exemption? No. It's automatic. You only have to designate which part of your property is exempt if a creditor actually tries to execute against real estate worth more than $15,000.
Is Missouri's homestead exemption going up? Yes. A 2026 law (HB 1870), signed May 6, 2026, raises it to $40,000, but the increase does not take effect until January 1, 2027. Until then, the $15,000 cap controls.
Statutes and sources
- Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 513.475, https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=513.475 (accessed 2026-07-09)
- Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 513.480, https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=513.480&bid=27732&hl=%20to%20513.%u2044513.475&hlr=y (accessed 2026-07-09)
- Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 513.510, https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=513.510 (accessed 2026-07-09)
- Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 513.515, https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=513.515 (accessed 2026-07-09)
- Mo. Rev. Stat. Sec. 513.525 / 513.530, https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=513.525&bid=27738 (accessed 2026-07-09)
- MO HB 1870 (2026), truly-agreed-to enrolled text (new Sec. 513.475 at $40,000; Section B effective date Jan. 1, 2027), https://documents.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills261/hlrbillspdf/4824S.06T.pdf (accessed 2026-07-10)
- CCS/HCS/SS/SCS/SBs 835 & 1111 (2026), official Senate status, signed by
the Governor July 13, 2026; carries the same future-effective provision., https://www.senate.mo.gov/BillTracking/Bills/Billinformation?year=2026&billid=417
(checked 2026-07-16)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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