New Hampshire: Homestead Exemption Amounts

Requirements one by one

Governing law

New Hampshire has no constitutional homestead clause; the protection is entirely statutory, in N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. Title XLIX, Chapter 480 ("The Homestead Right"), §§ 480:1 to 480:9:

• § 480:1 sets the dollar amount and the conditions (the 12-month residency rule, the co-owner cap, the unlimited medical-debt protection, trust beneficiaries, and the proceeds rollover).
• § 480:3-a provides that a surviving spouse keeps the homestead right for life.
• § 480:4 lists the debts the exemption does not stop.
• § 480:5-a governs how the homestead may be conveyed or encumbered.
• § 480:8-a lets the superior court formally set off the homestead.

The 2025 legislature rewrote §§ 480:1 and 480:4 through HB 617 (2025 ch. 282), effective January 1, 2026.

Exemption amount

$400,000 of equity per person (§ 480:1(I)), more than triple the prior $120,000, effective January 1, 2026. Two important modifiers:

• Co-owner cap. When several people hold an interest in the same home, their combined homestead exemptions can total no more than $550,000 on that property; a single owner gets $400,000 (§ 480:1(III)).
• Unlimited for medical/catastrophic debt. If the debt a creditor is chasing "resulted from unpaid medical bills or other debts directly resulting from terminal or catastrophic injury or illness," you may claim the full market value of the home as exempt (§ 480:1(IV)).

The exemption protects your equity, what the home is worth beyond the mortgage and other liens, not its gross value.

Size or acreage limit

None. New Hampshire limits the homestead only by dollars. Section 480:1(I) extends the right to manufactured housing (as defined in RSA 674:31), a mobile home, a housing cooperative, and a condominium, so long as you occupy it as a dwelling. The one wrinkle: for manufactured housing, the homestead right does not reach the underlying land if you don't also own the land.

Automatic, or do you have to file something?

Automatic. The homestead right is "created by this chapter" and applies by operation of law once you own and occupy the home, there is no declaration to record, unlike Massachusetts. The 2026 amendment did add a qualifying condition: under § 480:1(II), the home must have been "continuously used as a primary residence for the previous 12 months." An owner (or a creditor) can petition the superior court to appoint appraisers and formally "set off" the homestead (§ 480:8-a), but that is an optional procedure, not something you must do in advance to be protected.

Who qualifies, and can spouses double it?

"Every person" who occupies the home as a primary residence for the prior 12 months qualifies (§ 480:1(I)-(II)), and the 2026 amendment expressly extends eligibility to the beneficiary of a qualifying trust that owns the home (§ 480:1(V)).

On doubling: co-owners can each hold a homestead exemption, but the total on one property is capped at $550,000 (versus $400,000 for a single owner) under § 480:1(III). Before 2026, co-owners could each claim the full statutory amount with no explicit combined cap; the new law raises the per-person figure but ties multiple owners to the $550,000 ceiling. Separately, a surviving spouse is entitled to the homestead right for the rest of their life after the owner dies (§ 480:3-a).

What it actually protects you from

Section 480:4 is blunt about what the right does and doesn't do: it "does not cancel or erase any debt." What it does is make the home "exempt from attachment during its continuance from levy or sale on execution, and from liability to be encumbered or taken for the payment of debts," except in the listed cases. When a sheriff levies an execution, the officer takes the property "subject to any such homestead right" (§ 480:7). In practical terms, a judgment creditor cannot force a sale of the home to reach equity that falls within your exemption.

Debts that can still reach your home

Section 480:4 carves out seven categories the exemption does not protect against:

1. Taxes on the homestead.
2. Forfeited bail bonds and domestic-support (e.g., child support) obligations.
3. Mechanic's and similar liens for construction, repair, or improvement of the home.
4. Mortgages made a charge on the property by law.
5. HOA and condominium-association assessment liens (RSA 356-B), including collection costs.
6. Debts that existed when the homestead was purchased, unless the § 480:1(II) proceeds-rollover applies.
7. Executions levied as provided in Chapter 480.

Also note § 480:5-a: you can't convey or encumber the homestead right except by a deed signed by both the owner and spouse, the only exception being a purchase-money mortgage taken at the time of purchase.

Protection for sale proceeds

Six months. Under § 480:1(II), the proceeds from selling a qualifying homestead stay protected "if reinvested within 6 months in a new primary residence." That rollover does double duty: it also keeps those proceeds out of reach of the pre-existing-debt exception in § 480:4(VI), so moving to a new home within the window doesn't strip your protection.

What trips people up

The big number is brand-new. The $400,000 (and $550,000 co-owner cap) took effect January 1, 2026. Anything you read that says New Hampshire's homestead exemption is $120,000 (or $240,000 for a couple) describes the old law. If you're checking an older bankruptcy chart or a pre-2026 article, it's out of date.

"Automatic" doesn't mean "no conditions." You still have to actually occupy the home as your primary residence, and now for a continuous 12 months (§ 480:1(II)). A recently purchased or non-primary home may not yet qualify.

Co-owners share a ceiling. Two owners of the same home don't get $800,000; the combined cap is $550,000 (§ 480:1(III)).

The exemption doesn't touch secured debt. Your mortgage lender and mechanic's-lien holders can still enforce their liens, and property taxes and HOA assessments come ahead of the homestead right (§ 480:4).

Common questions

How much home equity does New Hampshire protect now? Up to $400,000 per person, effective January 1, 2026, and up to $550,000 total for co-owners of one home (N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 480:1). Unlimited if the debt is from medical bills or a catastrophic illness or injury.

Do I have to file a homestead declaration in New Hampshire? No. The homestead right is automatic. You just have to have used the home as your primary residence for the previous 12 months (§ 480:1(II)).

Is there a limit on my lot size? No. New Hampshire caps only the dollar amount, not acreage, and the right also covers mobile/manufactured homes, co-ops, and condos (§ 480:1).

If I sell my home, is the money safe? For six months, and only if you reinvest it in a new primary residence within that window (§ 480:1(II)).

Does the exemption stop my mortgage or property taxes? No. Mortgages, taxes, mechanic's liens, and HOA assessments are all exceptions under § 480:4.

Statutes and sources

• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 480:1 (amount: $400,000; $550,000 co-owner cap; unlimited medical/catastrophic; 12-month primary-residence rule; trust beneficiary; 6-month proceeds rollover; eff. Jan. 1, 2026), https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLIX/480/480-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 480:4 (debts the exemption does not stop: taxes, bail/support, mechanic's liens, mortgages, HOA/condo liens, pre-existing debts, executions), https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLIX/480/480-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 480:3-a (surviving spouse keeps the homestead right for life), https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLIX/480/480-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 480:5-a (homestead conveyed/encumbered only by deed signed by owner and spouse, except purchase-money mortgage), https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLIX/480/480-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)
• N.H. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 480:7 (sheriff levies subject to the homestead right, under RSA 529), https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLIX/480/480-mrg.htm (accessed 2026-07-10)