The Home and Creditors
La. R.S. 20:1 — $35,000 of a home's value is exempt from seizure, and all of it for a catastrophic medical debt
The homestead is the residence the owner lives in and its land, up to five acres in a municipality or two hundred acres outside one. It is exempt from seizure and sale up to $35,000 in value.
Medical debt reaches no further. For obligations arising from a catastrophic or terminal illness or injury, the exemption covers the full value of the home. That means uninsured medical debts of more than $10,000 that are greater than fifty percent of the debtor's average annual adjusted gross income.
- The exemption does not protect against the purchase price, a mortgage, taxes, or work done on the home.
- It extends to a surviving spouse or minor children of a deceased owner who live there.
- A homeowner may waive it in a signed writing, which a married owner's spouse also signs.
Sources for this section (1)
- La. R.S. 20:1 — Declaration of homestead; exemption from seizure and sale; debts excluded from exemption; waiver; certain proceeds from property insurance exempted
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Louisiana attorney.