If you searched for the Alabama homestead exemption, you may be looking for any one of three different things — and they have nothing to do with each other except the word “homestead.” Most pages on this topic quietly answer the wrong one.
Here is how to tell which one you need.
1. The property tax homestead exemption
What people usually mean. If you own and occupy your home as your principal residence, Alabama reduces the property taxes assessed against it. There are additional exemptions for owners who are over 65, permanently and totally disabled, or blind, and those can reduce the bill further.
Where you claim it: your county’s revenue commissioner or tax assessor — Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin or Lawrence, depending on where the property sits. It is not claimed through probate court and it is not something a lawyer files for you.
Deadlines, dollar amounts, and the proof required vary by exemption type and change over time. Confirm the current figures with your county revenue commissioner rather than any website, including this one. We mention it here because people land on estate pages looking for it and leave no wiser.
2. The homestead exemption that protects your home from creditors
This is a different animal. Ala. Code § 6-10-2 shields a portion of your home’s value from being seized to satisfy debts. The statute reads:
“The homestead of every resident of this state, with the improvements and appurtenances, not exceeding in value fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) and in area 160 acres, shall be … exempt from levy and sale under execution or other process for the collection of debts during his or her life and occupancy…”
Three things worth knowing that most summaries leave out:
- Spouses can stack it. The section states that where a husband and wife jointly own a homestead, each is entitled to claim separately the exemption … to the same extent and value as an unmarried individual.
- It survives you, conditionally. The protection continues for a surviving spouse during their life, and for minor children during their minority.
- Mobile homes count. The statute expressly deems a mobile home or similar dwelling a homestead where it is the claimant’s principal residence.
We do not handle bankruptcy — if that is where this question comes from, you need a bankruptcy attorney and we will say so plainly. This matters in our world when a creditor comes at an estate.
3. The homestead allowance in probate — the one most people miss
When someone dies, Ala. Code § 43-8-110 gives a surviving spouse a homestead allowance. If there is no surviving spouse, it is divided among the decedent’s minor and dependent children.
The part families do not expect: it is in addition to whatever else they inherit. The statute provides that the allowance is in addition to any share passing to the surviving spouse or minor or dependent child by the will, by intestate succession, or by way of elective share — unless the will says otherwise.
It also does not stand alone. § 43-8-111 adds exempt property and § 43-8-112 adds a family allowance. Together these three come off the top of an estate.
Why the dollar figure you read online is probably wrong
Under § 43-8-116, the State Treasurer adjusts every dollar amount in that article every three years against the consumer price index published by the U.S. Department of Labor, rounded to the nearest $25. Each adjusted figure applies to exemptions claimed on or after the following April 1.
So the base figure printed in the code is not the operative figure today. Here are the actual amounts, as published by the Office of the Alabama State Treasurer:
| Exemption | Printed in the code | In effect now | From 1 Apr 2027 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Homestead allowance — § 43-8-110 and the creditor homestead exemption, § 6-10-2 | $15,000 | $18,800 | $20,475 |
| Exempt property — § 43-8-111 | $7,500 | $9,400 | $10,225 |
| Family allowance — §§ 43-8-112, 43-8-113 | $15,000 | $18,800 | $20,475 |
| Small estate amount — § 43-2-691(7) the sum of the three above | — | $47,000 | $51,175 |
The code still prints $15,000. The figure that actually applies today is $18,800 — about 25% higher. That gap is why so many pages on this subject are wrong, and why quoting the statute alone will mislead you.
Note the timing quirk: the adjustment was made on 1 July 2026, but it does not apply until 1 April 2027. Between now and then, the operative figures remain the ones set by the 2023 adjustment. If you are working on an estate that straddles that date, it matters which side of 1 April the exemption is claimed on.
This is also what decides whether an estate is “small”
Alabama’s summary distribution procedure lets a small estate pass without appointing a personal representative. Under § 43-2-691(7), the small estate amount is defined as the sum — adjusted under the § 43-8-116 formula — of the homestead allowance, exempt property, and the family allowance.
In other words, the homestead allowance is not just money to a surviving spouse. It is one of the inputs that decides whether a family faces a full administration at all. That is why it is worth getting right.
Which one applies to you
Lowering your tax bill on a house you live in? Section 1 — call your county revenue commissioner.
Worried a creditor will take the house? Section 2 — and if it is a bankruptcy question, you need a bankruptcy lawyer, not us.
Someone has died and you are working out what the spouse or children receive? Section 3 — that is our work, and we would like to hear from you.
Talk to us
Call 256-434-1678. We handle estates across Limestone, Madison, Morgan, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin and Lawrence Counties.
More: How Alabama probate works · When there is no will · Wills and estate planning · Limestone, Morgan, Lauderdale, Colbert and Lawrence County probate
Daniel S. Pickens Law
300 West Green Street, Athens, Alabama 35611
849 Florence Boulevard, Florence, Alabama 35630