Colorado Homestead Law
- Homestead law protects homeowners from debtors.house image by kruszek from Fotolia.com
Colorado homeowners and families living in their homes are exempt for up to $45,000 in debt against the equity in their home under Colorado law. - Homestead laws generally protect homes from creditors, give right of occupancy (in case of the owner's death) to the surviving spouse, unmarried children or minor children and may allow for reduced property tax treatment if a family member retains the property. In Colorado, the homestead refers to the exemption from debts.
- In Colorado, the homestead exemption does not have a limit on acreage. So an urban property with 0.25 acres and a rural ranch with over 1,000 acres are under the same exemption rules.
- Colorado was a homesteading territory before it became a state. In 1868, the territory's first homestead exemption was enacted. At that time the exemption was $2,000, according to former Colorado Representative Jerry Kopel.
- Colorado's constitution, enacted when the territory became a state in 1876, declared that "the general assembly shall pass liberal homestead and exemption laws," meaning the laws governing land ownership in the state should be generous to the owners.
