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HOMESTEAD Definition & Legal Meaning

Definition & Citations:

The home place; the place where the home is. It is the home, thehouse and the adjoining land, where the head of the family dwells; the home farm. Thelixed residence of the head of a family, with the laud and buildings surrounding themain house. See Oliver v. Snowden, IS Fla. 825, 43 Am. Itep. 33S; In re Allen (Cal.) 16Pac. 319; McKeough v. MeKeough, 69 Vt. 34, 37 Atl. 275; Iioitt v. Webb, 36 N. II. 158;Frazer v. Weld, 177 Mass. 513, 59 N. E. IIS; Lyou v. Hardin, 129 Ala. 643, 29 South.777; Xorris v. Kidd, 28 Ark. 493.Technically, however, and under the modern homestead laws, a homestead is an artificialestate in land, devised to protect the possession and enjoyment of the owneragainst the claims of his creditors, by withdrawing the property from execution andforced sale, so long as the land is occupied as a home. Buckingham v. Buckingham, 81Mich. S9, 45 X. W. 504; Campbell v. Moran, 71 Xeb. 615, 99 N. W. 499; lkeu v. Oleniclt,42 Tex. 19S; Jones v. Britton, 102 N. C. 106. 9 S. E. 554, 4 L. It. A. 178; Thomas v.Fulford, 117 X. C. 667, 23 S. E. 635; Ellinger v. Thomas, 04 Kan. ISO, 07 Pac. 529; Galligherv. Smiley, 28 Xeb. 189, 44 N. W. 187, 20 Am. St. Rep. 319.

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