Opinion ID: 708180
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: analysis

Text: 5 The bankruptcy court's factual findings regarding McDaniel's homestead interest are subject to the clearly erroneous standard of review. 3 Under this standard, we must defer to that court's findings unless, after review of all the evidence, we are left with a firm and definite conviction that the bankruptcy court erred. 4 We review that court's legal conclusions de novo. 5 6 The following factual findings are not clearly erroneous. McDaniel owned property in New Mexico until he sold it in 1986. Nevertheless, McDaniel's Grapeland property was his homestead under Texas law: He built his home there; he lived there; he planted crops on the property; one of his children attended a Grapeland area school; and his late wife is buried on the property. Two days after his wife's death in 1987, McDaniel signed a disclaimer designating the Grapeland property as non-homestead to obtain post-purchase financing. Regardless of the disclaimer, McDaniel openly and publicly continued to maintain his home on the Grapeland property. 7 In 1993, McDaniel filed for bankruptcy. At the time, McDaniel lived on the Grapeland property alone; by then, his children were all independent adults living elsewhere.
8 In Texas, homestead rights 6 are sacrosanct: [W]e must give a liberal construction to the constitutional and statutory provisions that protect homestead exemptions. 7 Indeed, we must uphold and enforce the Texas homestead laws even though in so doing we might unwittingly--or even knowingly but powerless to avoid it--assist a dishonest debtor in wrongfully defeating his creditor. 8 This may account for the oft-repeated creditor's lament: Debtors either die or move to Texas. Dutifully mindful of these governing state law principles, we turn to the substance of the case.
9 On the issue of a homestead disclaimer, Texas law is clear and well established: [A] homestead claimant is not estopped to assert his homestead rights in property on the basis of declarations made to the contrary if, at the time of the declarations, the claimant was in actual use and possession of the property. 9 In only two situations will a disclaimer bar the debtor from claiming homestead rights: When, at the time of the disclaimer, (1) the debtor owned two or more noncontiguous pieces of property, any of which--but not more than one--could constitute a homestead; or (2) the property described in the disclaimer was not being used for homestead purposes. 10 Border contends that McDaniel owned property in New Mexico at the time he executed the disclaimer and thus is estopped from claiming homestead rights in the Grapeland property. We disagree. 10 The bankruptcy court found that McDaniel sold the property in New Mexico in 1986. The disclaimer was executed in 1987. At the time of the disclaimer, McDaniel did not own two non-contiguous pieces of property. The bankruptcy court found further that McDaniel has occupied and used the Grapeland property as a homestead continually since 1986 at the latest. Thus, neither of the two above described exceptions apply. As did the bankruptcy court and the district court before us, we conclude that the disclaimer does not estop McDaniel from asserting his homestead exemption in the Grapeland property. 11
12 If a debtor uses land for the purposes of a rural home, he is entitled to claim a rural homestead exemption of up to one hundred acres or up to two hundred acres depending on his status. 11 If the debtor has a family, he is entitled to claim a rural homestead consisting of no more than two hundred acres. 12 If, on the other hand, the debtor is a single adult, he is entitled to claim a rural homestead consisting of no more than one hundred acres. 13 13 The word family is a term of art in Texas homestead jurisprudence. 14 Border does not question that McDaniel and his wife comprised a family prior to his wife's death. Border does contend, however, that the district court erred in holding that McDaniel may claim a family, rather than a single adult, homestead exemption after the death of his wife. Although McDaniel, a widower with no dependent children, is not a family in the traditional sense, he remains a family for the purposes of Texas homestead law: 14 The language of the Constitution is plain. The surviving spouse has the same homestead rights as both spouses had prior to the death of one; and this is true whether the survivor be the husband or the wife. 15 15 In the Eyes of Texas, McDaniel constitutes a family  'til Gabriel blows his horn, and the 165 acres he lives on is sheltered by the Texas family homestead exemption. Like the Light Brigade, ours not to reason why.... 16 AFFIRMED.