Opinion ID: 491755
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Applicable Articles

Text: 10
11 At the outset, we acknowledge that the debtors resided in the Mendocino home at the time they filed their declaration of homestead, but did not reside in the house when they filed their bankruptcy petition. They moved their household to Sonoma County for the purpose of attending college and rented the Mendocino house to others. Under these circumstances, the absence from Mendocino could not be construed as a temporary absence like a vacation or hospital stay which the homestead statutes are designed to excuse. See Legislative Committee Comment to amended Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Sec. 704.710. 12 The Bankruptcy Court found by stipulation that the Debtors were not residing in the Mendocino home on the date of bankruptcy. Order Disallowing Homestead Exemption, No. 1-84-00607, slip op. at 2 (Bankr. N.D.Cal. Mar. 26, 1985). The District Court Judge did not reach the factual issue, since she determined that residency is not a prerequisite to the exemption. The bankruptcy court's factual determination that the Andersons did not live in the Mendocino home is not clearly erroneous, and we apply the law based on this factual finding.
13 Clearly these debtors are not entitled to the benefits of the Article 4 exemption on their Mendocino house. The automatic homestead exemption can only be claimed by a debtor who resides (or who is related to one who resides) in the homestead property at the time of a forced judicial sale of the dwelling. Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Secs. 704.710(a), (b), (c), 704.720, 704.730, 704.740.
14 By virtue of the recorded declaration of homestead under prior law, these debtors are entitled to the benefits of the Article 5 declared homestead. Under Article 5, a  'declared homestead' means the dwelling described in a homestead declaration. Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Secs. 704.910(a), 704.710(c). Homestead declaration includes declarations recorded under prior law. Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Sec. 704.910(d)(2). The Article 5 definitions, unlike those in Article 4, do not require continued residency. 15 Although residency is required to properly declare an Article 5 homestead, moving away from the homestead does not destroy the exemption status. Under the pre-NEJA law, a valid homestead remains effective until the party claiming the homestead abandons the homestead. California Bank v. Schlesinger, 159 Cal.App.2d Supp. 854, 324 P.2d 119, 122 (1958). The same rule is continued for NEJA filings. From and after the time of recording, the dwelling is a declared homestead for the purposes of this article. Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Sec. 704.920. The Legislature specifically provided several ways for one to abandon a declared homestead. A homeowner can file a declaration of abandonment. Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Sec. 704.980. Additionally, one may have only one declared homestead at a time: a declaration of homestead by the same person on another property constitutes abandonment of the first declared homestead by operation of law. Cal.Civ.Proc.Code Sec. 704.990. The Legislature has not expressed any intent to terminate declarations of homestead upon vacating the homestead premises, and we refuse to infer one. 16 We conclude, as did the district court, that the debtors, having properly filed a declaration of homestead under prior law, are entitled to the benefits of Article 5. The district court's memorandum did not discuss the rights conferred by Article 5, but implicitly held that Article 5 grants a homestead exemption to the same extent as Article 4. In order to dispose of this appeal, however, we must consider the nature of the rights provided under the declared homestead and homestead exemption statutes.