Opinion ID: 2765160
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Waiver of Homestead Right

Text: The trial court concluded that the husband’s notarized 2001 “affidavit explaining that his intent in giving the deed was to release his homestead rights” was “sufficient to validly waive his homestead rights” as to the 2006 mortgage. On appeal, the plaintiffs argue that the trial court erroneously “imputed” the husband’s prior waivers of his homestead right, including the waiver in the 2001 affidavit, to the 2006 mortgage because the homestead statute “does not contain conditional words or phrases regarding when or how frequently a written waiver or encumbrance of [the] homestead must occur to be valid.” Resolving this issue requires us to interpret and apply the statutory homestead exemption. See RSA 480:1, :3-a, :5-a (2013), :4 (Supp. 2014). The interpretation and application of statutes present questions of law, which we review de novo. Deyeso v. Cavadi, 165 N.H. 76, 79 (2013). In matters of statutory interpretation, we are the final arbiters of the legislature’s intent as expressed in the words of the statute considered as a whole. Chase v. Ameriquest Mortgage Co., 155 N.H. 19, 22 (2007). When examining the language of a statute, we ascribe the plain and ordinary meaning to the words used. Id. We do not construe statutes in isolation; instead, we attempt to do so in harmony with the overall statutory scheme. Id. When interpreting two or more statutes that deal with a similar subject matter, we construe them so that they do not contradict each other, and so that they will lead to reasonable results and effectuate the legislative purpose of the statutes. Id. Statutory 3 homestead protections are universally held to be liberally construed to achieve their public policy objective. See Deyeso, 165 N.H. at 80. In New Hampshire, “[e]very person is entitled to $100,000 worth of his or her homestead, or of his or her interest therein, as a homestead.” RSA 480:1. “The homestead right is generally exempt from attachment or encumbrance.” Stewart v. Bader, 154 N.H. 75, 88 (2006). “The purpose of the homestead exemption is to secure to debtors and their families the shelter of the homestead roof.” Deyeso, 165 N.H. at 79; see also Gunnison v. Twitchel, 38 N.H. 62, 69 (1859) (“[T]he great and paramount object of the homestead act [is] . . . to protect and preserve inviolate . . . a family home . . . .”). “The exemption protects the family from destitution, and protects society from the danger of its citizens becoming paupers.” Deyeso, 165 N.H. at 79-80 (quotation, brackets, and ellipsis omitted). “It also promotes the stability and welfare of the state by encouraging property ownership and independence on the part of the citizen.” Id. at 80 (quotation and brackets omitted). The statutory protection of the homestead right also extends to spouses who occupy the homestead but are not title owners of the property: “The owner and the husband or wife of the owner are entitled to occupy the homestead right during the owner’s lifetime,” and, after the owner’s death, the surviving spouse is entitled to the homestead right during his or her lifetime. RSA 480:3-a; see Bothell v. Sweet, 6 A. 646, 648 (N.H. 1886) (concluding that plaintiff’s homestead right was not affected by three mortgages in which she did not join because she “preserved her homestead right by occupation”). The statute, therefore, contemplates a homestead right in both spouses, even when only one spouse legally owns the homestead. See RSA 480:3-a. In accord with the statute’s purpose, RSA 480:4 states that “[t]he homestead right is exempt from attachment during its continuance from levy or sale on execution, and from liability to be encumbered or taken for the payment of debts.” The statute provides only four exceptions to the homestead right exemption: (1) “the collection of taxes”; (2) “the enforcement of liens of mechanics and others for debts created in the construction, repair or improvement of the homestead”; (3) “the enforcement of mortgages which are made a charge thereon according to law”; and (4) “the levy of executions as provided in this chapter.” RSA 480:4; see Deyeso, 165 N.H. at 79. Additionally, “[n]o deed shall convey or encumber the homestead right, except a mortgage made at the time of purchase to secure payment of the purchase money, unless it is executed by the owner and wife or husband, if any, with the formalities required for the conveyance of land.” RSA 480:5-a. Moreover, if a deed is signed by both spouses with the requisite formalities, there is no requirement that the text of the deed contain an express waiver of the homestead right. See Verdolino v. Anderson, 12 F. Supp. 2d 205, 206 (D.N.H. 1998) (rejecting argument that a mortgage document must contain an explicit waiver of the homestead exemption); Perley v. Woodbury, 76 N.H. 23, 25-26 4 (1911) (recognizing that if the statutory requirements are satisfied, an express waiver is unnecessary to encumber or convey the homestead right). Here, there is no dispute that the husband did not sign the 2006 mortgage. Therefore, the 2006 mortgage did not comply with RSA 480:5-a and did not convey or encumber any homestead right that the husband had in the property. See RSA 480:5-a. The bank does not challenge this proposition but argues, instead, that the husband did not have a homestead right to assert in 2006 because he had waived all his interest in the property, including his homestead right, by virtue of the waiver contained in his 2001 affidavit. We agree. The 2001 affidavit waiver is distinguishable from the 2001 and 2002 mortgage waivers executed in compliance with RSA 480:5-a. The two mortgage waivers cannot be interpreted to act upon any other conveyance or encumbrance. Cf. Chase, 155 N.H. at 22-23 (concluding mortgage could not constitute a charge on homestead according to law because it did not satisfy statutory requirements of RSA 477:3 and RSA 480:5-a). In contrast, by executing the 2001 affidavit, the husband purported to relinquish his homestead right, not with respect to a specific encumbrance, but with respect to the conveyance of his entire interest in the property to his wife. Thus, the issue before us is whether that waiver was effective as to the 2006 mortgage, notwithstanding the fact that the husband did not sign the mortgage document and continued to reside in the property with his wife. See RSA 480:3-a, :4. Waiver is the voluntary or intentional abandonment or relinquishment of a known right. See Debonis v. Warden, N.H. State Prison, 153 N.H. 603, 605 (2006). “[T]he general principle, recognized by repeated decisions and by common sense, is, that a provision, made by law for the benefit of particular individuals, may be waived by them.” Fletcher v. Neally, 20 N.H. 464, 466 (1846); see, e.g., Debonis, 153 N.H. at 605 (noting that petitioner waived his statutory right to a revocation hearing); Duke/Fluor Daniel v. Hawkeye Funding, 150 N.H. 581, 584 (2004) (recognizing that statutory mechanic’s lien can be waived by contract). Statutory exemptions, such as the homestead right, are generally considered personal privileges of the debtor. See Pappas v. Capps, 263 P. 411, 411 (Colo. 1928) (considering automobile exemption); Wyman v. Gay, 37 A. 325, 326 (Me. 1897) (addressing exemption of certain chattels); Currier v. Sutherland, 54 N.H. 475, 486 (1874) (recognizing that “[t]he exemption of a homestead from attachment or levy is a personal privilege which the law gives to the owner”). Other jurisdictions have concluded that “[o]ne has a right to waive an exemption in his own favor unless he also holds it for the benefit of others or unless such waiver is against public policy or some constitutional or statutory restriction.” In re Kline’s Estate, 24 N.W.2d 481, 483 (Iowa 1946) (concluding widow waived deceased husband’s exemption for automobile by selling vehicle and converting asset into nonexempt property); see also 31 Am. Jur. 2d Exemptions § 277 (2012) (noting that, “apart from an 5 attempt to do so by executory agreement,” a debtor “has the option to claim or waive or may be estopped to assert” an exemption unless “it would be contrary to public policy”). Although, generally, statutory rights may be waived, the legislature has the power to limit, or even prohibit such waivers. See, e.g., RSA 275:50 (2010) (prohibiting waiver of statutory right to payment of wages, except as provided elsewhere in the statute); RSA 540:28 (2007) (declaring any waiver by tenant of rights under RSA chapter 540 to “be null and void”). Nothing in RSA chapter 480, however, expressly prohibits a waiver of the homestead right. Further, limited waivers of the homestead right are specifically provided for under other statutory provisions. See RSA 477:44, IV (2013) (contemplating waiver of homestead right with respect to a security interest in manufactured housing); RSA 480:5-a (providing approach for conveying or encumbering the homestead right); RSA 560:14 (2007) (allowing waiver of homestead right after the right vests in surviving spouse upon the owner-spouse’s death); RSA 560:15, :16 (2007) (allowing waiver of homestead right before marriage). The language of the homestead right statute is also instructive. It provides that “[e]very person is entitled to $100,000 worth of his or her homestead, or of his or her interest therein, as a homestead.” RSA 480:1 (emphasis added). Thus, the statute casts the homestead right as a personal privilege, which the homeowner and spouse are entitled to exercise. See Reed v. Union Bank of Winchester, 70 Va. (29 Gratt.) 719, 724-27 (1878) (concluding that waiver of exemption was permitted under Virginia constitution). Therefore, we hold that homestead rights, like other statutory rights, may be waived by the holder of the right, unless such a waiver would be against public policy or some constitutional or statutory restriction. See Marine Credit Union v. Detlefson-Delano, 830 N.W.2d 859, 865 (Minn. 2013) (recognizing that the Minnesota Supreme Court has “said that homestead rights may be waived”). However, given the protective purpose of the homestead right, we further hold that there is a presumption against such a waiver, and a party may waive the homestead right broadly, as was the case here, “only by an act which evidences an unequivocal intention to do so.” Id. (quotation omitted). Of course, compliance with RSA 480:5-a, which allows for conveyance or encumbrance of the homestead right by deed, obviates the need for proof of such an unequivocal intention. See Verdolino, 12 F. Supp. 2d at 206; Perley, 76 N.H. at 25-26. Thus, if a mortgage document is signed by both spouses, “with the formalities required for the conveyance of land,” no further evidence of waiver is required. RSA 480:5-a. Whether the husband waived his homestead right here turns on the language of the 2001 affidavit and the circumstances surrounding its filing. In the 2001 affidavit, the husband states: “[T]hrough accident, inadvertence or mistake, the [1991] deed did not state that I released my homestead rights. This affidavit is given to correct said omission.” Thus, the document expressly 6 conveys the husband’s unequivocal intention to waive his homestead right with respect to the 1991 conveyance to his wife. Because we have concluded that a waiver is permissible under the homestead right statute, and the plaintiffs have not argued that this waiver violated any other statutory or constitutional provision, we next consider whether this waiver violates public policy. Historically, we have been protective of the homestead right when an owner-spouse has attempted to relinquish the right without the consent of the non-owner spouse. See, e.g., Atkinson v. Atkinson, 37 N.H. 434, 436 (1859) (recognizing wife’s homestead right over petitionee’s claim of ownership through deed executed only by the husband, notwithstanding wife’s absence from the homestead, because “she was compelled by ill treatment to abandon her husband”). Our solicitude reflects the fact that the homestead laws were primarily enacted for the protection of the non-owner spouse and dependent children. See Meyer Bros. Drug Co. v. Bybee, 78 S.W. 579, 584 (Mo. 1904). Here, the non-owner spouse expressly relinquished the statutory protections under circumstances that bear no indicia of coercion, fraud, economic abuse, or other misconduct by the wife. Thus, we do not conclude that the waiver, in and of itself, violates the policy underlying the homestead right. Further, although the trial court found that the 2001 affidavit was executed at the request of the mortgagee, the record is unclear as to which mortgagee requested the affidavit. Moreover, the plaintiffs do not allege that the 2001 affidavit was coerced or that the 2001 mortgage was conditioned upon the husband relinquishing all future claims to a homestead exemption. We, consequently, conclude that the affidavit waiver in this case did not violate the policy underlying the homestead right. Accordingly, we conclude that the husband effectively waived his homestead right by executing the 2001 affidavit, and that he no longer had a right that he could assert against future creditors. Because the husband did not have a homestead right in the property when the wife executed the 2006 mortgage, the mortgage deed was not required to be signed by the husband in order to comply with RSA 480:5-a and to be a “charge thereon according to law.” RSA 480:4; see Walbridge v. Estate of Beaudoin, 163 N.H. 804, 806 (2012). We, therefore, hold that the husband’s waiver of his homestead right was effective as to the 2006 mortgage, and that the trial court did not err by concluding “that any homestead rights possessed by [the husband are] subordinate to the mortgage held by [the bank].”