Opinion ID: 504662
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Valuation of the Homestead Exemption

Text: 26 Pursuant to the Mississippi homestead statute, the quantity of land held as exempt shall not exceed one hundred sixty (160) acres, nor the value thereof ... the sum of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000.00).... 25 In Kimbrough v. Powell, 143 Miss. 498, 108 So. 498 (1926), the Mississippi Supreme Court construed this language to restrict the source of value eligible for exemption to the debtor's interest in 160 acres, even though this interest may happen to be worth less than the maximum exemption allowed under the statute. 27 In Kimbrough, the householder owned an undivided one-sixth interest in 640 acres of homestead property and claimed as exempt her entire interest in the parcel. Her claim was for less than the statutory maximum exemption (then $3,000.00), but the court held that only her interest in 160 acres could be held as exempt from the claims of her creditors, stating: 28 A debtor can only claim and hold as a homestead not exceeding 160 acres of land, of the value, including improvements, of not exceeding $3,000, and a debtor who asserts a homestead exemption in an estate in common which exceeds 160 acres in quantity has no floating claim to an exemption of his interest in the entire estate. His exemption in such estate is limited to a homestead of the proper quantity, as well as value, and if the value of the debtors' interest in the 160 acres constituting the homestead happens to be worth less than $3,000, this fact does not entitle him to an exemption in the remainder of the estate. 26 29 In the present case, the district court valued Williamson's exemption at the statutory maximum of $30,000.00 without first determining whether his equity interest in a specific 160-acre parcel of the 854 acres comprising Courtland Plantation was worth that amount or more. However, we need not remand for such a determination, because any benefit which Williamson might have derived therefrom was waived by his failure to specify the particular acreage constituting his homestead at the time he amended his exemption schedule. 30 Accordingly, for purposes of this appeal, we will assume the fungibility of all 854 acres comprising Courtland Plantation, with Williamson's equity evenly distributed throughout. His interest in 160 acres will thus be pro-rated according to his total equity interest in the entire tract. This value will be computed by (1) establishing a coefficient representing the proportion of total acreage to the statutory maximum allotment (160 divided by 854 = .1874), and (2) by multiplying this coefficient by the dollar value of Williamson's total equity interest (.1874 X $61,944.99 = $11,608.49). Consequently, Williamson is entitled to hold as exempt $11,608.49 of proceeds of the sale of Courtland Plantation. 31 Applying this revised figure to the Duncan avoidance formula used by the district court, we note that of the $61,944.99 representing Williamson's total net equity, $50,336.50 is available to satisfy the claims of his judgment lien creditors ($61,944.99--11,608.49). The Cloverleaf lien must be satisfied in full ($50,336.40--$49,922.10 = $414.40), leaving the remainder to satisfy in part the Stinson lien. The Stinson lien is thus avoided by the amount of $33,085.60 ($33,500.00--$414.40). 32 In their appeal, the Stinsons argue that the district court erred under state law in not subordinating the Cloverleaf lien to their own, pointing to the fact that Cloverleaf failed to object to Williamson's motion to avoid Cloverleaf's judgment lien. 27 This argument is specious, because the Stinsons make no showing of reliance on Cloverleaf's failure to assert its rights. Further, as stated by the district court, this is not the sort of situation contemplated by Miss. Code Ann. Sec. 11-7-193 (1972), which provides that a junior lienholder may gain priority over its senior who fails to protect itself within ten days' notice of the junior's intent to execute. The Stinsons merely gave Cloverleaf notice of their intent to object to Williamson's amendment to his exemption schedule.