1. Whenever execution has been issued against the property of a party claiming the property as a homestead, and the creditor in the judgment makes an oath before the judge of the district court of the county in which the property is situated that the amount of equity held by the claimant in the property exceeds, to the best of the creditor’s information and belief, the sum of $605,000, the judge shall, upon notice to the debtor, appoint three disinterested and competent persons as appraisers to estimate and report as to the amount of equity held by the claimant in the property and, if the amount of equity exceeds the sum of $605,000, determine whether the property can be divided so as to leave the property subject to the homestead exemption without material injury.

2. If it appears, upon the report, to the satisfaction of the judge that the property can be thus divided, the judge shall order the excess to be sold under execution. If it appears that the property cannot be thus divided, and the amount of equity held by the claimant in the property exceeds the exemption allowed by this chapter, the judge shall order the entire property to be sold, and out of the proceeds the sum of $605,000 to be paid to the defendant in execution, and the excess to be applied to the satisfaction on the execution. No bid under $605,000 may be received by the officer making the sale.

3. When the execution is against a spouse, the judge may direct the $605,000 to be deposited in court, to be paid out only upon the joint receipt of both spouses, and, except as otherwise provided in NRS 115.055, the deposit possesses all the protection against legal process and voluntary disposition by either spouse as did the original homestead.

4. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 115.055, if the sum of $605,000 is paid to the defendant in execution pursuant to subsection 2 or to a spouse pursuant to subsection 3, such sum of $605,000 possesses all the protection against legal process and voluntary disposition by the defendant or spouse as did the original homestead.

[3:72:1865; B § 188; BH § 541; C § 552; RL § 2144; NCL § 3317] — (NRS A 1975, 215; 1979, 282, 984; 1981, 625; 1983, 663; 1989, 3, 647; 1995, 226; 2003, 1009; 2005, 1010, 2227; 2007, 3026; 2017, 783; 2019, 291, 1851)