A homestead or homestead estate generally includes a house, outbuildings, and the adjoining land owned and occupied by a person or family as a primary residence.

Many states—but not all—have laws that protect a person’s homestead from forced sale for the satisfaction (payment) of debts—at least up to a certain amount of the homestead’s value. These laws may be referred to as homestead exemptions or homestead laws and may be located in a state’s constitution or in its statutes.

The homestead exemption exists to provide a secure home for the family against creditors. The exemption is liberally construed to further its purposes. No specific writing is needed to claim a homestead exemption, but instead merely proof of concurrent usage and intent on the part of the owner to claim the land as a homestead.

In some states the constitutional family homestead exemption applies to the entire family, and not to either spouse individually. Therefore, so long as real property is a family homestead due to one spouse's intention and use, that property is protected by the homestead exemption, unless full abandonment has been pleaded and proved. Once a property has been established as a homestead, the property remains exempt unless it ceases to be a homestead due to abandonment, alienation, or death.

Abandonment of a homestead occurs when the homestead claimant ceases to use the property and intends not to use it as a home again. Anyone asserting abandonment of a homestead has the burden of proving it by competent evidence.

In Arizona, the homestead exemption is designed to protect a portion of a person's home equity from creditors in the event of bankruptcy or other financial distress. As of the knowledge cutoff in 2023, Arizona law provides a homestead exemption of up to $150,000 in home equity. This means that if an individual is forced to sell their home to satisfy debts, up to $150,000 of the equity in the home is exempt from creditors. The exemption applies to a primary residence, which can include a house, condominium, mobile home, or a parcel of land upon which the individual's residence is situated. No formal declaration is required to claim the exemption; it is automatically applied as long as the property is the individual's primary residence. However, the exemption does not protect against all types of debts, such as mortgages, child support, or tax liens. If a homestead is abandoned, the exemption may be lost, and the burden of proving abandonment rests on the party asserting it.