Title 6 — Title 6

[Effective until June 1, 2026.] AMENDED BY ACT 2026-203, EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE. The right of homestead or other exemption shall be governed by the law in force when the debt or demand was created, but the mode or remedy for asserting, ascertaining, …

All property, real or personal, belonging to the several counties or municipal corporations in this state and used for county or municipal purposes shall be exempt from levy and sale under any process or judgment whatsoever. History: (Code 1876, §2845; Code 1886, §2514; Code 1896…

on Decedent’s Estate Within 60 Days After Death - Generally. (a) When the property, real or personal, owned by a decedent at the time of his death does not exceed in amount and value the exemption allowed in favor of his or her surviving spouse and minor child or children, or eit…

on Decedent’s Estate Within 60 Days After Death - Vesting of Title to Real Property in Surviving Spouse and Minors and Right to Possession Thereof. If no exceptions are filed and sustained to such report of the commissioners setting apart the homestead exemption, the title to the…

When homestead exemption has been allotted to the surviving spouse and minor child or children, or either, under any of the provisions of this division, they shall not be held to have abandoned or forfeited the same by a removal therefrom. History: (Code 1896, §2101; Code 1907, §…

Commissioners appointed to allot or set apart homestead or other exemptions under this division must be disinterested householders or freeholders of the county and, before executing their commission, must be sworn by some officer authorized to administer oaths, or by one of thems…

Commissioners appointed under the provisions of this division shall be entitled to compensation for their services at the rate of $2 per day during the time they are actually engaged. History: (Code 1886, §2566; Code 1896, §2103; Code 1907, §4230; Code 1923, §7954; Code 1940, T. …

Therefor. All judgments or decrees allotting homestead exemptions to surviving spouses and minors may be recorded in the probate office as other deeds and conveyances are recorded and in the books of record for recording deeds, so as to show the chain of title to the lands so all…

Absent Seven Years and Residence Not Ascertainable - Generally. (a) When the real and personal property owned by an absent husband, wife, or parent who has not been heard from and whose residence has been unknown for seven years and whose residence cannot be ascertained by dilige…

Absent Seven Years and Residence Not Ascertainable - Vesting for Life of Title to Property in Deserted Spouse or Minors. If no exceptions are filed and sustained to such report of the commissioners setting apart exemptions and it is determined that the property set apart was all …

In cases instituted under the provisions of Title 11 of the United States Code entitled Bankruptcy, there shall be exempt from the property of the estate of an individual debtor only that property and income which is exempt under the laws of the State of Alabama and under federal…

On July 1, 2017, and at the end of each 3-year period thereafter, the State Treasurer shall adjust each dollar amount in this article or, for each adjustment after July 1, 2017, each adjusted amount, by an amount determined by the State Treasurer to reflect the cumulative change …

Any person, by an instrument in writing, may waive his or her right to an exemption in any property exempt from levy and sale under execution or other process. History: (Code 1876, §2846; Code 1886, §2567; Code 1896, §2104; Code 1907, §4231; Code 1923, §7960; Code 1940, T. 7, §70…

As to personal property, the waiver may be made by a separate instrument in writing, subscribed by the party making the same, or it may be included in any bond, bill of exchange, promissory note, or other written contract executed by him or her. History: (Code 1876, §§2847, 2848;…

As to the homestead, the waiver must be by a separate instrument in writing, subscribed by the party making the same and attested by one witness. If such party is a married man, such waiver shall not be valid without the voluntary signature and assent of the wife and acknowledgme…

In any civil action, in which a waiver of the right of homestead or other exemption is sought to be enforced, the fact of waiver and its extent must be averred in the complaint or petition and by appropriate pleading may be controverted. If such averment is sustained, the fact of…

When such action is commenced by attachment or, in aid thereof, an ancillary attachment is sued out, the officer issuing the writ of the plaintiff, in person or by his agent or attorney, producing before him the written evidence of the waiver or making and filing with him an affi…

When such attachment is levied on property embraced in a declaration of claim of exemption which has been filed for record, or subsequent to the levy a claim to such property as exempt is interposed, if, on the trial, the averment of waiver is not sustained, the levy shall be dis…

(a) No waiver of exemption in any written instrument shall be held to apply to or include or authorize the levy of an execution or attachment on any of the following property for any debt contracted: (1) Cooking utensils, cooking stoves, table, tableware, chairs, bed and bed clot…

[Effective until June 1, 2026.] AMENDED BY ACT 2026-203, EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE. The homestead of every resident of this state, with the improvements and appurtenances, not exceeding in value fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) and in area 160 acres, …

Any resident of this state entitled to, and desiring to, claim a homestead or other exemption from levy and sale under execution or other process may, at any time, make and file in the office of the probate judge of the county in which the property is situated, if a homestead, or…

Copies. Such declarations of claims of exemptions shall be recorded in a separate book, kept for that purpose, and the probate judge, on request, shall give a receipt therefor and shall furnish a certified copy thereof, when requested, on payment of lawful fees therefor. History:…

The fees for filing, recording, copying, and certifying such declarations shall be the same as are allowed by law for filing, recording, copying, and certifying deeds. History: (Code 1876, §2829; Code 1886, §2518; Code 1896, §2044; Code 1907, §4171; Code 1923, §7893; Code 1940, T…

After the filing of such declaration, the claim of exemption therein asserted shall be taken and considered as prima facie correct, and the filing thereof shall operate as notice of its contents. History: (Code 1876, §§2828, 2831; Code 1886, §2517; Code 1896, §2043; Code 1907, §4…

After such declaration of claim has been filed for record, the property therein embraced shall not be subject to levy unless there is endorsed on the process the fact that there has been a waiver of exemption as to the kind of property on which the levy is sought to be made or th…

A plaintiff, in person or by his or her agent or attorney, may contest a claim of exemption after a declaration thereof has been filed by making and filing with the officer holding the process an affidavit that, in his belief, either the claim is invalid entirely or it is invalid…

Claim. The right of homestead or other exemption shall not be waived or lost by a failure, before the levy of process, to file for record a declaration claiming the same; but the defendant, in person or by his or her agent or attorney, may, at any time after the levy and prior to…

Executing Bond; Proceedings When Bond Not Forthcoming. (a) When any contest of a claim of exemption to personal property has been instituted, the defendant claiming the exemption may, within five days after service of notice of the contest, deliver to the officer making the levy …

In case of such contest, the officer making the levy must, within 15 days after the institution of the contest, return the process and other papers to the court to which the process is returnable, accompanied with a full statement of the facts. History: (Code 1876, §2836; Code 18…

Failure to File. On any contest of a claim of exemption to personal property, on the plaintiff’s written demand, made at any time, the defendant claiming the exemption shall, within 10 days, file a full and complete inventory, duly verified by oath, of all his or her personal pro…

No mortgage, deed or other conveyance of the homestead by a married person shall be valid without the voluntary signature and assent of the husband or wife, which must be shown by his or her examination before an officer authorized by law to take acknowledgments of deeds, and the…

The contest of any claim of exemptions shall be a preferred case, and after the return of the process, if both parties appear, an issue or issues shall be formed under the direction of the court as to whether the property in contest, or any and what part of it, is exempt as claim…

When a contest of a claim of exemption is triable in the probate court, either party shall be entitled to a trial by jury on demand therefor, made by the contestant at the time of filing the contest and by the contestee within 10 days after notice of the contest is filed by the c…

If the plaintiff fails to appear in support of his contest or if on the trial all the property in contest is found exempt, judgment must be entered against the plaintiff for the costs of the levy and contest and releasing the property from the levy, but if the defendant fails to …

Found Excessive. When, on a contest of a claim of exemption to personal property, the issue is whether or not the claim is excessive and such issue is found in favor of the plaintiff, it must also be ascertained by the finding of the court or the verdict of the jury, as the case …

Personalty Not Embraced by Claim of Exemption. When, on a contest of a claim of exemption to personal property, an inventory filed by the defendant on the plaintiff’s demand discloses other personal property owned by the defendant and subject to sale under process not embraced in…

Filed by Defendant; Determination Thereof. When, on a contest of a claim of exemption to personal property, an inventory has been filed by the defendant, an issue may be tendered by the plaintiff that the defendant has other personal property subject to levy and sale under the pr…

Damages Resulting from Detention on Bond; Judgment and Execution on Bond. When bond has been executed by the plaintiff or defendant for the forthcoming of the property in contest, the value of the property, and the damages resulting from its detention must be assessed by the cour…

or Personal Property. When money, choses in action or personal property are garnished and the defendant claims the same, or any part thereof, as exempt, he shall file his claim thereto in writing, verified by oath, in the court in which such proceedings are pending, accompanied b…

When Homestead Found to Exceed Value or Area Allowed. [Effective until June 1, 2026.] AMENDED BY ACT 2026-203, EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE. (a) If, on the trial of a contest of a claim of homestead exemption, it is found that the homestead as claimed exce…

Contest Thereof by Spouse or Minor Children. If a husband, wife or parent, entitled to a homestead or other exemption, absconds or abandons his or her family, leaves the state, is insane, is confined under a charge or conviction for felony or misdemeanor, or is under any other di…

The provisions of this article shall not, however, be so construed as to prevent any lien attaching to the homestead in favor of any laborer, merchant, or materialman for work and labor done or for materials furnished, or in favor of any vendor for unpaid purchase money or so as …

Alienee. (Amended by Act 2026-203) [Effective until June 1, 2026.] AMENDED BY ACT 2026-203, EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2026. SEE ACT FOR REVISED LANGUAGE. When the homestead, after being reduced to the lowest practicable area, exceeds $5,000 in value and the husband or wife has aliened th…

When a declaration of claim to a homestead exemption has been filed in the office of the judge of probate, leaving the homestead temporarily or a leasing of the same shall not operate an abandonment thereof or render it subject to levy and sale, but the right thereto shall remain…

If no declaration of claim of exemption has been filed in the office of the judge of probate or if so filed and the same is contested, no action shall lie against the officer levying the process on the ground that the property levied on is exempt. History: (Code 1876, §2833; Code…

When a contest of a claim of exemption has been instituted, the property in contest shall not be sold by the officer until the contest is decided, but the lien thereon under the process or levy shall not be destroyed or impaired by the pendency of the contest. History: (Code 1876…

In favor of any resident of this state, there shall also be exempt from levy and sale, under execution or other process, any lot or lots in cemeteries or elsewhere, set apart or used as a burial place for himself or herself or family and any pew or seat in any church or other pla…

The personal property of such resident, except for wages, salaries, or other compensation, to the extent of the resident’s interest therein, to the amount of seven thousand five hundred dollars ($7,500) in value, to be selected by him or her, and, in addition thereto, all necessa…

(a) Wages, salaries, or other compensation of a resident are not personal property for the purposes of exemption from garnishment, levy, sale under execution, or other process for the collection of debt. (b) It is the intent of this section to exclude from the meaning of personal…

Defend Actions Thereon. Before grant of administration and before the exempt property is set apart, the right of the surviving spouse and minor child or children, or either, to the use and benefit of such property shall be the same as if it had been set apart as exempt; and actio…