Also known as: family homes · matrimonial home · marital home
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A dwelling occupied by a married couple or family that receives special legal protections or allocations in marital dissolution and probate proceedings. Courts may award temporary possession to a custodial parent or exclude a spouse upon a showing of harm. In estates the value of any constitutional homestead interest in the dwelling is charged against a surviving spouse's statutory homestead allowance.
After Harold's death Kevin remained in the family home under a constitutional homestead right. Kevin petitioned for the statutory homestead allowance from other estate assets. The court determined the value of the life estate interest in the family home and reduced the allowance by that amount.
During Eli and Faith's separation proceedings Eli alleged that Faith's nighttime manipulation of smart-home devices caused emotional distress. Eli moved to exclude Faith from the shared loft. The court denied the motion because the evidence did not establish that physical or emotional harm would otherwise result.
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Isaac's will left the family home and other real property outright to Sandra while granting his sons a naked ownership interest subject to Sandra's usufruct. Sandra claimed the sons' competing interest in pension benefits was preempted. The Court addressed whether the family home devise survived the ERISA challenge.
The Tison brothers grew up in a household where their father conditioned them to view him as a victim of the state. The family home served as the setting for this ongoing influence. The Court considered whether that environment affected the brothers' culpability for the resulting crimes.
East Cleveland's ordinance restricted single-family homes to certain related persons. Inez Moore lived in her family home with her son, grandson, and a second grandson who was not a first-degree relative under the ordinance. The Court held that the restriction violated substantive due process by interfering with extended family living arrangements.
The City of New London condemned Susette Kelo's family home as part of an economic development plan. Kelo challenged the taking as lacking public use. The Court upheld the condemnation because economic development qualified as a public purpose under the Takings Clause.
The value of any constitutional right of homestead in the family home received by a surviving spouse must be charged against the spouse's homestead allowance to the extent the family home is part of the decedent's estate or would have been but for the homestead provision.
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A court may exclude a party from the family home upon a showing that physical or emotional harm would otherwise result to the other party or a child.
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The homestead allowance, exempt property, and family allowance are payable in addition to any elective-share amount and are not charged against it.
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…statutes here involved deal with a particularly important and sensitive area of privacy—that of the marital relation and the marital home. This Court recognized in Meyer v. Nebraska, supra , that the right "to marry, establish a home and bring up children" was an essential part of the liberty guaranteed by the Fourteenth…