In Case You Missed It: Massachusetts “Affordable Homes Act” Doubled Homestead Exemption to $1 Million

As you may know, most states let a vested deed holder designate a percentage of the primary residence’s value as a homestead. Homestead status can stop a home’s forced sale due to unpaid debt.

This year, under its Affordable Homes Act, Massachusetts increased its homestead protection from $500,000 to $1,000,000. All the better, this higher protection applies retroactively to homestead filings that are already in place, says Norfolk County Register of Deeds William P. O’Donnell.

For more details, we invite you to review the following frequently asked questions.

What Is Homestead Status?

It protects your home from a personal debt crisis. Some of the parties you owe will have to wait for their payments. This can mean some of your unsecured debts being cancelled out.

The new (2025) homestead law in Massachusetts provides protection up to $1,000,000. With a declaration of homestead recorded in the county, a primary residence cannot be forced into a sale to satisfy certain debts.

The homestead law also allows an owner aged 62+ to file an elderly homestead declaration. More on this in the Senior Protection section below.

Who Qualifies?

A sole owner, co-owner, life estate holder, or trust beneficiary — these all count as an owner who may file the declaration.

If the home is held under a joint tenancy (or tenancy by the entirety), the homestead exemption remains whole and joint. Two co-owners would each get $500,000 of protection for a total of one million dollars.

What If There Are More Than Two Co-Owners?

If you are one of multiple owners — as tenants in common or through a trust — the exemption is distributed according to your share of ownership.

Plus, you might be eligible to add an additional $250,000 to the exemption amount under the new Massachusetts law.

Do Mobile Homes Qualify?

Yes, under the new (2025) statute, manufactured homes and mobile homes qualify. This is so, even if you don’t have a recorded deed.

File the declaration form with the deed recorder in the county where your mobile home exists.

Does Massachusetts Charge a Filing Fee?

Yes. In Massachusetts, there is a fee when a declaration of homestead gets recorded. It’s a state fee of $36.00, according to Register O’Donnell.

Be sure your form is completely filled in and notarized. File it with the recorder of deeds in the county where your home is. You’ll submit a check with the form. Make the check payable to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Is the Form Complicated?

Not at all. But in Massachusetts, each owner should sign the declaration with a notary public, who may be accessible at their personal bank. If just one spouse is on the deed, just that person needs to sign, while stating their spouse’s name.

You’ll need to refer to your current home deed, so be sure to retrieve a copy of your deed.

What Is the Senior Protection Provision?

The new Massachusetts Homestead Act has an additional, separate section that allows people aged 62+ to individually hold a $1,000,000 exemption per person. So, if there are two owners aged 62+, they can get a $1,000,000 exemption each, based on their age. Same for disabled deed holders of any age.

If you and your spouse are both 62+, each of you should file a declaration. When combined, your two separate one million dollars in protection becomes two million dollars total. Still, you both (individually) get just $1,000,000 in coverage.  

If I’m 62+ But My Spouse Is Under 62, Do We Both File?

Yes.

An owner aged 62+ gets protection limited to that individual — and only during that person’s lifetime.

To prevent a loss of protection for your younger spouse, you would file one homestead per owner now. The new law will ensure homestead status continues without interruption if you need to update a status later.

What’s Not Covered under the Homestead Protection Statute?

The homestead law does not protect your home value against:

• Federal, state, or local tax liens or tax sales.

• Your mortgage.

• Nursing home liens.

• Debts or liens that pre-existed your declaration of homestead filing.

• Spouse or child support judgments.

• Court judgments finding duress, undue influence, lack of capacity, fraud, or mistake.

What Happens If I Get Married or Get a Divorce?

The new law automatically protects a new spouse of a formerly unmarried deed holder with homestead status.

Divorcing spouses, too, remain covered.

After My Life, Are My Spouse and Children Covered?

Yes. The law protects their right to live in the home.

The law protects even a spouse who’s not on the deed, or one who remarries, and it protects kids under 21.

Note: Homestead status does not replace your life insurance or homeowner’s insurance.

What If I File for Bankruptcy?

Homestead status can help you keep some of your home equity, per federal law. A homestead declaration protects you from unsecured creditors — not mortgage lenders, so foreclosure proceedings could still occur. Yet the homestead status could let you keep much more money from the home sale than you’d probably get under federal bankruptcy law. It could even save you from having to sell the home.

The interplay between state and federal law gets complicated. A bankruptcy attorney can tell you whether you can keep your deed despite bankruptcy.

What If I Don’t File at All?

In Massachusetts, an individual who does not file a homestead declaration is still automatically covered up to $125,000.

That might be all you need. Got more equity than that? You can guard up to $1,000,000 with homestead status.

Buying a home in Massachusetts? You’ll get a notice of your right to homestead status on your closing day. 

Does Your Home State Offer Homestead Status?

Nearly every state does. And a deed holder with homestead status can save hundreds, even thousands of dollars. A Philadelphian in 2025, for example, saves around $1,400. Depending on your state’s law, homestead status can lower your taxable property value, and cap potential property tax hikes.

Search for the term “homestead exemption” to learn what your state offers. Find out if you need to request a form. If there’s a homestead exemption available for you, return the form by the stated deadline.

Sometimes there’s a lag before protection kicks in. And in some states, the homestead exemption is reserved for people who could face heightened financial risks.

Important note:

This article is intended to orient you to a legal change that will impact the rights of Massachusetts deed holders. It is not legal advice. For information specific to your homeownership, consult an attorney or an official with the county assessment office. Also, please study the supporting references listed below.

An elder law specialist can advise on impacts on Medicaid benefits, and how to best protect the position of your heirs.