40-102 Homestead; selection of property.
40-102. Homestead; selection of property.(1) If theclaimant is married, the homesteadmay be selected from the separate property of the husband or with the consent of the wife from her separateproperty. (2) When the claimant is notmarried, but is the head of a family within the meaning of section 40-115 or is age sixty-five or older,the homestead may be selected from any of his or her property. SourceLaws 1879, § 2, p. 58; R.S.1913, § 3077; C.S.1922, § 2817; C.S.1929, § 40-102; R.S.1943, § 40-102; Laws 2010, LB907, § 1.Effective Date: July 15, 2010Annotations1. Selection2. Property available1. SelectionHomestead may be selected from property held as tenants in common. Ehlers v. Campbell, 159 Neb. 328, 66 N.W.2d 585 (1954).Homestead may be selected from property held in joint ownership by husband and wife. Edgerton v. Hamilton County, 150 Neb. 821, 36 N.W.2d 258 (1949).Formal declaration of selection of land as homestead is not necessary. Meyer v. Platt, 137 Neb. 714, 291 N.W. 86 (1940).Homestead selected from property of wife must be with her consent, but consent may be presumed from occupancy of property as a family home. In re Estate of Nielsen, 135 Neb. 110, 280 N.W. 246 (1938).Pleading was sufficient to set forth selection of homestead from wife's separate property. Williams v. Williams, 106 Neb. 584, 184 N.W. 114 (1921).2. Property availableWhile a homestead cannot be claimed in two separate properties at the same time, a homestead claimant who is about to lose his homestead as the result of foreclosure proceeding may abandon it and establish a new homestead in other property. Hawley v. Arnold, 137 Neb. 238, 288 N.W. 823 (1939).Where wife owned undivided one-half interest in property occupied as homestead, and did not consent to selection of homestead from her interest therein, judgment against husband did not become a lien, where mortgage encumbrance and homestead exemption exceeded the value of husband's one-half interest. Connor v. McDonald, 120 Neb. 503, 233 N.W. 894 (1931).Homestead right in wife's separate property is dependent upon her consent thereto. Zeng v. Jacobs, 101 Neb. 645, 164 N.W. 656 (1917); Klamp v. Klamp, 58 Neb. 748, 79 N.W. 735 (1899).Widow living alone cannot acquire homestead that will descend to her heirs as against creditors. Brusha v. Phipps, 86 Neb. 822, 126 N.W. 856 (1910).Where husband deserts his family, wife is entitled to his homestead exemption. First Nat. Bank of Tekamah v. McClanahan, 83 Neb. 706, 120 N.W. 185 (1909).