Arizona Revised Statutes Sections 33-1101 – 33-1105 contain Arizona’s homestead exemption that protects up to $150,00 of equity in a person’s Arizona home.  Section 33-1101 provides:

“A. Any person the age of eighteen or over, married or single, who resides within the state may hold as a homestead exempt from attachment, execution and forced sale, not exceeding one hundred fifty thousand dollars in value, any one of the following:

1. The person’s interest in real property in one compact body upon which exists a dwelling house in which the person resides.
2. The person’s interest in one condominium or cooperative in which the person resides.
3. A mobile home in which the person resides.
4. A mobile home in which the person resides plus the land upon which that mobile home is located.

B. Only one homestead exemption may be held by a married couple or a single person under this section. The value as specified in this section refers to the equity of a single person or married couple. If a married couple lived together in a dwelling house, a condominium or cooperative, a mobile home or a mobile home plus land on which the mobile home is located and are then divorced, the total exemption allowed for that residence to either or both persons shall not exceed one hundred fifty thousand dollars in value.

C. The homestead exemption, not exceeding the value provided for in subsection A, automatically attaches to the person’s interest in identifiable cash proceeds from the voluntary or involuntary sale of the property. The homestead exemption in identifiable cash proceeds continues for eighteen months after the date of the sale of the property or until the person establishes a new homestead with the proceeds, whichever period is shorter. Only one homestead exemption at a time may be held by a person under this section.”

People sometimes ask me if they should transfer title to the home in which they live to an LLC for asset protection.  My answer is no because:

  1. There is no business purpose so a court would probably disregard the LLC.
  2. It could cause a loss of the Arizona homestead exemption that protects $150,000 of equity in a personal residence.

An August 3, 2017, decision of the Court of Appeals of Utah called “Dean White vs. Julie Dawn White” ruled that the transfer of a home into a limited liability company caused the owner of the home to lose the Utah homestead exemption.   Although the case is not an Arizona case it causes me to believe more strongly that a person who transfers his or her Arizona home into an LLC will lose the Arizona homestead exemption.