Opinion Number

Dear Mr. Williams:

This office is in receipt of your request for an opinion of the Attorney General relative to homestead exemptions. You ask if an heir in a succession who resides in the property may claim a homestead exemption before obtaining a judgment of possession.

Under Article 7, Section 20 of the Constitution of 1974 a person is entitled to a homestead exemption on property that is "owned and occupied" by that person. The Louisiana Supreme Court in discussing seizing and ownership has held in Baten v. Taylor, 386 So.2d 333 (La. 1979), "Ownership, on the other hand, is transmitted by…