Georgia Constitution of 1877

(as ratified by Georgia voters in December 1877)

ARTICLE IX.

HOMESTEAD AND EXEMPTIONS.

SECTION I.

Paragraph I. There shall be exempt from levy and sale, by virtue of any process whatever, under the laws of this State, except as hereinafter excepted, of the property of every head of a family, or guardian, or trustee of a family of minor children, or every aged or infirm person, or person having the care and support of dependent females of any age, who is not the head of a family, realty or personalty, or both, to the value in the aggregate of sixteen hundred dollars.

SECTION II.

Paragraph I. No court or ministerial officer in this State shall ever have jurisdiction or authority to enforce any judgment, execution, or decree, against the property set apart for such purpose, including such improvements as may be made thereon, from time to time, except for taxes, for the purchase money of the same, for labor done thereon, for material furnished therefor [sic], or for the removal of encumbrances thereon.

SECTION III.

Paragraph I. The debtor shall have power to waive or renounce in writing, his right to the benefit of the exemption provided for in this article, except as to wearing apparel, and not exceeding three hundred dollars worth of household and kitchen furniture, and provisions, to be selected by himself and his wife, if any, and he shall not, after it is set apart, alienate or encumber the property so exempted, but it may be sold by the debtor, and his wife, if any, jointly, with the sanction of the Judge of the Superior Court of the county, where the debtor resides or the land is situated, the proceeds to be reinvested upon the same uses.

SECTION IV.

Paragraph I. The General Assembly shall provide, by law, as early as practicable, for the setting apart and valuation of said property. But nothing in this article shall be construed to affect or repeal the existing laws for exemption of property from sale, contained in the present Code of this State in paragraphs 2040 to 2049 inclusive, and the acts amendatory thereto. It may be optional with the applicant to take either, but not both, of such exemptions.

SECTION V.

Paragraph I. The debtor shall have authority to waive or renounce in writing his right to the benefit of the exemption provided for in section four, except as is excepted in section three of this article.

SECTION VI.

Paragraph 1.[sic.] The applicant shall, at any time, have the right to supplement his exemption by adding to an amount already set apart which is less than the whole amount of exemption herein allowed, a sufficiency to make his exemption equal to the whole amount.

SECTION VII.

Paragraph I. Homesteads and exemptions of personal property which have been heretofore set apart by virtue of the provisions of the existing Constitution of this State, and in accordance with the laws for the enforcement thereof, or which may be hereafter set apart, at any time, shall be and remain valid as against all debts and liabilities existing at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, to the same extent that they would have been had said existing Constitution not been revised.

SECTION VII.

Paragraph I. Rights which have become vested under previously existing laws shall not be affected by anything herein contained. In all cases in which homesteads have been set apart under the Constitution of 1868, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, and a bona fide sale of such property has been subsequently made, and the full purchase price thereof has been paid, all right of exemption in such property by reason of its having been so set apart, shall cease in so far as it affects the right of the purchaser. In all such cases where a part only of the purchase price has been paid, such transaction shall be governed by the laws now of force in this State, in so far as they affect the rights of the purchaser, as though said property had not been set apart.

SECTION IX.

Paragraph I. Parties who have taken a homestead of realty under the Constitution of eighteen hundred and sixty-eight, shall have the right to sell said Homestead and reinvest the same, by order of the judge of the Superior Courts of this State.

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