Oct 6, 2012
Florida Supreme Court Rules on Non-Residents Homestead Exemption
The Florida Supreme Court ruled with an unanimous vote that a Honduran couple living in Key Biscayne with their children is entitled to homestead exemption.
The state’s highest court rejected arguments from attorneys representing Miami-Dade County Property Appraiser Pedro Garcia, whose office denied homestead exemption to the couple in 2006. The appraiser said that the couple didn’t adequately show that they actually live in the Key Biscayne condo full time as permanent residents.
The court, overruling the appraiser, said that the state constitution also allows homeowners in Florida to claim homestead exemption if another person legally or naturally dependent on the owner lives there permanently. The court found there was no question that the couples children who were born in the United States and had no other apparent residency lived in the home permanently.
The court also found that the state homestead exemption statute has an invalid phrase limiting homestead exemption to anyone who resides thereon referring to the property. Similar language was removed from the Constitution in 1968 invalidating the requirement that homeowners actually reside on the property, as long as they have a dependent that does.
The case may have broader implications. Thanks to this ruling from the Florida Supreme Court, International and out of state property owners may be able to claim Florida homestead exemption. Many Internationals and out-of-state Florida homeowners have children attending Florida schools, both public and private who may have claim to U.S. citizenship.
In its ruling, the court stressed that each case must be decided on its own merit and the burden was on the property owner to provide. The court wrote, we emphasize that the result we reach in this case is dependent on the fact that it was demonstrated that the property is being used as the permanent residence of the owners’ dependent, minor children, and the evidence establishes that.
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