Request By:
Mr. James W. Gardner
Central Kentucky Legal Services, Inc.
800 Lexington Building
201 West Short Street
Lexington, Kentucky 40507
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; By: William P. Sturm, Assistant Attorney General
In your recent letter you asked whether a person holding equitable title to a home is entitled to the homestead exemption granted by Section 170 of the Constitution and KRS 132.810(2)(d).
You cite
Sebastian v. Floyd, Ky., 585 S.W.2d 381 (1979) as authority for your conclusion that equitable title alone is sufficient to allow a person the homestead exemption. Although dicta in the Sebastian case states that equitable title passes to the buyer when the contract is entered, this dicta appears to be based on a long standing interpretation and application of property law. See
Henkenberns v. Hauc, Ky., 236 S.W.2d 703 (1951),
Spinx Company v. Pachoud Brothers, 92 S.W.2d 50 (1936).
Furthermore, KRS 132.810(2)(d) provides that: "the real property may be held by legal or equitable title, . . .".
Based on the foregoing, a person who is otherwise entitled to the homestead exemption granted by Section 170 of the Constitution cannot be denied the exemption merely because he holds equitable title.