Georgia HB 1024: Bankruptcy Homestead Exemption Rises to $50,000 on July 1, 2026

For the first time in over a decade, Georgia has substantially increased the amount of home equity a debtor can protect in bankruptcy. On May 11, 2026, Governor Brian Kemp signed House Bill 1024 (bill text), amending O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100 to more than double the bankruptcy homestead exemption. Effective July 1, 2026, the exemption rises from $21,500 to $50,000 for a single debtor, and from $43,000 to $100,000 where the home is titled in one of two spouses. Starting July 1, 2031, those amounts will adjust annually for inflation.

The change is significant. For years, Georgia's homestead exemption has lagged well behind those of neighboring states, leaving many homeowners with even modest equity unable to use Chapter 7 to discharge their unsecured debts without putting their homes at risk. HB 1024 changes that calculus for thousands of Georgia families. The bill was carried by Reps. Soo Hong, Matt Reeves, and Rob Leverett in the House, and Sen. Marty Harbin in the Senate.

What the Old Law Looked Like

Under the version of O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100(a)(1) in effect through June 30, 2026, a debtor can protect up to $21,500 of equity in a residence. If the home is titled in only one of two spouses who is the filer, that figure doubles to $43,000. Any unused portion of the homestead exemption, up to $10,000, can be applied as a wildcard against other property under O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100(a)(6).

Those numbers were last adjusted in 2012. In the years since, home values across metro Atlanta have risen sharply. For many homeowners — particularly those who bought before the post-2020 run-up in prices — the $21,500 figure simply no longer reflected how much equity sits in their home. The practical consequence was that homeowners with otherwise straightforward Chapter 7 cases were either forced into Chapter 13 to protect their nonexempt equity, or steered away from bankruptcy altogether.

What HB 1024 Changes

The bill makes three substantive changes to the homestead exemption, all by amending O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100(a)(1):

• The single-debtor cap rises from $21,500 to $50,000. Any natural person filing for bankruptcy in Georgia can claim up to $50,000 in equity in real or personal property used as a residence, in a cooperative, or in a burial plot.
• The spousal cap rises from $43,000 to $100,000. The amended statute now requires that the property be "the primary residence of both spouses" in order to qualify for the doubled amount — a clarification of existing law that has occasionally generated litigation. The doubled exemption applies where title is held by one of two spouses who is a debtor.
• An inflation adjustment kicks in beginning July 1, 2031. Each year thereafter, the exemption amounts will be revised by multiplying by the prior year's inflation rate. The State Revenue Commissioner is charged with promulgating a standardized method for determining the annual rate, which may rely on the federal Consumer Price Index or a comparable index.

The inflation adjustment is, in some ways, the more important long-term change. Georgia's exemption amounts have historically been static — adjusted only when the legislature periodically revisits them. By tying future adjustments to inflation, HB 1024 ensures the exemption does not silently shrink in real terms over the next decade or two.

The Effective Date Matters: Timing Considerations

HB 1024 takes effect on July 1, 2026. Bankruptcy exemptions are generally determined as of the petition date, which means a case filed on or after July 1, 2026, will use the new $50,000 / $100,000 numbers, and a case filed before that date will use the old $21,500 / $43,000 numbers.

If you own a home with meaningful equity and are considering bankruptcy, the timing question is real. For a homeowner with, say, $40,000 of equity in a home titled in their name alone, filing on June 30, 2026 means $18,500 of exposed equity that a Chapter 7 trustee could liquidate or that would have to be paid back through a Chapter 13 plan. Filing on July 1, 2026 means that same equity is fully protected. Waiting a few weeks could be the difference between losing thousands of dollars in equity and keeping the entire home cushion intact.

That said, waiting is not always the right answer. There are situations where the cost of delay outweighs the benefit of the larger exemption:

• Imminent foreclosure sale. If a foreclosure sale is set for June and waiting until July means losing the home, the larger exemption is irrelevant — you need the automatic stay now.
• Active wage garnishment or levy. Each pay period of garnishment is money you do not get back. The math may favor filing immediately to stop the bleeding.
• Pending lawsuits with potential nondischargeable judgments. If a creditor is close to obtaining a judgment that could turn into a lien on the home, waiting can backfire.
• Cases where the homestead exemption is not the binding constraint. If your case is not about home equity at all — for example, if you rent, or if your home has no equity — the new exemption does not change your analysis, and there is no reason to wait.

For many homeowners, however, the right approach will be to file on or after July 1, 2026. An experienced Georgia bankruptcy attorney can walk through the numbers specific to your situation and tell you whether the math favors waiting.

What the New Law Does Not Change

HB 1024 is focused on one paragraph of the exemption statute. Several related issues remain governed by existing law:

• The wildcard exemption is unchanged. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100(a)(6), a debtor can still protect $1,200 of any property, plus up to $10,000 of unused homestead exemption. The $10,000 cap on the wildcard's homestead-overflow component was not raised by HB 1024. That means renters and homeowners without significant equity will not see a bigger wildcard simply because the headline homestead number went up.
• Georgia remains an "opt-out" state. Georgia debtors must use the state exemption scheme. The federal bankruptcy exemptions under 11 U.S.C. § 522(d) are not available in Georgia, and HB 1024 does not change that.
• The other Georgia exemption amounts are unchanged. The $5,000 motor vehicle exemption, the $5,000 personal-property exemption (with a $300 per-item cap), the $1,500 tools-of-the-trade exemption, and the various health, insurance, and retirement exemptions all remain at their current levels.
• Federal nonbankruptcy exemptions and the ERISA shield for qualified retirement accounts remain available to Georgia debtors as a supplement to the state scheme.

How Georgia Now Compares to Its Neighbors

Even after HB 1024, Georgia's homestead exemption is far from the most generous in the region. South Carolina's bankruptcy homestead exemption sits at $53,375 for a single owner and $106,750 for multiple owners, and it adjusts every two years for inflation. Florida famously allows an unlimited homestead exemption on a primary residence, subject only to acreage limits. Alabama recently tripled its state homestead exemption for debtors aged 62 or older or who are disabled.

Where Georgia previously sat near the bottom of the regional rankings, the new $50,000 / $100,000 figures bring it closer to the middle of the pack — and the inflation adjustment in 2031 will keep it from falling behind again.

Practical Examples

Consider three scenarios under the new law:

Scenario 1: Single homeowner, $45,000 of equity, filing Chapter 7. Under the old law, $23,500 of that equity ($45,000 minus the $21,500 exemption) is exposed — the trustee can sell the home or require a buyout. Under HB 1024, the entire $45,000 of equity is exempt, and the home is safe.

Scenario 2: Married couple, $90,000 of equity, home titled only in one spouse's name, filing jointly. Under the old law, $47,000 of equity exceeds the $43,000 spousal exemption — likely pushing the couple into Chapter 13 with a meaningful plan payment to cover the nonexempt equity. Under HB 1024, the full $90,000 is protected, and Chapter 7 becomes a real option.

Scenario 3: Renter with no real estate. The exemption increase does not directly help, because the homestead exemption can only be claimed by someone who owns or has an interest in a residence. The wildcard's $10,000 unused-homestead component remains capped at the same $10,000 figure it was before. The analysis is unchanged.

What to Do If You Are Considering Bankruptcy

If you are a Georgia homeowner thinking about bankruptcy, the change in the law is meaningful enough to be worth a conversation. The right approach depends on facts that vary case by case — your equity, the chapter you are considering, the urgency of the creditor pressure you are facing, and whether you have any property held only in one spouse's name. There is no one-size-fits-all answer, and the few-week wait that benefits one debtor may be the wrong choice for another.

At Rountree Leitman Klein & Geer, our bankruptcy attorneys are watching the implementation of HB 1024 closely and have been incorporating it into client planning ever since the bill was signed. If you would like to understand how the new exemption applies to your situation, we offer a free initial consultation. The right time to map out your strategy is before you file — not after.