Updated September 3, 2026. Quick answer: $5,000 general homestead exemption, plus a separate additional $7,500 exemption specifically against hospital or medical debt from a catastrophic illness or injury.
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This is protection against an ordinary money judgment creditor under W. Va. Code § 38-9-1, § 38-9-3, a different question from a property tax bill or exemption, which this page does not cover.
How it works in West Virginia
- No filing required. Automatic under current law: no filing is required for the current $5,000 exemption. A separate, older $1,000 exemption that required a recorded written declaration under a former version of the law still applies only to whoever perfected it under that former rule.
- Married couples and joint owners: Ambiguous in the statutory text: the statute names husband, wife, parent, or other head of household as eligible and grants "a homestead exemption… to the value of $5,000," without stating whether each spouse gets a separate $5,000 or the household shares one.
What it does not protect against
Purchase-money debt for the property, debt for permanent improvements built on it, and property taxes or county/district/municipal levies due on it; debts and liens that existed before the exemption’s effective date are also not covered.
Read it yourself
Verbatim from W. Va. Code § 38-9-1, § 38-9-3: “Any husband, wife, parent or other head of a household residing in this state, or the infant children of deceased or insane parents, owning a homestead shall by operation of law have a homestead exemption therein to the value of $5,000, subject to the provisions of section forty-eight, article six of the Constitution of this state.” Read the full official text before relying on any figure here. Exemption law is fact-specific, and this is a source-backed planning guide, not individualized legal advice.
Figures verified against W. Va. Code §§ 38-9-1 and 38-9-3 as posted by the West Virginia Legislature (code.wvlegislature.gov) on September 30, 2026.