Haksgaard on homestead laws

Prof. Hannah Haksgaard of the University of South Dakota has a new article out about homestead laws, "Defining 'Home' Through Homestead Laws."  It appears in a special symposium issue of the Berkeley Journal of Gender Law and Justice on Home and Homecoming.  The abstract follows:

A home is important — for individuals, for families, for societal structure. But, the law does not provide a clear definition of “home.” The Home & Homecoming symposium asked, in part, how the law defines “home.” This article provides one answer by looking at homestead laws. After analyzing the protections and parameters of homesteads — especially the urban/rural parameter distinction — this article concludes that a “home” is more than a mere dwelling place, a “home” is the real property that allows a family to remain stable through difficult times.

Haksgaard has previously written on Rural inheritance: Gender Disparities in Farm Transmission, and I know she has a work in progress on Solo Female Homesteaders. She's workhopping the latter next week here at UC Davis, at an event we're sponsoring on Law and Rurality.