In 2008, Virgil Hurd was kicked out of his home by his ex-wife. At that time he moved into his horse trailer (the “Trailer”) to keep warm. The Trailer is 20 feet long and 6 feet wide. Virgil gets electricity for the Trailer from a socket and water from a barrel with a pump. He receives his mail at the land where the Trailer is parked. Since January of 2010, Virgil spends approximately 70 percent of his time at his girlfriend’s house. In addition to using the Trailer as a place to sleep, Virgil also uses it for transporting his horses and his girlfriend’s horses. In April of 2010, he filed a voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 7 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for Western District of Missouri. 

In his schedule of exemptions, he listed the entire $3,000 value of the Trailer as exempt under a Missouri statute, which exempts any mobile home used as the principal residence that does not exceed $5,000 in value. The term mobile home is not defined in that statute. The Chapter 7 trustee objects to Virgil’s claim of a Missouri exemption in a horse trailer used as his living quarters. The trustee contends that the Trailer was not Virgil’s principal residence during the 6- to 12-month period before filing his bankruptcy petition, and that the Trailer does not qualify as a mobile home under the Missouri statute. Should the Trailer be exempt from the bankruptcy estate?