California homestead exemptions- there are two types!

Hello. Does anyone (CA attorneys?) have experience with this topic?

There are two types of CA homestead exemptions. An automatic one that everyone gets just from buying property (and having it as their principal residence) and a "declared" version which you must create and record on your property.

This link gives a great overview (plus a free form to use): http://www.sandiegolistforless.com/file.axd?file=Homestead.pdf

Reading carefully through this, it seems worthwhile to set up the declared version, as it has added benefits. But I have never heard of anyone doing this. Within my contacts, no one seems to know anything about it! A google search only gives the technical definitions; not anecdotal info about pros/cons, is it even worth bothering with, etc?

Are there any CA attorneys, etc. who are familiar with this? Has anyone in CA taken the time to set up the declared version for their primary residence? If so, do tell! Thx.