"Unforeseen Circumstances" and the Capital Gains Exclusion

I wrote a little about the $250,000 capital gains exclusion on the sale of a home here.  The basic rule is that you can exclude from taxation up to $250,000 in gains on the sale of real estate, so long as you have owned and occupied the real estate as your principal residence for at least 2 of the previous 5 years.  But even if you don't meet the 2 year "owned and occupied" requirement, you may still be eligible for a partial exclusion from capital gains if you are forced to move due to "unforeseen circumstances," according to this interesting article by Sandra Block of USA Today.