State Codes and Statutes
Statutes > Indiana > Title32 > Ar17 > Ch3
IC 32-17-3
Chapter 3. Tenancy
IC 32-17-3-1
Husband and wife purchase or lease of real estate; rights of
survivor
Sec. 1. (a) This section applies to a written contract in which a
husband and wife:
(1) purchase real estate; or
(2) lease real estate with an option to purchase.
(b) Except as provided in subsection (d), a contract described in
subsection (a) creates an estate by the entireties in the husband and
wife. The interest of neither party is severable during the marriage.
(c) Upon the death of either party to the marriage, the survivor is
considered to have owned the whole of all rights under the contract
from its inception.
(d) If:
(1) a contract described in subsection (a) expressly creates a
tenancy in common; or
(2) it appears from the tenor of a contract described in
subsection (a) that the contract was intended to create a tenancy
in common;
the contract shall be construed to create a tenancy in common.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.2.
IC 32-17-3-2
Divorce
Sec. 2. If a husband and wife are divorced while a contract
described in section 1(a) of this chapter is in effect, the husband and
wife own the interest in the contract and the equity created by the
contract in equal shares.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.2.
IC 32-17-3-3
Title bond or contract for sale of land; survivorship
Sec. 3. If:
(1) a husband and wife execute a title bond or contract for the
conveyance of real estate owned by them as tenants by the
entireties; and
(2) one (1) of the spouses dies:
(A) during the continuance of the marriage; and
(B) before the whole of the agreed purchase price has been
paid;
the interest of the deceased spouse in the unpaid part of the purchase
price passes to the surviving spouse in the same right as the surviving
spouse's rights of survivorship in real estate held as tenants by the
entireties.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.2.
IC 32-17-3-4
Husband and wife; joint deed of conveyance
Sec. 4. (a) A joint deed of conveyance by a husband and wife is
sufficient to convey and pass any interest described in the deed of
either or both of them in land held by them as:
(1) tenants in common;
(2) joint tenants; or
(3) tenants by the entireties.
(b) An executed and recorded power of attorney by one (1) spouse
to the other spouse authorizing the conveyance by the attorney in fact
of any interest owned:
(1) individually by the grantor (as defined in IC 32-17-1-1) of
the power of attorney; or
(2) with the grantor's spouse;
enables the attorney in fact through the exercise of the power of
attorney to effectively convey the interest in land by individually
making a deed of conveyance.
As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.2.
