Sec. 51. (a) Any designated family member of a deceased service station franchisee may succeed to the ownership of the existing agreement if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The designated family member gives the service station franchisor written notice of the intention to succeed to the service station agreement within thirty (30) days of the service station franchisee‘s death.

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Terms Used In Indiana Code 23-2-2.5-51

  • Designated family member: means any person named in a franchise agreement by a service station franchisee as the person entitled to fulfill the terms of the agreement on behalf of the franchisee if the franchisee dies before the term of the franchise has ended. See Indiana Code 23-2-2.5-1
  • Franchise: includes a contract whereby the franchisee is granted the right to sell franchises on behalf of the franchisor. See Indiana Code 23-2-2.5-1
  • Franchisee: means a person to whom a franchise is granted. See Indiana Code 23-2-2.5-1
  • Franchisor: means a person who grants a franchise. See Indiana Code 23-2-2.5-1
  • in writing: include printing, lithographing, or other mode of representing words and letters. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
  • Service station franchisee: means a person who is granted by an oil company, refiner, jobber, or other franchisor a supply franchise agreement or a lease franchise agreement, or both, to sell gasoline at retail by a metered pump in Indiana. See Indiana Code 23-2-2.5-1
  • written: includes printed, lithographed, or produced by any other means of graphic communication. See Indiana Code 23-2-2.5-1
(2) The designated family member agrees to be bound by all terms and conditions of the existing owner’s franchise agreement.

(3) There is no good cause for the service station franchisor to refuse to honor the succession.

For purposes of this subsection, the grounds for termination or nonrenewal of a franchise set out in the federal Petroleum Marketing Practices Act (15 U.S.C. § 2801 et seq.) constitute good cause. Notification of the refusal must be submitted to the designated family member in writing within sixty (60) days after the date of the service station franchisee’s death, and must specify the reasons for the refusal. The form of the written notice required under this subsection shall be prescribed in the terms of the agreement.

     (b) This section does not apply to agreements between franchisors and service station franchisees entered into or renewed before July 1, 1983.

As added by P.L.241-1983, SEC.2.

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