Terms Used In Indiana Code > Title 32 > Article 17 > Chapter 4 - Partition Proceedings

• Answer: The formal written statement by a defendant responding to a civil complaint and setting forth the grounds for defense.
• Appraisal: A determination of property value.
• Decedent: A deceased person.
• Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
• Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
• Fee simple: Absolute title to property with no limitations or restrictions regarding the person who may inherit it.
• in writing: include printing, lithographing, or other mode of representing words and letters. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
• Joint tenancy: A form of property ownership in which two or more parties hold an undivided interest in the same property that was conveyed under the same instrument at the same time. A joint tenant can sell his (her) interest but not dispose of it by will. Upon the death of a joint tenant, his (her) undivided interest is distributed among the surviving joint tenants.
• Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
• Lien: A claim against real or personal property in satisfaction of a debt.
• Life estate: A property interest limited in duration to the life of the individual holding the interest (life tenant).
• Probate: Proving a will
• Property: includes personal and real property. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
• Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.
• Sheriff: means the sheriff of the county or another person authorized to perform sheriff's duties. See Indiana Code 1-1-4-5
• Tenancy in common: A type of property ownership in which two or more individuals have an undivided interest in property. At the death of one tenant in common, his (her) fractional percentage of ownership in the property passes to the decedent
• Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust.