2023 Indiana Code › Title 32. Property › Article 17. Interests in Property › Chapter 14. Transfer on Death Property Act › 32-17-14-26. General Rules Applying to a Beneficiary Designation

Sec. 26. (a) If an agreement between the owner and a transferring entity is required to carry out a transfer on death transfer as described in section 7 of this chapter, a transferring entity may not adopt rules for the making, execution, acceptance, and revocation of a beneficiary designation that are inconsistent with this chapter.
(b) The following rules apply to a beneficiary designation:
(1) A beneficiary designation or a request for registration of property in beneficiary form must be made in writing, signed by the owner, dated, and, in the case of a transfer on death deed, compliant with all requirements for the recording of deeds.
(2) A security that is not registered in the name of the owner may be registered in beneficiary form on instructions given by a broker or person delivering the security.
(3) A beneficiary designation may designate one (1) or more primary beneficiaries and one (1) or more contingent beneficiaries.
(4) On property registered in beneficiary form, a primary beneficiary is the person shown immediately following the transfer on death direction. Words indicating that the person is a primary beneficiary are not required. The name of a contingent beneficiary in the registration must have the words "contingent beneficiary" or words of similar meaning to indicate the contingent nature of the interest being transferred.
(5) Multiple surviving beneficiaries share equally in the property being transferred unless a different percentage or fractional share is stated for each beneficiary. If a percentage or fractional share is designated for multiple beneficiaries, the surviving beneficiaries share in the proportion that their designated shares bear to each other.
(6) A transfer of unequal shares to multiple beneficiaries for property registered in beneficiary form may be expressed in numerical form following the name of the beneficiary in the registration.
(7) A transfer on death transfer of property also transfers any interest, rent, royalties, earnings, dividends, or credits earned or declared on the property but not paid or credited before the owner's death.
(8) If a distribution by a transferring entity under a transfer on death transfer results in fractional shares in a security or other property that is not divisible, the transferring entity may distribute the fractional shares in the name of all beneficiaries as tenants in common or as the beneficiaries may direct, or the transferring entity may sell the property that is not divisible and distribute the proceeds to the beneficiaries in the proportions to which they are entitled.
(9) On the death of the owner, the property, minus all amounts and charges owed by the owner to the transferring entity, belongs to the surviving beneficiaries and, in the case of substitute beneficiaries permitted under section 22 of this chapter, the lineal descendants of designated beneficiaries who did not survive the owner are entitled to the property as follows:
(A) If there are multiple primary beneficiaries and a primary beneficiary does not survive the owner and does not have a substitute under section 22 of this chapter, the share of the nonsurviving beneficiary is allocated among the surviving beneficiaries in the proportion that their shares bear to each other.
(B) If there are no surviving primary beneficiaries and there are no substitutes for the nonsurviving primary beneficiaries under section 22 of this chapter, the property belongs to the surviving contingent beneficiaries in equal shares or according to the percentages or fractional shares stated in the registration.
(C) If there are multiple contingent beneficiaries and a contingent beneficiary does not survive the owner and does not have a substitute under section 22 of this chapter, the share of the nonsurviving contingent beneficiary is allocated among the surviving contingent beneficiaries in the proportion that their shares bear to each other.
(10) If a trustee designated as a beneficiary:
(A) does not survive the owner;
(B) resigns; or
(C) is unable or unwilling to execute the trust as trustee and no successor trustee is appointed in the twelve (12) months following the owner's death;
the transferring entity may make the distribution as if the trust did not survive the owner.
(11) If a trustee is designated as a beneficiary and no affidavit of certification of trust or probated will creating an express trust is presented to the transferring entity within the twelve (12) months after the owner's death, the transferring entity may make the distribution as if the trust did not survive the owner.
(12) If the transferring entity is not presented evidence during the twelve (12) months after the owner's death that there are lineal descendants of a nonsurviving beneficiary for whom LDPS distribution applies who survived the owner, the transferring entity may make the transfer as if the nonsurviving beneficiary's descendants also failed to survive the owner.
(13) If a beneficiary cannot be located at the time the transfer is made to located beneficiaries, the transferring entity shall hold the missing beneficiary's share. If the missing beneficiary's share is not claimed by the beneficiary or by the beneficiary's personal representative or successor during the twelve (12) months after the owner's death, the transferring entity shall transfer the share as if the beneficiary did not survive the owner.
(14) A transferring entity has no obligation to attempt to locate a missing beneficiary, to pay interest on the share held for a missing beneficiary, or to invest the share in any different property.
(15) Cash, interest, rent, royalties, earnings, or dividends payable to a missing beneficiary may be held by the transferring entity at interest or reinvested by the transferring entity in the account or in a dividend reinvestment account associated with a security held for the missing beneficiary.
(16) If a transferring entity is required to make a transfer on death transfer to a minor or an incapacitated adult, the transfer may be made under the Indiana Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, the Indiana Uniform Custodial Trust Act, or a similar law of another state.
(17) A written request for the execution of a transfer on death transfer may be made by any beneficiary, a beneficiary's legal representative or attorney in fact, or the owner's personal representative.
(18) A transfer under a transfer on death deed occurs automatically upon the owner's death subject to the requirements of subdivision (20) and does not require a request for the execution of the transfer.
(19) A written request for the execution of a transfer on death transfer must be accompanied by the following:
(A) A certificate or instrument evidencing ownership of the contract, account, security, or property.
(B) Proof of the deaths of the owner and any nonsurviving beneficiary.
(C) An inheritance tax waiver from states that require it.
(D) In the case of a request by a legal representative, a copy of the instrument creating the legal authority or a certified copy of the court order appointing the legal representative.
(E) Any other proof of the person's entitlement that the transferring entity may require.
(20) On the death of an owner whose transfer on death deed has been recorded, the beneficiary shall file an affidavit in the office of the recorder of the county in which the real property is located. The affidavit must be endorsed by the county auditor under IC 36-2-11-14 in order to be recorded. The affidavit must contain the following:
(A) The legal description of the property.
(B) The date of death of the owner.
(C) The name and address of each designated beneficiary who survives the owner or is in existence on the date of the owner's death.
(D) The name of each designated beneficiary who has not survived the owner's death or is not in existence on the date of the owner's death.
(E) A cross-reference to the recorded transfer on death deed.
(c) A beneficiary designation is presumed to be valid. A party may rely on the presumption of validity unless the party has actual knowledge that the beneficiary designation was not validly executed. A person who acts in good faith reliance on a transfer on death deed is immune from liability to the same extent as if the person had dealt directly with the named owner and the named owner had been competent and not incapacitated.
As added by P.L.143-2009, SEC.41. Amended by P.L.6-2010, SEC.34; P.L.36-2011, SEC.16; P.L.149-2012, SEC.15; P.L.51-2014, SEC.30.