Forming an LLC or corporation in Indiana creates a legal barrier between your personal assets and your business liabilities—but that barrier is not automatic or permanent. Indiana courts can and do “pierce the corporate veil” when business owners fail to maintain the separation between themselves and their business entity. Under…
Indiana’s real estate licensing requirements are governed by IC § 25-34.1 (Real Estate License Act) and administered by the Indiana Professional Licensing Agency. The general rule is straightforward: anyone who acts as a real estate broker—negotiating or facilitating real estate transactions for others for compensation—must hold a valid Indiana real…
Indiana authorized the formation of series limited liability companies in 2016 under IC § 23-18.1-6. A series LLC is a single parent LLC that can create unlimited internal “series,” each with its own assets, liabilities, members, and managers—with a statutory liability shield between series. For real estate investors, this structure…
In Indiana, lease-options and land contracts are two of the most commonly used seller-financing structures for residential real estate transactions. A lease-option gives the tenant the right—but not the obligation—to purchase the property at a predetermined price during or at the end of the lease term, while a land contract…
Indiana courts enforce non-compete agreements (covenants not to compete) when they meet three requirements: the restriction must be reasonable in scope, reasonable in duration, and reasonable in geographic area. Indiana applies a “blue-pencil doctrine” that allows courts to modify overly broad non-competes rather than void them entirely—but only if the…
A land contract—also called a contract for deed or installment sale agreement—is a seller-financing arrangement where the buyer takes possession of real property and makes installment payments to the seller, who retains legal title until the purchase price is paid in full. In Indiana, land contracts are governed primarily by…
A land trust is a revocable, inter vivos trust that holds title to real property, with a trustee holding legal title and the beneficiary retaining the right to direct the trustee and receive the benefits of ownership. In Indiana, land trusts are sometimes promoted at real estate investing seminars as…
Indiana’s mechanic’s lien statute (IC § 32-28-3) gives contractors, subcontractors, laborers, and material suppliers a powerful tool for securing payment: the right to place a lien on the real property where they performed work or furnished materials. A mechanic’s lien attaches to the property itself, not to the property owner…
Indiana adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act (RUFADAA) in 2016 under IC § 32-39-3, giving fiduciaries—executors, trustees, agents under power of attorney, and guardians—a legal framework for accessing and managing digital assets after incapacity or death. Digital assets include email accounts, social media profiles, cloud-stored files,…
Immigration scams cost victims thousands of dollars every year in Indiana and can result in deportation proceedings, missed filing deadlines, and permanent bars to legal status. The most dangerous scams involve notarios, unauthorized practitioners of law, and fraudulent “immigration consultants” who charge substantial fees for services they are not legally…