The default: a tenancy in common
Under IC 32-17-2-1, a conveyance to two or more people is presumed to create a tenancy in common — no survivorship, so a co-owner's share goes through probate — unless subsection (c)(2) applies: the tenor of the instrument manifestly conveys an intent to create a joint tenancy. That's a meaningfully different standard from states that demand exact statutory phrasing.
A real case: the wrong label still worked
A father conveyed real estate to his two sons using a warranty deed that described them as holding the property "as tenants by the entireties" — a form of ownership legally available only to married couples, which the two brothers plainly weren't. When one brother died, his estate argued the deed should be read as creating a tenancy in common instead, since the entireties language was legally meaningless between two brothers. The Indiana Court of Appeals disagreed. It held that because tenancy by the entirety's defining feature is survivorship, using that label — even incorrectly — still manifested the grantor's intent to create survivorship, which was enough to establish a joint tenancy with right of survivorship under IC 32-17-2-1(c)(2). The surviving brother kept the whole property.
What this means in practice
The case is a reminder that Indiana courts read a deed's language for its overall purpose, not merely whether it uses the textbook phrase. That cuts both ways: a deed can create survivorship without perfect wording, but relying on that flexibility instead of clear, correct language is still a risk — the outcome in the brothers' case wasn't guaranteed until a court ruled on it, years after the deed was signed.
Tenancy by the entirety for married couples
Real estate conveyed to a married couple is presumed to be held as tenants by the entirety. This form carries two distinct advantages beyond ordinary joint tenancy: it shields the property from the individual debts of just one spouse, and when one spouse dies, the survivor is treated as having owned the entire property from the very beginning — not as having newly acquired an interest through the other spouse's death. Indiana extends a similar presumption to a written contract in which a married couple purchases real estate, or leases it with an option to purchase, under IC 32-17-3-1.
A newer tool, with its own wrinkle
Indiana also offers a transfer-on-death deed, which works differently from either of the co-ownership forms above — and has a surprising interaction with an existing joint tenancy. See our full guide to the Indiana TOD deed for what happens when you record one on property you already co-own.