INDIANA BAR EXAM DISTINCTIONS — ONE-PAGE CHEAT SHEET
Condensed companion to the Indiana Bar Exam Distinctions long outline.
1. EXAM FORMAT
· UBE jurisdiction — portable score · MBE 50 / MEE 30 / MPT 20 · Passing score 264 · Verify current cut and any NextGen timing.
2. CIVIL PROCEDURE
· Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure mirror federal — notice pleading (NOT fact pleading) · BUT rejects federal Celotex on summary judgment: movant must affirmatively negate the claim with designated evidence (TR 56) — SJ harder to win · Tort Claims Act notice: 180 days (political subdivisions) / 270 days (State) · SOL: PI 2 yrs; written contracts ~10 yrs; product liability 2 yrs / 10-yr repose.
3. EVIDENCE
· Indiana Rules of Evidence track the FRE (thin) · Codified privileges (physician-patient) · Own Rule 702 reliability approach (considers Daubert factors but not mechanically adopted) — no strict Daubert/Frye label · Retains modified Dead-Man's-type witness-competency protections.
4. MARITAL PROPERTY / FAMILY LAW
· Common-law state — NO community property · "ONE-POT" theory: ALL property — premarital, gifted, inherited — goes in the pot and is divisible (§ 31-15-7-4); NO separate property at divorce · Presumption of EQUAL (50/50) division (rebuttable) · No-fault + limited fault grounds · Spousal maintenance VERY limited (incapacity, caregiver, or rehab ≤3 yrs) · Income-shares child support; own Parenting Time Guidelines; best-interests custody.
5. WILLS / ESTATES
· NON-UPC — Indiana Probate Code · 2 witnesses; NO holographic/nuncupative wills · Elective share = 1/2 of net estate, reduced to 1/3 (with life-estate limit on realty) for a childless second/subsequent spouse where decedent left children from a prior marriage · Intestacy: spouse 1/2 if one child/descendant; adjustments for childless second spouse · $25,000 survivor's allowance for spouse/minor children.
6. REAL PROPERTY
· Race-notice recording · Adverse possession 10 yrs PLUS payment of taxes (Fraley v. Minger; § 32-21-7-1) · JUDICIAL foreclosure with redemption + settlement conference for owner-occupied homes.
7. TORTS — FLAG
· Comparative Fault Act (§ 34-51-2): modified 51% bar for PRIVATE defendants (recovers at exactly 50%) · CRITICAL CARVE-OUT: CONTRIBUTORY NEGLIGENCE retained for GOVERNMENTAL defendants — any plaintiff fault (even 1%) completely bars recovery against the State/political subdivisions · Nonparty defense (must be affirmatively pleaded); several allocation · Medical Malpractice Act cap + Patient's Compensation Fund · Tort Claims Act damages cap · Dram Shop Act (actual knowledge of visible intoxication).
8. CONTRACTS / UCC / ENTITIES
· UCC uniform · Written-contract SOL ~10 yrs vs. UCC sales 4 yrs · Entities follow Indiana Business Corporation Law (MBCA-based) + Business Flexibility Act (LLCs) — thin section · Statute of frauds standard categories.
9. PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
· Indiana RPC track Model Rules (modest variations) · Discipline via Supreme Court Disciplinary Commission · MPRE required.
10. CRIMINAL LAW
· Felonies in a six-level system (Levels 1–6 + Murder) (2014 overhaul) · Death penalty retained · Independent Article 1, Section 11 "reasonableness" search-and-seizure test (Litchfield) — may differ from the Fourth Amendment.
KEY FLAGS
· UBE, score 264 · Notice pleading BUT rejects Celotex SJ standard + Tort Claims Act notice (180/270 days) · 2-yr PI SOL · "One-pot" division (premarital/inherited divisible) +