Rieddle v. Buckner

The dissenting opinion by Judge Hoffman in Kline v. Kramer (1979), 3d Dist., 179 Ind.App. 592, 386 N.E.2d 982 at 990 accurately observes that Echterling v. Kalvaitis (1955) 235 Ind. 141, 126 N.E.2d 573, upon which the Kline majority relied, in fact rewrote I.C. 32-1-20-1.

The statutory provision in question was enacted in 1927 and notwithstanding Echter-ling, decided in 1955, the provision has retained its straightforward, unambiguous and unchanged phrasing. One might well assume that the failure to amend the statute to conform to Echterling was a conscious failure intended to convey the…