Sec. 10. (a) The trustee, as soon as possible after an appraisement is filed, shall collect the rights and credits of the assignor. Except for property set off by the assignor as exempt, the trustee shall sell at public auction the appraised property after giving thirty (30) days notice of the time and place of sale:

(1) by publication in a newspaper printed and published in the county; or

(2) if a newspaper is not printed and published in the county, by posting written or printed notices in at least five (5) of the most public places in the county.

     (b) The trustee shall sell the appraised property to the highest bidder for cash, or upon credit, the trustee taking notes with security to be approved by the trustee, waiving relief from valuation or appraisement laws, payable not more than twelve (12) months after the date, with interest.

     (c) The trustee must make a full return, under oath, of the sale to the clerk of the circuit court. The clerk shall file the return with the other papers in the case. However, a court may, upon the sworn petition of the trustee, a creditor, or the assignor, for good cause shown, extend the time for selling the property, or any part of the property, for as much time as the court determines will serve the best interests of the creditors. The court may extend the credit on sales for not more than two (2) years.

     (d) The court may, upon the sworn petition of the trustee or of a majority of the creditors showing that the property may deteriorate in value by delay or that it will be beneficial to the creditors to have an early sale order the property sold upon notice of the time, place, and terms of sale, and in a manner the court determines is best.

     (e) The court may authorize the property sold at private sale at not less than its appraised value if it is shown that a private sale would be beneficial to the creditors of the assignor. The court shall supervise the estate of the assignor and may make all necessary orders in the interest of the creditors for its control and management by the trustee before the sale. In the interest of all parties, the court may upon petition of the assignee, if the wife of the assignor is a party to the petition, order partition of the land of the assignor, before sale, between the assignee and wife of the assignor. The court shall set off to the wife her inchoate one-third (1/3) in the land before sale. If the court finds that the land cannot be partitioned without detriment to the interest of the creditors of the assignor, the court may make an order directing the sale of all the land conveyed to the assignee by the assignor, including the wife’s one-third (1/3) inchoate interest. The one-third (1/3) of the money for which the land is sold shall be paid to the wife of the assignor when collected. The assignee shall, after sale, compel the trustee to report the money in the trustee’s hands for distribution, and shall compel the money to be paid into court for distribution if the assets are shown to be sufficient to pay a ten percent (10%) dividend upon the indebtedness. The distribution may be ordered from time to time when, on application of any person interested, it is shown to the court that there is sufficient funds in the hands of the trustee to pay the dividend of ten percent (10%).

[Pre-2002 Recodification Citation: 32-12-1-10.]

As added by P.L.2-2002, SEC.3.