BAKER, C.J.
Appellant-respondent Krstin Nicevski appeals from the decree of dissolution of his marriage to appellee-petitioner Greta Nicevski. Krstin argues that the trial court erred by including the value of a residence titled in his parents’ name in the marital estate and directing him, among other things, to pay Greta $40,000, or half of the value of the residence. Finding that the trial court was without authority to include the residence in the marital estate because Krstin’s parents were not joined as necessary nonparties pursuant to Indiana Trial Rule 7(B), we reverse and remand with instructions to revise the decree of dissolution consistently with this opinion.
Krstin and Greta were married on September 3, 1997, and three children were born of the marriage. On May 6, 1999, Krstin’s parents entered into a contract for the construction of a home in Allen County and acquired the title to the lot. Krstin’s parents signed the settlement statement, procured title insurance in their own names, and paid the settlement charges from their own bank account. They also made payments on the construction contract in June and September 1999. The real estate taxes and drain assessments were in the parents’ names and they paid all taxes and assessments from 2001 through 2006. After construction on the residence was finished, Krstin and Greta lived in the house and made rent payments to his parents.
On June 26, 2006, Greta filed a petition to dissolve the marriage. At the July 1, 2008, bench trial on the petition, there was summary testimony given and affirmed under oath by the parties. Greta testified that she believed Krstin and his parents had titled the residence in his parents’ names solely to deprive her of half of the property’s value in the event of a divorce. She testified that $50,000 of the house’s value was paid for by Krstin’s parents as a gift and that the remaining $80,000 was paid for out of Krstin and Greta’s savings. Greta did not, however, offer any evidence or bank statements to support her testimony. Greta testified that she and Krstin did not make regular rent payments to his parents. She also testified that she was not at all involved in the couple’s finances because they are from Macedonia and that in the Macedonian culture, the wife is frequently uninvolved in the financial aspects of the household. Krstin disputed Greta’s version of events, testifying that his parents had purchased the residence with their own money and all transactions involving the real property occurred in his parents’ names. He also presented rent receipts establishing that he and Greta had made several rent payments during the time they lived in the residence. Krstin’s parents were not joined as nonparties and did not testify at trial.
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Here, as in [In re Marriage of Dall, 681 N.E.2d 718 (Ind. Ct. App. 1997)], the title to the residence was owned by nonparties-Krstin’s parents. And Krstin’s parents were not joined as necessary nonparties pursuant to Trial Rule 12(B)(7)-indeed, they did not even testify at trial. Though Greta argues that Krstin has waived any argument because he did not object to her failure to join his parents at trial or seek to join them himself, we agree with the Dall court that reliance on the waiver doctrine does not resolve this case. Without the titleholders’ presence at trial, the trial court was without authority to adjudicate the issue of the ownership of that property. We fully acknowledge that the trial court assessed witness credibility and chose to credit Greta’s testimony over Krstin’s, and we do not second-guess that decision. Unfortunately, pursuant to Dall, the trial court simply did not have the power to include the residence in the marital estate. Therefore, we find that the trial court erred by including the residence in the marital estate and directing Krstin to make a payment of $40,000 to Greta.
The judgment of the trial court is reversed and remanded with instructions to revise the decree of dissolution consistently with this opinion.
MAY, J., and BARNES, J., concur