Indiana: Small Estate Affidavit Thresholds & Procedure

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Indiana Code Title 29, Article 1, chapter 8 — titled "Dispensing With
Administration" — covers both tracks. §§ 29-1-8-1 and -2 create and govern
the no-court personal-property affidavit. §§ 29-1-8-3 and -4 create a
separate mechanism: a fiduciary of an already-open unsupervised estate can
skip creditor notice and a full accounting, distribute the estate, and —
if real property is involved — record an affidavit to clear its title.

Dollar threshold

$100,000, for anyone who died after June 30, 2022 (the figure was $50,000
for deaths between mid-2006 and mid-2022, and $25,000 before that). The
test is the gross probate estate "wherever located" — meaning real
property's value counts even on the personal-property-only affidavit
track — minus liens, encumbrances, and reasonable funeral expenses. The
fiduciary/real-property track uses the same $100,000 base but also adds
the costs and expenses of administering the estate before comparing it
against the estate's value.

Court filing required?

No court filing at all for the personal-property affidavit — it goes
straight to the person or institution holding the property. The real
property route is different in a specific way: it isn't filed with a
court either (it's recorded with the county recorder), but it can only be
used by someone who is already a fiduciary of an unsupervised estate that
a court has opened — so some prior court involvement sits upstream of it,
even though the affidavit itself never reaches a judge's desk.

Waiting period after death

45 days for the personal-property affidavit, proven by the fact that the
death occurred that long ago. The fiduciary/real-property track doesn't
carry its own separate waiting period — it applies to an estate that's
already open, and there's no additional clock layered on top.

Works with a will, intestacy, or both?

Both. The personal-property affidavit statute doesn't use the word
"intestate" — it refers only to a "distributee," which covers anyone
entitled to a share of the estate, whether that's through intestate
succession or as a beneficiary under a will. If a claimant's right comes
from a will, that will still needs to be independently admitted to
probate or recorded before the claimant can point to it in the affidavit.

Does it cover real property?

Only through the second track. The no-court personal-property affidavit
never transfers real estate, full stop, even though real estate's value
is folded into the $100,000 math. Real property can only be reached if a
fiduciary has already been appointed for an open, unsupervised estate —
that fiduciary can then record an affidavit describing the real property,
the people entitled to it, and their shares, directly with the county
recorder where the property sits.

Signature formalities

The personal-property affidavit has to be a sworn statement — an
affidavit "made by or on behalf of the distributee." The statute's own
text doesn't add a separate witness requirement beyond that.

Protection for the bank/holder

Indiana addresses both sides. Anyone who pays, delivers, transfers, or
issues property in reliance on a valid affidavit is "discharged and
released to the same extent as if the person dealt with a personal
representative of the decedent," with no duty to investigate whether the
affidavit's contents are actually true. On the other side, the person who
actually receives the property under the affidavit doesn't get the same
clean discharge — they remain "answerable and accountable" to any personal
representative later appointed for the estate, or to anyone else who
turns out to have had a superior right to the property all along.

What trips people up

The two tracks share one dollar figure but aren't interchangeable, and
mixing them up is the most common trap: someone with a $90,000 estate that
includes a house can't just use the simple no-court affidavit to clear the
house's title — that track literally cannot transfer real estate, no
matter how small the estate is. A second trap: real property's value
still counts toward the $100,000 cap even on the personal-property
affidavit, so an estate with $60,000 in a bank account and a $50,000
undeveloped lot is over the limit for either track, even though the bank
account alone would easily qualify. A third: because the real-property
route requires an already-appointed fiduciary of an open, unsupervised
estate, it isn't really a way to avoid probate for real estate — it's a
way to shorten and simplify probate once it's already been opened, which
is a meaningfully different promise than the no-court personal-property
affidavit offers.

Common questions

Do I need a lawyer to file the affidavit? The personal-property
affidavit doesn't go through a court at all, so no filing or attorney
appearance is required — you present it directly to whoever holds the
property. The real-property route requires opening an unsupervised
estate first, which is a more involved process most people handle with an
attorney's help.

Does the $100,000 figure include the value of a house? Yes, for
purposes of testing whether the estate qualifies — the statute counts the
"gross probate estate, wherever located." But qualifying under that test
doesn't mean the house itself can be transferred by the simple affidavit;
that requires the separate fiduciary/real-property track.

Can I use the affidavit if there's a will? Yes — the affidavit isn't
limited to intestate estates. But if you're claiming as a beneficiary
under a will, that will has to be independently admitted to probate or
recorded before you rely on it in the affidavit.

What happens if I collect property under the affidavit and it turns out
someone else had a better claim? You remain personally answerable and
accountable to that person, or to any personal representative later
appointed for the estate — the bank or other holder that paid you out is
protected, but you as the recipient are not automatically off the hook.

Statutes and sources

• Ind. Code § 29-1-8-1(a)-(b) — "Sec. 1. (a) Forty-five (45) days after
  the death of a decedent and upon being presented an affidavit that
  complies with subsection (b), a person: (1) indebted to the decedent;
  or (2) having possession of personal property or an instrument
  evidencing a debt, an obligation, a stock, or a chose in action
  belonging to the decedent; shall make payment of the indebtedness or
  deliver the personal property or the instrument evidencing a debt, an
  obligation, a stock, or a chose in action to a distributee claiming to
  be entitled to payment or delivery of property of the decedent as
  alleged in the affidavit. (b) The affidavit required by subsection (a)
  must be an affidavit made by or on behalf of the distributee and must
  state the following: (1) That the value of the gross probate estate,
  wherever located, (less liens, encumbrances, and reasonable funeral
  expenses) does not exceed: ... (C) one hundred thousand dollars
  ($100,000), for the estate of an individual who dies after June 30,
  2022. (2) That forty-five (45) days have elapsed since the death of the
  decedent. (3) That no application or petition for the appointment of a
  personal representative is pending or has been granted in any
  jurisdiction. (4) The name and address of each distributee that is
  entitled to a share of the property and the part of the property to
  which each distributee is entitled. (5) That the affiant has notified
  each distributee identified in the affidavit of the affiant's intention
  to present an affidavit under this section. (6) That the affiant is
  entitled to payment or delivery of the property on behalf of each
  distributee identified in the affidavit." —
  https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-29/article-1/chapter-8/section-29-1-8-1/
  (accessed 2026-07-06)
• Ind. Code § 29-1-8-2 — "Sec. 2. The person paying, delivering,
  transferring, or issuing personal property or the evidence thereof
  pursuant to affidavit is discharged and released to the same extent as
  if the person dealt with a personal representative of the decedent. The
  person is not required to see to the application of the personal
  property or evidence thereof or to inquire into the truth of any
  statement in the affidavit. If any person to whom an affidavit is
  delivered refuses to pay, deliver, transfer, or issue any personal
  property or evidence thereof, it may be recovered or its payment,
  delivery, transfer, or issuance compelled upon proof of their right in a
  proceeding brought for the purpose by or on behalf of the persons
  entitled thereto. Any person to whom payment, delivery, transfer, or
  issuance is made is answerable and accountable therefor to any personal
  representative of the estate or to any other person having a superior
  right." — https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-29/article-1/chapter-8/section-29-1-8-2/
  (accessed 2026-07-06)
• Ind. Code § 29-1-8-3(a)-(c) — "Sec. 3. (a) As used in this section,
  \"fiduciary\" means: (1) the personal representative of an unsupervised
  estate; or (2) a person appointed by a court under this title to act on
  behalf of the decedent or the decedent's distributees. (b) Except as
  otherwise provided in this section, if the value of a decedent's gross
  probate estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the sum
  of: (1) an amount equal to ... (C) one hundred thousand dollars
  ($100,000), for the estate of an individual who dies after June 30,
  2022; (2) the costs and expenses of administration; and (3) reasonable
  funeral expenses; the fiduciary, without giving notice to creditors, may
  disburse and distribute the estate to the persons entitled to it,
  followed by the filing of a closing statement, as provided in section 4
  of this chapter. (c) If an estate described in subsection (b) includes
  real property, an affidavit may be recorded in the office of the
  recorder in the county in which the real property is located." —
  https://law.justia.com/codes/indiana/title-29/article-1/chapter-8/section-29-1-8-3/
  (accessed 2026-07-06)