Draw On Legal Indiana Small Estates Forms For Free

Indiana allows for small estate exceptions, where any estate valued at less than $50,000 can avoid the probate process. There are specific details regarding property in real estate though, so you need to make sure you fully understand the process here.

As part of the probate process, letters testamentary are issued by your state's probate court. To obtain the document, you need a copy of the will and the death certificate, which are then filed with the probate court along with whatever letters testamentary forms the court requires as part of your application.

Once the court signs the Probate Order, the personal representative will receive his or her authority to serve, which is the Letters Testamentary (Letters of Administration, if there is no Will). Within two months, the personal representative will file an Inventory listing all the deceased's solely owned assets.

If there are no other conflicting statutes or requirements, the estate attorney may be able to use a devolution-type of affidavit to show the legal transfer of ownership from the person who died to that person's heirs as a matter of law without the need to use the probate system.

Under Indiana Code, a court generally only has the power to admit a will to probate if the personal representative presents the will in the proper time frame. The general rule is that you have three years from an individual's death to file probate.

In Indiana, smaller estates can escape the need to go through probate. If a person's estate is worth less than $50,000, it may not be necessary. Affidavits must be filed, however, swearing to this.