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Indiana Creditor Claims
Support GuideIndiana11 min read

Indiana Creditor Claims

How Indiana creditor claims work: the notice of administration, the three-month bar under IC 29-1-14-1, and the nine-month outer bar that runs from death.

By Settled Editorial

Indiana creditor claims run on two clocks. A creditor must file its claim with the court within three months after the date of the first published notice to creditors, or the claim is forever barred under IC 29-1-14-1(a). A second, harder deadline sits behind that one: IC 29-1-14-1(d) bars every barrable claim nine months after the date of death, even if no notice ever ran. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

Here is the worry behind most searches on this topic. You pay the obvious bills, hand the rest to the family, and then a creditor you never heard of files a claim. In Indiana the notice of administration and the three-month bar are what close that door. Running the sequence in order is what generally bars claims filed after the deadline, subject to the carve-outs below. This guide walks each step and cites the statute behind it.

Use this guide with the Indiana executor duties guide and the Indiana probate timeline. For the court that receives claims, see the Indiana probate court directory.

Claims Are Filed With the Court Clerk, Not With You

Indiana probate runs in the circuit or superior court with probate jurisdiction in the county where the person lived, and St. Joseph County has a separate Probate Court. The Indiana probate guide covers how that court works. For creditors, the rule sits in IC 29-1-14-2: a creditor cannot sue the personal representative by complaint and summons to collect a debt. The creditor files a succinct definite statement of the claim in the office of the clerk of the court that issued the letters, and the clerk sends an exact copy to the personal representative.

That shapes your job. A demand letter mailed to the family or handed to you at the door is not a filed claim, and it does not preserve the creditor's right to be paid. You start the clock with the notice of administration, then watch what actually lands on the claim docket and respond to it.

The Notice of Administration Starts the Three-Month Clock

As soon as the court issues letters, whether supervised or unsupervised, IC 29-1-7-7 requires publication of a notice of administration in a county newspaper of general circulation once each week for two consecutive weeks. Proof of publication is filed with the clerk within thirty days after publication. The clerk also serves the notice on each heir, devisee, legatee, and known creditor named in the petition, through the E-filing system or by first class mail.

Publication alone is not the whole task. Within one month after the first publication, you or your attorney must serve a written or electronic copy of the notice on every creditor who is known or reasonably ascertainable and whose claim has not been paid or settled. IC 29-1-7-7.5 spells out what reasonable diligence means: check the financial records you can reasonably reach and ask the people likely to know about the person's debts. Do that, and the statute presumes any creditor you did not find was not reasonably ascertainable.

Miss a creditor in that first month and the window changes. Under IC 29-1-7-7(f), you file a new proposed notice with the clerk, serve it, and that creditor then has two months from the date of service to file. Mark the date of first publication the day it runs, because the three-month claim period and your later duties all count from it.

The Three-Month Claim Bar Under IC 29-1-14-1(a)

This is the deadline that answers how long creditors have. All claims against the estate, whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, are forever barred against the estate, the personal representative, and the heirs, devisees, and legatees unless filed with the court within three months after the date of the first published notice to creditors. A creditor you served within the first month gets that same three-month window, not a longer one.

The statute carves out what the bar does not reach. Expenses of administration and claims of the United States, the state, or a subdivision of the state sit outside the three-month bar. Nothing in the section blocks enforcement of a mortgage, pledge, or other lien on estate property, so a secured lender can still foreclose on its collateral. A negligence claim for injury to a person or damage to property can proceed within the tort statute of limitations against a special representative of the estate, but any recovery cannot reach estate assets unless the suit was filed within the time allowed for claims. And under IC 29-1-14-1(b), a debt that was already time-barred when the person died stays dead. So when a filed claim rests on a recorded lien, a tort suit, or a government debt, check it against these carve-outs before you treat it as barred.

The Nine-Month Outer Bar and the Medicaid Claim Deadline

Indiana sets a second deadline that many people miss. Under IC 29-1-14-1(d), every claim barrable under the three-month rule is barred if not filed within nine months after the date of death. The statutory notice form in IC 29-1-7-7(k) states it plainly: claims must be filed within three months from first publication or within nine months after death, whichever is earlier. Publish notice late and the nine-month cap shortens the window. Open the estate late and creditors get no extra time at all, because the outer bar runs from death, not from letters.

Medicaid recovery runs on the same nine-month clock. IC 29-1-14-1(g) bars a claim by the estate recovery unit of the office of Medicaid policy and planning unless the unit files it, or opens an estate and files it, within nine months after the date of death. One related duty flows back to you: if the person was at least 55 at death, IC 29-1-7-7(d) treats the unit as a reasonably ascertainable creditor, so serve the unit with the notice of administration along with everyone else.

What a Valid Indiana Claim Must Contain

A creditor cannot send a letter and expect payment. IC 29-1-14-2 requires a succinct definite statement of the claim, filed with the clerk, with an affidavit from the claimant or the claimant's agent or attorney that the claim is justly due and wholly unpaid after deducting all credits, set-offs, and deductions the estate is entitled to. A claim not yet due states when it will come due. A claim founded on a written instrument attaches the original or a complete copy. A secured claim describes the lien and where it is recorded, and a contingent claim states the contingency.

Two practical notes soften this for routine bills. A claim you pay within three months after the first published notice needs no filed statement at all, which is how ordinary utility and household bills usually resolve. And a lawsuit already pending against the person at death simply continues, with the personal representative substituted as defendant, so that creditor does not file a claim.

Allow or Disallow Each Claim by the Statutory Deadline

Filed claims do not sit forever. Under IC 29-1-14-10, you must allow or disallow each timely claim on or before three months and fifteen days after the date of the first published notice. A creditor who never received notice but filed within the nine-month outer window gets an answer within fifteen days of filing. Claims by the United States, the state, or a subdivision get an answer by the later of those two dates.

Mark each claim allowed or disallowed on the claim and allowance docket, and the clerk gives written notice to any creditor whose claim is disallowed in full or in part. A disallowed claim, or one you never act on, can be set for trial in the probate court on the petition of either party. You can also change an allowance to a disallowance before payment if new facts surface. Expenses of administration follow their own path: the court can allow them on application or at any accounting.

Pay Allowed Claims in the Statutory Order

When the estate cannot pay everything, you do not choose who wins. IC 29-1-14-9 classifies claims and orders payment when assets fall short:

  1. Costs and expenses of administration, other than funeral and burial costs
  2. Funeral expenses, a tombstone, and disposition of the body
  3. The $25,000 survivor's allowance under IC 29-1-4-1
  4. Debts and taxes with preference under federal law
  5. Medical expenses of the last sickness
  6. Debts and taxes with preference under Indiana law
  7. All other allowed claims

No claim gets preference over another claim in the same class, and a claim that is due gets no edge over one that is not. Paying a lower class while a higher class goes unpaid can leave you covering the shortfall yourself, so when money is tight, confirm the order before you pay anything. The Indiana debt payment priority guide works through each class and what an insolvent estate does when the money runs out mid-class.

Do Not Distribute Until the Claim Window Closes

Here is why every step above matters. Distribute too early and a timely claim can still surface, with your own funds on the line. Wait until the notice has run, the three-month period has passed, filed claims are allowed or disallowed, allowed claims are paid in the IC 29-1-14-9 order, and taxes are handled before you hand anything to the heirs.

For the full deadline map, see the Indiana probate timeline. For where creditor work sits among your other jobs, see the Indiana executor duties guide. If the estate is under $100,000, the Indiana small estate affidavit may skip much of this sequence, so confirm which track fits before you run the entire creditor process.

Common Questions

How long do creditors have to file a claim against an Indiana estate?

Three months after the date of the first published notice to creditors, under IC 29-1-14-1(a). A known or reasonably ascertainable creditor who was served late gets two months from the date of service. Either way, no barrable claim survives more than nine months after the date of death.

When does the three-month clock start?

On the date of the first newspaper publication of the notice of administration, not the date of death and not the date letters were issued. IC 29-1-7-7 requires publication once each week for two consecutive weeks, so record the first-publication date the day it runs.

What is the nine-month outer bar?

IC 29-1-14-1(d) bars every barrable claim nine months after death, even when no notice was published. The three-month publication window can never push a claim past it, and opening an estate late does not give creditors more time.

Does Indiana Medicaid have a different deadline?

It runs on its own subsection but the same nine-month clock. The estate recovery unit must file its claim, or open an estate and file, within nine months after the date of death under IC 29-1-14-1(g). If the person was at least 55 at death, serve the unit with the notice of administration, because IC 29-1-7-7 treats it as a reasonably ascertainable creditor.

What happens if the personal representative disallows a claim?

The clerk sends the creditor written notice of the disallowance, and either side can petition to set the claim for trial in the probate court under IC 29-1-14-10. The personal representative must act on each timely claim within three months and fifteen days after the first published notice, so silence does not make a claim disappear.

This guide is general information about Indiana estates. It is not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects your situation with the court that issued the letters or a licensed Indiana attorney.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

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Settled Estate is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

Information current as of July 18, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Indiana can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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