Indiana Probate Timeline

Most Indiana estates wrap up within six months to a year after the court appoints a personal representative. The floor comes from IC 29-1-14-1: creditors get three months from the first published notice of administration to file claims, so no estate can safely pay heirs and close before that window runs. Disputes, hard-to-value assets, and will contests add months on top.

How long probate takes in Indiana depends less on the courthouse and more on a handful of statutory clocks. Treat this Indiana probate timeline as a working calendar, not a countdown. Probate belongs to the court with probate jurisdiction in the county where the person lived. If you are still choosing between full administration, unsupervised administration, and the affidavit shortcut, start with the Indiana probate guide, then come back and map your dates.

Indiana Probate Timeline at a Glance

Several of these clocks run at once. The notice publication and the two-month inventory both start when the court appoints a personal representative. Tie every date to one of two anchors, the date of death or the date of first publication, and the calendar stays honest.

First Week: Death Certificates, the Will, and the Paperwork

Nothing in the Probate Code forces a filing within days of a death. Use the first week to head off later delays instead.

Gather:

• certified death certificates from the local health department or the Indiana Department of Health
• the original will and any codicils
• trust documents
• deeds, property tax bills, and mortgage statements
• vehicle and watercraft titles
• bank, credit union, brokerage, and retirement statements
• life insurance policies and beneficiary designations
• recent tax returns and unpaid bills

Secure the house, keep the homeowner's insurance in force, and leave property where it is until someone has legal authority to act. Accounts with payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designations pass outside probate. A solely owned account usually waits for letters or a qualifying affidavit. The Indiana first steps guide walks through this stage day by day.

45 Days: The Small Estate Affidavit Window

Indiana skips court administration for modest estates. Once 45 days have passed since the death, a distributee can collect bank accounts and other personal property with a small estate affidavit when the gross probate estate, less liens, encumbrances, and reasonable funeral expenses, is $100,000 or less for a death after June 30, 2022 (IC 29-1-8-1). No personal representative may be appointed or pending in any jurisdiction.

A vehicle can move even sooner. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles can transfer a title five days after death on an affidavit from the distributees when no personal representative appointment is expected (IC 29-1-8-1(c)).

The affidavit path can settle a small estate in weeks rather than months. It stops working the moment the estate tops the threshold or a court appoints a personal representative, so check the math before you rely on it.

Opening the Estate: Letters and the Three-Year Will Limit

Indiana gives families room to breathe on opening probate, with two hard edges.

First, a will generally cannot be admitted to probate unless someone presents it within three years after the death (IC 29-1-7-15.1(g)). Miss that and the estate passes as if no will existed, with one narrow exception: a court may still admit the will later for the sole purpose of transferring an asset that stayed titled in the decedent's name (IC 29-1-7-15.1(h)).

Second, real estate adds urgency. An executor or administrator cannot sell Indiana real property to cover unsecured debts or administration costs unless the petition for administration was filed within five months of the death and the clerk issued letters within seven months (IC 29-1-7-15.1(b)).

Most estates open much sooner anyway, because every other clock hangs on the appointment. Indiana runs two tracks: supervised administration, where the court approves each major step, and unsupervised administration, where the personal representative acts without interim court orders and usually finishes faster. The will or the distributees' consent picks the track. The Indiana probate guide compares the two.

Two Months: The Verified Inventory

The personal representative must prepare a verified inventory of the probate estate within two months after appointment, unless the court grants more time (IC 29-1-12-1). The inventory lists each asset at fair market value on the date of death, with every known lien noted.

Start building the list early:

• accounts in the decedent's sole name
• real property, with the plat or survey description
• vehicles, boats, and trailers
• household goods and other tangible property
• business and partnership interests
• debts owed to the decedent

In an unsupervised estate the inventory often goes to interested persons who request it rather than into the court file, but it still has to exist on time. The Indiana executor duties guide covers the appointment work that comes before it.

Notice of Administration and the Three-Month Claim Window

Once letters issue, notice of the administration must be published in a county newspaper once each week for two consecutive weeks (IC 29-1-7-7). The date of first publication anchors the claim bar: most creditors must file with the court within three months after that date or lose the claim (IC 29-1-14-1(a)).

Known creditors get direct notice. The personal representative must serve every creditor who is known or reasonably ascertainable within one month after first publication (IC 29-1-7-7(d)). A creditor served later than that gets two months from the date of service to file (IC 29-1-7-7(f)).

This three-month window explains why an Indiana estate rarely closes in under half a year. Pay the heirs early and a late valid claim can land on the personal representative personally. The Indiana creditor claims guide covers how claims get filed, allowed, and disallowed.

Nine Months: The Absolute Claims Bar

Behind the three-month window sits a harder wall. Every claim that could be barred under the three-month rule is barred nine months after the date of death, whether or not any notice was ever published (IC 29-1-14-1(d)).

The bar has limits. It does not cut off mortgages or other liens on estate property, expenses of administration, or claims of the United States, the state, or its subdivisions, and certain tort claims follow the tort statute of limitations instead (IC 29-1-14-1). For the ordinary unsecured creditor, though, nine months after death ends the matter. Personal representatives read the two deadlines together: three months sets when closing can start, nine months caps how long ordinary creditor exposure lasts.

Closing: Closing Statement or Final Account

How the estate closes depends on the track.

Unsupervised estates close on paper. The personal representative files a verified closing statement no earlier than three months after the first published notice to creditors, stating that claims, taxes, and expenses have been handled and the assets distributed (IC 29-1-7.5-4). If nothing involving the personal representative is pending three months after that filing, the appointment ends and the estate closes by operation of law (IC 29-1-7.5-4(b)).

Supervised estates close on approval. The personal representative files a verified final account with a petition to settle, and the statute expects the final account within one year of appointment unless good cause extends it (IC 29-1-16-2, IC 29-1-16-3). Add up the pieces and a clean unsupervised estate often finishes six to nine months after appointment, while a supervised or contested estate commonly passes the one-year mark. The Indiana probate accounting guide breaks down the final account and the closing statement line by line.

Tax Calendar

Indiana takes a smaller bite than many states.

The Indiana inheritance tax does not apply to a death after December 31, 2012 (IC 6-4.1-1-0.5), and there is no separate Indiana estate tax, so most families owe no state death tax at all.

The decedent's last federal Form 1040 and Indiana Form IT-40 stay due by the usual April deadline in the year after death. An estate that earns income while it is open may need a fiduciary income tax return as well.

Federal estate tax touches only the largest estates. When a return is required, or the surviving spouse wants to elect portability, Form 706 is due nine months after death, with a six-month filing extension available from the IRS.

What Can Slow an Indiana Estate

Expect extra months when:

• the original will is missing or someone withholds it
• heirs or beneficiaries cannot be located or will not respond
• a creditor disputes a claim or the estate is insolvent
• real estate must be sold to raise cash
• a business interest needs valuation for the inventory
• the surviving spouse claims the elective share or the survivor's allowance
• someone contests the will
• an inventory or account is filed late or incomplete

Filing on time never shortens the creditor window, but filing late stretches everything behind it.

A Working Filing Calendar

1. First week: secure the home, order death certificates, and find the original will.
2. Weeks one and two: build the asset and debt list, and sort probate property from non-probate property.
3. Before filing: confirm the right county court through the Indiana court directory.
4. Day 45: check the $100,000 small estate affidavit before paying for full administration.
5. At appointment: calendar the two-month inventory and record the date of first publication.
6. Within one month of publication: serve notice on every known or reasonably ascertainable creditor.
7. Month three after publication: review every filed claim before distributing anything.
8. Month nine after death: treat the absolute bar as the end of ordinary creditor exposure.
9. Closing: file the closing statement or the final account, then calendar the follow-up date the statute sets.

This guide is general information about Indiana estates. It is not legal advice. Confirm the details that affect your family with the probate court for your county or a licensed Indiana attorney, and visit the Indiana probate hub for the rest of the series.

Sources:

• Title: IC 29-1-14-1, Limitations; filing; claims barred or not; liens; tort claims. Publisher: Indiana General Assembly. Publication Date: 2025 Indiana Code, accessed 2026-07-18. URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2025/ic/titles/29#29-1-14-1
• Title: IC 29-1-7-7, Notice of administration. Publisher: Indiana General Assembly. Publication Date: 2025 Indiana Code, accessed 2026-07-18. URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2025/ic/titles/29#29-1-7-7
• Title: IC 29-1-7-15.1, Determination of intestacy; presentation of will for probate; time limits; sale of property. Publisher: Indiana General Assembly. Publication Date: 2025 Indiana Code, accessed 2026-07-18. URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2025/ic/titles/29#29-1-7-15.1
• Title: IC 29-1-12-1, Classification of properties; appraisers; copies of inventories to interested persons. Publisher: Indiana General Assembly. Publication Date: 2025 Indiana Code, accessed 2026-07-18. URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2025/ic/titles/29#29-1-12-1
• Title: IC 29-1-16-2, Closing estate; final account. Publisher: Indiana General Assembly. Publication Date: 2025 Indiana Code, accessed 2026-07-18. URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2025/ic/titles/29#29-1-16-2
• Title: IC 29-1-7.5-4, Closing estate; procedures; termination of appointment of personal representative. Publisher: Indiana General Assembly. Publication Date: 2025 Indiana Code, accessed 2026-07-18. URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2025/ic/titles/29#29-1-7.5-4
• Title: IC 29-1-8-1, Small estates; payment upon presentation of affidavit. Publisher: Indiana General Assembly. Publication Date: 2025 Indiana Code, accessed 2026-07-18. URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2025/ic/titles/29#29-1-8-1
• Title: IC 6-4.1-1-0.5, Applicability of chapter. Publisher: Indiana General Assembly. Publication Date: 2025 Indiana Code, accessed 2026-07-18. URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2025/ic/titles/6#6-4.1-1-0.5
• Title: Estate Tax. Publisher: Internal Revenue Service. Publication Date: Current IRS estate tax page, accessed 2026-07-18. URL: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/estate-tax

It is not legal advice.