Letter to a bank or other holder in Indiana

A letter that presents the small estate affidavit you have already signed. It says what you enclose and asks the holder to release the property.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

Papers you are enclosing

Check what you will include. Only checked items go in the letter.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

Official forms (linked, not reproduced here)

This site does not write the affidavit. Use the official form or the holder's own form:

Before you send it

Some banks have their own form or ask for a notary. Call the bank's estates department first and ask what it needs. Keep a copy of everything you send.

Small estate affidavit (affidavit for transfer of assets without administration)

A person who inherits signs an affidavit and gives it to the bank, company or person holding the property, which must then pay or hand it over. Nothing is filed with a court.

Limit

Up to $100,000 (deaths on or after July 1, 2022) Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

Date of deathLimit
On or after July 1, 2022
$100,000
July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2022
$50,000
On or before June 30, 2006
$25,000

For a death after June 30, 2022, the gross probate estate, minus liens, encumbrances and reasonable funeral expenses, cannot be more than $100,000. It was $50,000 for deaths from July 1, 2006, through June 30, 2022, and $25,000 for deaths before July 1, 2006.

What counts

The gross probate estate, wherever located (in Indiana or elsewhere, real and personal), minus liens, encumbrances and reasonable funeral expenses. Property that passes outside probate is not part of it.

Waiting period

At least 45 days must have passed since the death.

Who can use it

A distributee (a person entitled to the property under the will or intestacy law), or someone acting on the distributee's behalf. The affidavit lists every distributee and their share, and the affiant must first notify each distributee of the plan to present it.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give it to the holder of the property.

Notary

It is an affidavit (sworn statement). County court forms are notarized or signed under penalty of perjury.

Papers to attach
  • Certified copy of the death certificate (holders and the BMV ask for it)
  • Copy of the probated will, if the claim is under a will
  • Description of the property and each distributee's share
Steps
  1. Wait until at least 45 days after the death.
  2. If you need balances to check the limit, give each holder a date-of-death value affidavit; it must answer within three business days.
  3. Notify each distributee that you plan to present the affidavit.
  4. Fill in the affidavit with the required statements and sign it.
  5. Give it to each bank, company or person holding the property, then distribute the shares.
Fee

No court filing fee, because the affidavit is not filed with a court.

Debts and responsibility

Anyone who receives property this way must answer for it to a personal representative appointed later, or to anyone with a better right to it.

What the bank or holder must do

On a proper affidavit, the holder must pay the debt or deliver the property, and a transfer agent must re-register securities. The holder is released as if it had dealt with a personal representative and need not check the affidavit. If it refuses, the property can be recovered in court. A distributee can also give the affidavit to the probate court, which may order without a hearing that the distributees are entitled to the property; the court may award attorney's fees and costs if the holder (other than an insurer) acted in bad faith or did not respond within 30 business days.

Law: Ind. Code secs. 29-1-8-1, 29-1-8-1.5, 29-1-8-2, 29-1-8-4.5

Source: Official page

Bank accounts after a death in Indiana

Joint accounts with survivorship and POD/TOD accounts go to the surviving owner or beneficiary. For an account in the person's name alone, a distributee can use the small estate affidavit after 45 days. Before that, you can give the bank an affidavit asking for the date-of-death balance and the names of known beneficiaries; it must answer within three business days, and a holder that refuses is liable to the estate (three times actual damages plus attorney's fees in a successful suit).

Law: Ind. Code secs. 29-1-8-1, 29-1-8-1.5

Source: Official page

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Indiana

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: Ind. Code ch. 32-17-14 (Transfer on Death Property Act)

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Indiana

Certified copies are ordered from the Indiana Department of Health Vital Records (online through VitalChek, by phone at (866) 601-0891, or by mail with State Form 49606) or from the local health department. At the state office the fee is $8.00 for the first death certificate and $4.00 for each additional copy in the same order; the fee is a search fee and is not refunded if no record is found. Proof of identity is required.

Law: IC 16-37-1-11

Where to get it
Indiana Department of Health, Vital Records, or the local health department in the county where the death happened
Official page
Official page

Surviving spouse in Indiana

The surviving spouse of an Indiana resident is entitled to a $25,000 allowance from the estate (if there is no spouse, it is divided among children under 18). It can be claimed against personal property, real estate or both; it is claimed in a probate case.

Who inherits with no will in Indiana

If there is no will: the surviving spouse gets half if there are children (or descendants of a deceased child), three-fourths if there are no descendants but a parent survives, and everything if there are no descendants or parents. A second or later childless spouse gets a smaller share of real estate when the person left children from an earlier marriage. The rest goes to the children (and descendants of deceased children); then parents, brothers and sisters (each parent gets at least one-fourth); then nieces and nephews; then grandparents; then aunts and uncles.

Law: Ind. Code sec. 29-1-2-1

Source: Official page

Good to know in Indiana

  • Indiana's $100,000 limit counts the gross probate estate wherever located, including real estate, minus liens, encumbrances and reasonable funeral expenses.
  • The BMV can transfer a car title only five days after the death with State Form 18733.
  • A bank or other holder must give the date-of-death value to a person presenting a value affidavit within three business days.

Related pages

Free help in Indiana

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.