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Indiana timeline

Indiana probate timeline: the 45-day wait and creditor deadlines

The simplified route starts 45 days after death.

That clock is one condition among several, and it is not the whole estate timeline. The deadlines that carry the most risk are creditor deadlines, and in Indiana they are set out below against the event each one runs from.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

The one date this page can source

The small-estate affidavit (dispensing with administration) route requires 45 days to elapse from the date of death. This is a precondition: the affidavit or petition cannot be presented before it runs, regardless of how straightforward the estate is.

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.IC 29-1-8-1 — Indiana General Assembly; Indiana Code 2025.

Creditor deadlines

Indiana does not run one creditor clock. Separate periods start from separate events, and the date that actually bars a claim is the one the applicable period produces. They are listed here against the event that starts each, because a period attached to the wrong starting event is how a deadline gets missed by weeks.

From publication of notice to creditors
Three months after the date of first published notice to creditors.
Outer limit, running from death
Nine months after death for claims barrable under IC 29-1-14-1(a), subject to listed exceptions.

How these combine. Multiple distinct deadlines prevent an honest single days value. Ordinary claims are generally filed within three months after first publication, while claims barrable under subsection (a) face a nine-month-from-death outer bar, subject to statutory exceptions including specified governmental, lien, and tort claims. No separate actual-notice or appointment deadline was verified in this section.

all claims against a decedent's estate, other than expenses of administration and claims of the United States, the state, or a subdivision of the state, whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, founded on contract or otherwise, shall be forever barred against the estate, the personal representative, the heirs, devisees, and legatees of the decedent, unless filed with the court in which such estate is being administered within: (1) three (3) months after the date of the first published notice to creditors;IC 29-1-14-1 — Indiana General Assembly; Indiana Code 2025.

Publishing notice starts a period after which most claims are barred. Missing a required notice can extend the estate’s exposure and, in some circumstances, the personal exposure of the person administering it. Confirm the dates that apply to this estate with the Circuit/Superior Court with probate jurisdiction before relying on them, because a specific case can carry deadlines these general provisions do not reach.

Indiana timeline decision map

What must be established before the Indiana clock matters

The Indiana waiting period is only one condition. Use this map to separate the route clock from creditor deadlines, asset scope, court costs, and the documents needed to move from screening to filing.

QuestionRecorded Indiana answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Small-estate affidavit (dispensing with administration)Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?personal probate property only; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$100,000 for deaths on or after July 1, 2022Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?45 days after death; Multiple distinct deadlines prevent an honest single days value. Ordinary claims are generally filed within three months after first publication, while claims barrable under subsection (a) face a nine-month-from-death outer bar, subject to statutory exceptions including specified governmental, lien, and tort claims. No separate actual-notice or appointment deadline was verified in this section.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?$177 is the recorded statewide amount.Ask the Circuit/Superior Court with probate jurisdiction about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?The will controls unless renounced; otherwise the court allows compensation it deems just and reasonable. Additional compensation may be allowed for attorney services and services not required of a personal representative. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Clock ledger

Do not compress the Indiana deadlines into one date

The Indiana record names separate triggers. The description beside each trigger is the source-bound statement to carry into the estate calendar; the interaction rule explains which period controls when more than one applies.

Clock starts withRecorded periodSource
Publication of noticeThree months after the date of first published notice to creditors.IC 29-1-14-1
Outer limit from deathNine months after death for claims barrable under IC 29-1-14-1(a), subject to listed exceptions.IC 29-1-14-1

How the periods combine: Multiple distinct deadlines prevent an honest single days value. Ordinary claims are generally filed within three months after first publication, while claims barrable under subsection (a) face a nine-month-from-death outer bar, subject to statutory exceptions including specified governmental, lien, and tort claims. No separate actual-notice or appointment deadline was verified in this section.

Case-file context

Keep the Indiana answer with its neighboring conditions

A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Indiana descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.

Route context

Indiana dispenses with administration for qualifying personal-property estates by affidavit after 45 days; county Circuit or Superior Courts exercise probate jurisdiction.

After 45 days, a distributee may present an affidavit for personal property when the gross probate estate, LESS liens, encumbrances, funeral expenses, and administration expenses, does not exceed $100,000 for deaths after June 30, 2022, and no personal-representative appointment is pending or granted. Because this calculator does not collect the funeral and administration expenses that Indiana subtracts before applying the $100,000 test, any eligibility result shown here is provisional and must be confirmed against the estate's actual deductible expenses.

Cost context

The statutory probate costs fee is $120. The Indiana Supreme Court’s current-through-2026 manual totals statewide probate filing fees at $177; the total is $205 only if the office collects the optional $28 sheriff service fee.

$177 is the recorded statewide amount.

Compensation context

The will controls unless renounced; otherwise the court allows compensation it deems just and reasonable. Additional compensation may be allowed for attorney services and services not required of a personal representative.

The will controls unless renounced; otherwise the court allows compensation it deems just and reasonable. Additional compensation may be allowed for attorney services and services not required of a personal representative. The relevant base is the estate accounting.

Court-material note: Indiana probate jurisdiction is exercised by the Circuit or Superior Court identified for the county; use the judiciary directory.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Indiana amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Indiana ceiling is $100,000 for deaths on or after July 1, 2022, and it is tested against personal probate property only, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $75,000 sits below the Indiana figure and $125,000 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Indiana counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Indiana ceilingWhat it does not decide
$75,000Below $100,000 for deaths on or after July 1, 2022Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$125,000Above $100,000 for deaths on or after July 1, 2022Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Calendar the verified gate, preserve the unresolved questions, and confirm the county filing path before distributing property.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

Indiana probate jurisdiction is exercised by the Circuit or Superior Court identified for the county; use the judiciary directory.

Source trail

Records used by this Indiana map

The general sequence

The order in which an estate is actually worked — secure property, confirm title and beneficiary designations, identify the court route, notify and account, then close — is the same everywhere and carries no citation, so it is set out once rather than repeated on each state’s page. Read it inthe executor’s first week, and seehow long probate takes for how the phases stretch in practice.

What is jurisdiction-specific is above: the Indiana periods, the event each one runs from, and the source each was read in.

Use this as a starting point.

This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.

Continue in Indiana