Indiana timeline
Indiana probate timeline: the 45-day wait and when creditor claims close
The simplified route starts 45 days after death.
In Indiana, claims are due three months after notice to creditors is first published; all but government claims close nine months after death at most; each clock is set out below against the event it runs from.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised .
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.
Source: IC 29-1-8-1, Indiana Code 2025, Chapter 29-1-8(Indiana General Assembly; Indiana Code 2025).
The section’s own words
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.
Creditor deadlines
- 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. Several separate deadlines apply, so no single number of days is given. 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. This section sets no separate actual-notice or appointment deadline.
Source: IC 29-1-14-1, Indiana Code 2025, Chapter 29-1-14(Indiana General Assembly; Indiana Code 2025).
The section’s own words
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;
General sequence: first week, how long probate takes.
Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Indiana source list · how sources are checked · report a correction