TL;DR – Here Is the Shorter Version
- Probate is not automatic in Indiana. Whether you need it depends on what your loved one owned alone at death and how those assets were titled.
- The first thing to do after someone dies is get through the funeral. The estate can wait. Most deadlines are not as immediate as people assume.
- A probate attorney does not take over the estate. They protect the person managing it from personal liability and make sure the paperwork happens in the right order.
- If the estate is under $100,000, Indiana offers a simplified process that does not require opening a formal court case.
- Not sure what your situation requires?
That first conversation costs nothing. Call (219) 230-3600.
Someone in your family has died. There are papers on the table. A list of things you think you need to do. And very little idea where to start.
Here is what most people do not know in that moment: there is time. Indiana does not put you on a clock that fast. The first thing you need to do is get through the funeral. That is not a small thing. But it is the the thing that must be dealt with immediately after someone passes.
Eventually, it will be necessary to determine how the property of the decedent will transfer and to whom.
This article explains what the Probate process, if that the direction you need to take. Actually, what a probate attorney does inside it, and how to figure out whether your situation needs one.
WHAT PROBATE IS, AND WHEN INDIANA REQUIRES IT
First, and importantly, Probate is not required in Indiana at a person’s death to transfer property and assets. Generally, Probate is a process which is dictated by the court to gather assets and provide notice to creditors, heirs, and other interested partied. It sets deadlines, timelines, and notification requirements. At a determined point, it sets the priority of which parties are paid.
Spoiler alert: your heirs (i.e. family) are at the bottom of that list.
As mentioned, not everyone goes through Probate. In fact, many married couples do not need Probate for property and asset transfer when the first spouse dies. Even without extensive planning, married couples hold property with provisions that naturally leaves it to a surviving spouse through ownership and transfer structures.
Some property does not remain in a person’s name at death. Jointly held property passes to the surviving owner, so it is not countable. Assets such as life insurance or a retirement accounts (IRAs, 401s, etc.), transfer to the person named as beneficiary at death, so it is not countable as a probate asset. Similarly, in Indiana, some property with a Payable on Death or Transfer on Death provision transfers at the owner’s death, so those are not probate assets. Additionally, assets in a trust transfer according to the trust terms and are not part of a Probate estate.
About planning
However, to ensure Probate is not needed at a person’s death, planning is necessary.
If it is determined that Probate is necessary, there is a formal process to gather information, contact heirs and possible beneficiaries, and the court appoints a person with authority to administer or execute, if there is a Last Will, the estate. It identifies “interested parties” of the estate: those with creditors, claimants, government agencies, heirs, etc. The court’s process sets the payment priority to interested parties, whether they are agencies, claimants, or heirs.
So the first real question is not whether you need probate. It is which assets actually fall inside it. Add up what your loved one owned alone. If that number is under $100,000, Indiana allows a simplified process called a Small Estate Administration, which is a more efficient and does not require opening a formal court case.
THE FIRST THING TO DO: VERY LITTLE
This runs counter to every instinct people have when someone dies. There is a pull toward action. Toward checklists. Toward figuring it all out now so the grief does not have room to settle in.
That instinct is understandable. It is also usually a mistake.
In the first days after a death, the most important thing is to honor the person and get through the funeral. The decisions involved in that process alone, from burial or cremation to arrangements to what happens at the service, are enormous. That is enough.
The other processes can wait. Creditors can wait. The estate is not going anywhere. What cannot be recovered is the time to grieve properly, and the clarity that comes with it. Better decisions get made later, with a clear head.
We have a short handout, Now What?, that walks through the sequence of steps after a death in plain language. It is worth keeping on hand.
WHAT NOT TO DO IN THE FIRST DAYS
A few things are worth knowing now, even though most of them are about what not to do yet.
Powers of Attorney are no longer valid the moment someone dies. If you were acting under a POA for your parent or spouse, that authority ended at death. Do not use it to access accounts or sign anything using the Power of Attorney.
Named executor authority is not yours until the court formally grants it. A Last Will nominates an executor to the court. The Last Will is filed with the court as part of a very structured filing package. The court reviews the package, including the Last Will and Executor nominee to ensure it is all valid and proper. Ultimately, if accepted (probated), the Court will appoint the nominated person as Executor. Until it does, you do not have legal authority to act on behalf of the estate.
Avoid this
Do not pay bills, creditors, or debts out of your own pocket, and do not pay them from estate funds yet either. Indiana law sets a specific priority order for how a deceased person’s debts are settled. Paying in the wrong order can make the person handling the estate personally responsible for what was paid incorrectly. This is one of the most common and most costly mistakes families make.
Do not allow anyone to take, sell, or use estate property while the estate is being settled. That includes well-meaning family members. The estate, and the person managing it, can be held liable for property that goes missing or gets damaged.
TWO WAYS PROBATE CAN GO: SUPERVISED AND UNSUPERVISED
Indiana has two probate tracks. They sound similar, but feel very different.
Supervised probate is what most people picture when they hear the word. The court stays involved at every step. The Personal Representative cannot sell property or move money without court approval first. It moves slowly, costs more, and exists for situations where the family disagrees, when assets are complicated, or when someone asks the court to watch closely.
Unsupervised probate is the more efficient version, or it can be. The court oversees the outcome, but the day-to-day work happens without permission for every move. For cooperative families with a clear will, this is what Indiana estates usually look like.
Here is the part the horror stories leave out. Probate becomes hard when the family is already hard. Probate did not create those situations. It just reveals them. If your family is aligned, the process becomes more administrative than adversarial.
WHAT A PROBATE ATTORNEY ACTUALLY DOES
Before getting into the mechanics, one piece of context worth naming.
Most people grow up hearing they need a Will. Just a Will. Nothing more. Everyone repeats it. Nobody asks why. The honest answer is that the push to get everyone a Will was, in part, a marketing strategy by attorneys who then charged the family for probate later. A Will alone does not avoid probate. It often guarantees probate. That is a topic for a different article, but it is worth knowing when you are deciding how to think about probate attorneys in the first place.
Now to the work itself. Calling a probate attorney does not mean handing over the estate. It means having someone in your corner who handles the parts that carry legal consequences.
The biggest one is liability. The Personal Representative is personally responsible for paying the deceased person’s debts in the right order. Get the order wrong, and the difference comes out of their pocket. A probate attorney protects against that.
Beyond liability, an attorney opens the case with the court, sends legal notices to creditors and heirs, sets up the estate checking account, manages real estate transfers, files taxes, and closes the estate once everything is settled. State agencies like Medicaid often have claims against estates too, and the attorney handles those. None of this is glamorous. Most of it is paperwork, done correctly, in the right order, on time. That is the point.
WHEN YOU NEED ONE, AND WHEN YOU MIGHT NOT
Not every estate requires full attorney representation. Some do not need it at all.
If everything your loved one owned passes outside of probate, there may be no probate case to open. Estates that qualify for the small estate affidavit follow a much simpler path. And when assets are straightforward and the family agrees on everything, some Personal Representatives handle the basics on their own.
Other situations clearly call for help. Real estate that needs to change hands. A business interest someone has to value or wind down. Out-of-state property. A will someone is questioning. An estate with more debts than assets. Any of those, and having a probate attorney is not optional. It is protective.
Most families land somewhere in the middle. A modest estate, a cooperative family, a will that seems clear, and a Personal Representative who has never done this before. In that case, a short conversation usually answers the real question. Sometimes the answer is that you can handle this yourself, here is what to watch for. Sometimes it is that you should not do this alone. Either way, the conversation gives you a real answer instead of a guess.
WHAT TO ASK ABOUT FEES BEFORE HIRING ANYONE
Probate attorney fees vary. Some firms charge a flat fee. Some charge by the hour. Before you hire anyone, ask how the fee is calculated, what it covers, and what is not included.
If they cannot explain how they built the number, that is the answer.
WHAT TO DO NEXT
If you are reading this because someone has just died, you do not need to make every decision today. Gather what you have. Find the Will if there is one. Make a list of accounts and property. That is enough to start.
If you are reading this in advance, for a parent or a spouse, understanding the picture before the moment arrives changes everything. You will know what to do. You will also know what not to do, which matters just as much.
If you are not sure what your situation requires, give us a call at (219) 230-3600. We will tell you honestly whether you need full representation or just a few pointers to start. The goal is to leave that call clearer than you came in.
Common Questions About Probate Attorney Costs in Indiana
No. Whether an estate requires probate depends on how assets were titled and what remains in the deceased person’s name alone at death. Jointly held property, life insurance, retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, and assets in a trust all transfer outside probate. If what remains in the person’s name alone stays under $100,000, Indiana offers a simplified Small Estate Administration that does not require opening a formal court case.
It depends on the complexity of the estate and which track it follows. Unsupervised probate, which applies to most cooperative families with a clear will, moves faster than supervised probate. Supervised probate requires court approval at each step, which adds time and cost. An attorney can tell you early in the process which track fits your situation and what a realistic timeline looks like.
A probate attorney handles the steps that carry legal consequences: opening the case with the court, notifying creditors and heirs, managing real estate transfers, handling tax filings, addressing claims from state agencies like Medicaid, and closing the estate correctly. Most of the work is paperwork done in the right order at the right time. The attorney also protects the Personal Representative from personal liability if debts get paid in the wrong sequence.
In some situations, yes. If the estate is straightforward, the family agrees on everything, and assets are simple, some Personal Representatives manage the basics on their own. But real estate transfers, business interests, out-of-state assets, contested wills, or estates with more debts than assets call for professional help. A short conversation usually answers whether your situation falls into the do-it-yourself category or not.
Get through the funeral. The estate is not going anywhere, and most legal deadlines are not as immediate as people assume. Once you have time and clarity, locate the will if there is one, make a list of accounts and property, and figure out what your loved one owned alone at death. That information is what determines your next step.
CCSK Law offers a no-charge first conversation. Call (219) 230-3600 or visit ccsklaw.com.
This article intends to help you understand how probate works in Indiana. It is not legal advice. If you want to talk through your specific situation, that first conversation is at no charge.
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