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WHAT IS PROBATE? 

Indiana probate is thought of, or can be described as, the process of passing on one’s property at death through a court process. This process is frequently called opening up and Estate or Opening up Probate.

A person who has an interest in an Indiana Estate can file a petition with the court in the county where the resident passed away or the county of residence.

Not all property which is owned at death is subject to the probate process. If the decedent planned properly before his or her death, the probate process can be entirely avoided.

For instance, many insurance policies and retirement funds do not have to be probated because there are beneficiary designations in the documents. The same is true with bank accounts, if the bank account is titled as a “pay on death” POD account. Another example is transfer of a piece of real estate. If the decedent owned a piece of release estate with another person, and the property is deed as “husband and wife” (tenants by the entirety) or “joint tenants with rights of survivorship”, the property passes to the other person at the moment the co-owner died.

One of the most common forms of leaving property at the time of death is through an Indiana revocable trust. Ask your estate planning attorney about how a trust may fit into your estate plan, and whether one is right for you. Probate litigation lawyers in Indiana will tell you that, although will substitutes are intended to “avoid” the probate process, that does not always happen.

Why? Well, families, heirs at law, next of kin, beneficiaries, prior beneficiaries, and dis-inherited family members can decide fight over property and money when someone dies. This leads to probate litigation over such things as joint accounts, life insurance, IRA’s and revocable living trusts. Estate lawsuits, then, are not limited to will contests or challenges to a last will, or even a challenge to the probate.

What else do you need to know about the probate process in Indiana?

To put it another way, probate includes the process of paying the final debts, expenses and expenses related to the last illness for the decedent. Indiana Estate lawyers will explain that the most common debts of the decedent are any mortgage on Indiana real estate, federal and Indiana income tax, expenses associated with the upkeep and maintenance of the decedent’s home, any outstanding loans, bills and credit card balances. The executor of the decedent’s Estate is called the personal representative or administrator/administratrix.