Estate and Trust Administration

Q: What is probate?

A: Probate is the legal process that takes place after someone dies. Probate gives someone the authority to gather the decedent’s probate assets, pay debts and taxes, and eventually transfer assets to the people who inherit them.

Q: When is probate necessary?

A: Only assets that a decedent owned in his or her own name, exceeding a total of $100,000, need to go through probate. All other assets (such as jointly titled assets or beneficiary designated assets) pass to new owners without oversight from the probate court.

Q: How long does the probate process last?

A: The probate process can take anywhere from six months up to one year or more, depending on the situation.

Q: Is there an alternative to probate?

A: Yes! If the total probate estate is worth less than $100,000, a simple affidavit can be prepared for someone receiving property from the decedent. That affidavit is then provided to the holding institution (a bank, for example), and the institution will turn over the property. A contingency to this process is that the property is not able to be turned over for 45 days (or 5 days if it is for the transfer of a vehicle) following the decedent’s date of death.

Q: Will there be death taxes due as a result of my death?

A: The Indiana state inheritance tax was repealed for deaths on or after January 1, 2013, which means that no inheritance tax will be assessed by the State of Indiana as long as the decedent died on or after January 1, 2013.

For deaths in 2026, the federal estate tax basic exclusion amount is $15 million per person. Whether federal estate tax is due depends on the value of the estate, prior taxable gifts, and applicable deductions. A surviving spouse may also be able to use a deceased spouse's unused exclusion if the estate makes a timely portability election.

Q: When does a gift become subject to the federal gift tax?

A: Currently, a gift totaling more than $19,000 to one person in one year is considered a taxable gift and may generate potential gift tax. Although you may not immediately owe gift tax upon making a gift, a gift totaling more than $19,000 still requires the preparation and filing of a federal gift tax return.