In Indiana, a small estate is an estate that has a value of $100,000 or less after liens, encumbrances, and reasonable funeral expenses are subtracted. All joint assets and beneficiary designations are not included in the $100,000 estate amount. Beneficiary designations include life insurance and joint assets. Joint assets are things like joint bank accounts and property that the deceased and someone else owned together.
If Someone Has Died And They Do Have A Will, Does That Will Have To Be Admitted To Probate?You have to probate a Will through the court and this form will not help you to do that.
How Can A Small Estate Forms Help You?If someone has died you might have rights to part of their estate, even if they do not have a will. For example, if your deceased spouse had a bank account in only their name, and their entire estate is worth less than $100,000, you might use this form to get the money out of that account. Or, if someone has died and the estate is worth less than $100,000, you might complete the form in order to get paid for a debt the deceased owed you. If you use the form to collect, you are responsible for sharing the money with anyone else that might have a right to it.
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Representing yourself in court should not be taken lightly, and there are many reasons why hiring an attorney is a good idea. We suggest that even if you use the forms provided on this site that you still talk to an attorney before submitting the forms to a court to get the best result possible. Using the forms and legal information on this site does not make you a client of the Indiana Bar Foundation (Foundation) nor does the Foundation accept responsibility or liability for action taken by users of this information. Communication with Indiana Legal Help or the Foundation is not protected by attorney client privilege or the work product doctrine—that means information shared with Indiana Legal Help or the Foundation may be admissible in court.