Indiana Small Estate Affidavit: Form 54985 and $100,000 Limit

The Indiana small estate affidavit lets you collect a deceased person’s property without opening probate, provided the probate estate is worth $100,000 or less after subtracting liens, encumbrances, and reasonable funeral expenses. You also have to wait at least 45 days after the date of death, and no one can have filed to open probate anywhere. The process is set out in Indiana Code 29-1-8-1 and uses State Form 54985.¹

Do You Qualify

Three conditions must all be true.

The gross probate estate, minus liens, encumbrances, and reasonable funeral expenses, cannot exceed $100,000. The $100,000 ceiling applies to anyone who died after June 30, 2022. This is a net figure, not a gross one: if the decedent owed $30,000 on a car loan and $15,000 on a lien-secured medical bill, those amounts reduce the estate’s value for eligibility.¹

At least 45 days must have passed since the date of death. The waiting period gives creditors and other interested parties time to come forward.¹

No one can have filed a petition to appoint a personal representative in any jurisdiction. If probate is already open somewhere, the affidavit path is closed even if the estate would otherwise qualify.¹

What Counts Toward the $100,000

Only property that would pass through probate counts. Many assets people assume belong to the estate actually skip probate entirely and should stay out of your calculation.

Property that generally does not count:

Joint accounts and real estate held with survivorship rights, which pass to the surviving owner.
Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts, including bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and real estate with a TOD designation.
Life insurance and annuity proceeds, unless the estate itself is the named beneficiary.
Retirement accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s with a named beneficiary.
Property held in a funded revocable living trust at the time of death.

Property that does count: bank accounts in the decedent’s sole name, personal belongings, vehicles titled only to the decedent without a TOD beneficiary, unpaid wages, refunds owed, and other assets with no automatic transfer mechanism. The statute also treats property inside a safe deposit box rented solely by the decedent as personal property held by the financial institution, so it can be claimed through the affidavit.²

Filling Out State Form 54985

Indiana’s general small estate affidavit is State Form 54985, “Small Estate Affidavit ($100,000),” available from the state forms portal. The current revision is R5 / 3-23.³ It handles bank accounts, wages, refunds, and other personal property. Vehicles and watercraft use a separate BMV form.

You will need to provide:

The decedent’s full legal name, Social Security number, and exact date of death.
Your name, Social Security number, date of birth, and relationship to the decedent.
The name, address, and share of every person entitled to a portion of the estate, whether under a will or under Indiana’s intestacy rules.¹
A specific description of each asset you are claiming, including account numbers and balances.
Sworn statements that the estate meets the $100,000 threshold, that 45 days have passed, and that no probate petition is pending.

You must also confirm that you have notified every person listed on the affidavit of your intention to present it and that you are entitled to collect the property on their behalf.³ Precision matters. A wrong account number or a misspelled name will get the form rejected. Gather statements and other documentation before you sit down to fill it in.

Because this is a sworn affidavit, sign it before a notary public or another official authorized to administer oaths. Banks, shipping stores, and county offices commonly offer notary services.

Vehicles and Watercraft

Transferring a vehicle or watercraft title uses a different form. The Indiana Bureau of Motor Vehicles has its own “Affidavit for Transfer Of Certificate Of Title For A Vehicle/Watercraft,” available at the state forms portal or at a BMV branch. The statute authorizes the BMV to transfer title on an affidavit that meets the requirements of IC 29-1-8-1.² You will need the VIN, make, model, and year of the vehicle along with the same eligibility information required on the general affidavit.

If the title already names a transfer-on-death beneficiary, the small estate affidavit is unnecessary. The vehicle passes automatically to that beneficiary.

Presenting the Affidavit

Once notarized, deliver the affidavit to whoever holds the property: the bank, credit union, brokerage, employer, insurance company, or other entity. You can hand-deliver or mail it. On receiving a valid affidavit, the holder is legally required to transfer the property or pay the funds. If a holder refuses, you can file a court action to compel the transfer.⁴

Processing times vary. Banks often release funds within a few business days after verifying the notarization and your ID. The BMV can take longer depending on branch workload. Bring a certified copy of the death certificate; most holders will ask for one even though the statute does not explicitly require it.

What You’re Responsible For After You Collect

Collecting the property does not make it yours free and clear. Indiana Code 29-1-8-2 sets up a two-way liability rule. Banks, employers, and other holders that transfer property based on a valid affidavit are discharged from further liability, as if they had dealt with a court-appointed personal representative. They are not required to verify the truth of your statements or track how you use the assets.⁴ The Social Security Administration applies the same rule when paying underpayments on an Indiana small estate affidavit.⁵

You, on the other hand, are “answerable and accountable” for the property to any personal representative later appointed and to any other person with a superior right to the assets.⁴ If the decedent owed debts, you may need to pay creditors out of what you collected. If you omitted or shortchanged another heir, they can sue you. Filing a false affidavit, whether by misstating the estate value, leaving out heirs, or claiming assets you have no right to, exposes you to civil liability and potential perjury charges.

Who Inherits If There Is No Will

You need to know Indiana’s intestacy rules to fill out the affidavit correctly, because the form requires the name, address, and share of every heir.

The surviving spouse’s share depends on who else survived:

Spouse with children or grandchildren: the spouse gets half; the children split the other half equally.
Spouse with no children but surviving parents: the spouse gets three-fourths; the parents share one-fourth.
Spouse with no children and no surviving parents: the spouse inherits everything.

A special rule reduces the share of a second or later spouse who never had children with the decedent when the decedent left children from a prior relationship. That spouse receives only 25% of the net value of the decedent’s real property (after liens), though the personal property share above still applies.⁶

If there is no surviving spouse, the estate passes to children equally. If there are no children, it goes to parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives. Getting shares wrong on the affidavit can make you personally liable to the shortchanged heir.

Medicaid Recovery Can Still Apply

If the decedent received Medicaid benefits, especially for nursing home care or home-based services after age 55, the state has a right to recover those costs from the estate. That right applies whether the estate goes through probate or through a small estate affidavit.⁷ Recovery is not available when the decedent is survived by a spouse, a child under 21, or a blind or disabled child of any age. Indiana also has an undue hardship waiver in narrow circumstances.⁸

Before you file the affidavit, check whether the decedent received Medicaid. If they did, contact the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration to find out whether a claim exists. Distributing assets before resolving a Medicaid claim can leave you on the hook for the amount owed.

Federal Assets Have Their Own Forms

Some federal assets do not travel through State Form 54985 and require their own claim processes.

For unpaid Social Security benefits or Medicare premium refunds owed to the decedent, file Form SSA-1724 with your local Social Security office. SSA has its own priority order: a surviving spouse who lived in the same household comes first, then children, then parents entitled to benefits on the same record, then the legal representative of the estate.⁹

Federal savings bonds go through the Treasury Department. FS Form 1050 covers bonds belonging to a decedent’s estate being settled without formal administration; FS Form 3565 covers retirement plan or individual retirement bonds in the same situation. Both need a signature before a certifying individual and a copy of the death certificate.¹⁰

When the Estate Is Too Large

If the probate estate tops $100,000 after subtracting liens, encumbrances, and funeral expenses, the small estate affidavit is off the table and you will need to open probate. Indiana allows unsupervised administration for most straightforward estates, which is faster and less expensive than supervised administration.

If you started under the affidavit and then discovered additional assets that push the total over $100,000, stop distributing property. Continuing to hand out assets under an affidavit that no longer meets the statutory requirements exposes you to the same personal liability described above. File a probate petition and let the appointed personal representative handle distribution through the court.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-8-1 – Small Estates; Payment Upon Presentation of Affidavit
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-8-1 – Collection of Property by Affidavit
3
Indiana State Government. Indiana State Form 54985 – Small Estate Affidavit
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-8-2 – Personal Property; Payments; Delivery
5
Social Security Administration. Indiana Small Estates
6
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 29-1-2-1 – Share of Surviving Spouse
7
Medicaid.gov. Estate Recovery
8
Cornell Law Institute. 405 IAC 2-8-2 – Undue Hardship Due to Medicaid Estate Recovery
9
Social Security Administration. Claim for Amounts Due in the Case of Deceased Beneficiary
10
TreasuryDirect. Forms for Savings Bonds