In Indiana, estates valued at $100,000IC 29-1-8-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source or less skip probate with the Small Estate AffidavitIC 29-1-8-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source, 45 daysIC 29-1-8-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source after death. Real property is outside the affidavitIC 29-1-8-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source, which reaches personal property only. Indiana sets the limit by the decedent's date of deathIC 29-1-8-1Verified Sep 8, 2026View source; an earlier death may be measured against a lower figure. An estate over the limit does not qualify, and no affidavit is prepared for it.

Indiana's recorded instrument, affidavit to establish prima facie evidence of the passage of real estate title to distributees, rests on a statute written for a sworn statement of heirs. What a recorded affidavit does, in the statute's words: any person may rely on an affidavit made in good faith and recorded with the county recorder as prima facie evidence of an effective transfer of the decedent's title to the real property interest to the distributee described in the affidavitIC 29-1-7-23(b), (e)Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. It is evidence of the facts it states, not a deed; it does not itself transfer title, and a purchaser, lender or title company decides whether to rely on it.

In the recorder of the county where the real property described in the affidavit is locatedIC 29-1-7-23(c), (d)Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. The office records it as it records deeds, in the county where the land lies, and charges its recording fee per page.

It depends on what the person owned and how it was titled. Property with a named beneficiary, joint property with survivorship, and property in a trust pass outside probate. What remains goes through probate unless it is under the state's small estate limit, in which case a small estate affidavit collects it. The Probate Decision Tool applies your state's rules.