How Do I Avoid Probate in Indiana?

In Indiana, a home with a transfer on death deed, a payable on death account, life insurance with a named beneficiary and a vehicle with a transfer on death designation pass outside probate, as does property in a revocable trust; what is left is the probate estate.

Mark what the owner holds

Indiana law says how each asset passes at death. Mark what the owner holds and how each piece is titled to see which pass outside probate and what remains for the probate estate.

Examples:

General information about how each asset passes at death under state law, and what remains for probate, not legal or tax advice. The probate cost figures are the probate cost estimator’s, run at the size of the probate estate. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions.

At a death in Indiana, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a pay on death account passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death.

Indiana's nonprobate-transfer statute names an insurance policy: the death benefit is paid to the beneficiary the owner designated, outside probate. A policy with no beneficiary, or one payable to the estate, is part of the probate estate.

An employer plan is governed by federal law: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another. An IRA is the state's: Indiana's statute does not name an individual retirement account, so whether it passes to its beneficiary outside probate rests on other law. A retirement account with no beneficiary named is part of the probate estate.

Survivorship title in Indiana: Indiana owners hold with a right of survivorship as joint tenants, where the deed states that they hold in joint tenancy and to the survivor of them or that intent plainly appears, or as spouses holding as tenants by the entireties. A conveyance to two or more people who are not spouses otherwise creates a tenancy in common. Indiana recognizes the transfer on death deed: the home passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. A home in the owner's name alone, with no survivor, deed beneficiary or trust, is part of the probate estate.

Indiana titles a vehicle with a transfer on death designation: the vehicle passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. The form is the standard title application. A vehicle in the owner's name alone is part of the probate estate.

Avoiding Probate in Indiana

Probate reaches what a person owned in their own name alone at death, with no survivor, beneficiary or trust named to take it. That is the probate estate, and the will, or the intestacy statute where there is none, governs only that.

Survivorship title in Indiana: Indiana owners hold with a right of survivorship as joint tenants, where the deed states that they hold in joint tenancy and to the survivor of them or that intent plainly appears, or as spouses holding as tenants by the entireties. A conveyance to two or more people who are not spouses otherwise creates a tenancy in common. A home that passes to the surviving owner is outside probate.

Indiana recognizes the transfer on death deed: the home passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. A home retitled to a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms; the deed used is Warranty Deed or Quitclaim Deed.

At a death, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a pay on death account passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death. Sums in an Indiana joint account belong to the surviving party, whether or not survivorship is mentioned, unless there is clear and convincing evidence of a different intention when the account was created. A pay on death account passes to the beneficiary at the owner's death.

In Indiana a provision in an insurance policy, deposit agreement, pension plan, trust agreement or similar written instrument that pays money after death to a person the decedent designates is nontestamentary. The statute names an insurance policy, so the death benefit is paid to the named beneficiary outside probate. It does not name an individual retirement account. An employer plan is federal: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another.

Indiana titles a vehicle with a transfer on death designation: the vehicle passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. The form is the standard title application.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated November 1, 2026

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Data sourced from Indiana statutes and official state code. How we research.

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How Do I Avoid Probate in Indiana?

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