Time Limits for Indiana Probate

Video

Update April 2026:

This blog post is one of my most-read pieces on the site. I’ve made a follow-up post explaining more about exceptions to the three-year rule, including when it doesn’t work!

Hi, it’s Andy Stautz at Stautz Law. Today I’m talking about Indiana probate. And specifically time limits.  

How to Probate a House Years Later

Here’s the scenario, OK. You’ve got someone and they have a house and it’s just sitting out there and they say, well, the house used to belong to Grandpa. But no one’s done anything anything about it.  

And let’s say Grandpa passed five years ago.  

What happens? You know, we’ve got basically abandoned property here. And this situation is more common than you would think. People say. Oh well like what happened to the house, it’s just out there.  

OK, so the question is, is it too late for probate? You know, can we get the house passed along?  

Indiana Rule: Probate Will Within Three Years

And the general rule in Indiana is you have to probate a will within three years of the death. That’s written into the code. It’s 29-1-7-15.1(g). There it is. I’ll link that portion of the code, but three years is the general time limit.  

Why Have a Time Limit for Wills?

Because you don’t want people showing up with a will years and years down the line. Right, you need a cut off date. And that three-year cutoff date is “OK, No will in three years? There must not be a will.”  

Right. It’s just kind of… just like a statute of limitations in any other law, at a certain point you just need to say bygones are bygones.  

Exception: Probate of Will for Specific Property

Now. There’s an exception and this is what rescues a lot of these house issues. So in the very same section of the code that says “no will is valid past three years,” a little further down it says. “Except you can probate a will to prove title to a specific property.”  

Using the Exception to Probate a Will for a House

It’s like, OK, well, a house is a specific property. Perfect. Boom. And I think that’s really what they’re contemplating is to say, OK, you know we didn’t do a probate before, but we do have a will. Here it is. Look, it says who the house goes to.  

And that’s super useful. Because the will probably says something different than what the intestacy (you know, the “there is no will”) rules say.  

Differences When Opening Late Probate

So if there is a will and there is property, you can open a probate. Just to deal with that one piece of property and the law says “treat it in every respect like a normal probate.” OK, but of course you’re past the creditor claims period, right? Because it’s been years. You know, notice… the notice statute says “shall” issue notice, but it’s like, OK, well, why? So it’s going to be a little different. The creditor claim is going to be different, but the basic idea is there’s a rescuing clause even after three years.  

You can present a will for a specific purpose like that, and that could be really useful.  

So if you need to do it, come talk to me. I’m happy to do it. It’s fun. And don’t despair. You know, the state doesn’t want abandoned houses everywhere, right? We want to get property to the right people. So call me if you’ve got questions. Hope that was a fun overview more next time. Bye for now.