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Estate Affidavit Guide

Indiana Devolution Affidavit

If a bank told you an account is frozen and didn't explain what that actually means, you're not stuck, and you're not the only one this has happened to. A probate attorney would typically charge $1,500–$4,200+ to walk you through exactly what Indiana law already lets you do yourself. This guide is $37, one-time, and covers the same ground — the eligibility rule, the official form, and what to say if a bank or clerk pushes back.

When a deceased Indiana resident's real property passes to their heirs or beneficiaries, Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23 lets a distributee record a sworn devolution affidavit with the county recorder — establishing evidence of who inherited the property, with no dollar cap and no court proceeding, once seven months have passed since death. This is Indiana's version of what other states often call an affidavit of heirship, though Indiana law and practitioners call it a devolution affidavit. This is informational only, written by researchers, not attorneys.

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Why timing matters: A 2020 law change lets this affidavit be filed before the seven-month mark, but it only counts as evidence of effective title transfer once seven months have actually passed since death with no personal representative appointed — relying on it too early risks the very disruption that waiting period exists to prevent, especially if a family is trying to sell or refinance the property. Miss the window and the estate is generally pushed into full probate instead — a probate attorney typically charges $1,500–$4,200+ for work this guide is built to help you avoid.

Indiana's Devolution Affidavit — no dollar cap

Indiana's Devolution Affidavit has no dollar ceiling — eligibility instead turns on the specific conditions Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23 sets out. There's no total to add up before you know whether it applies. Devolution Affidavit is recorded at the county level — not filed with a court and not presented directly to a bank or DMV. Indiana does not publish a fill-in form for this mechanism — see the how-to-file guide below for what the statute requires instead.

How to file, step by step

  1. 1

    Confirm the property is real estate, and confirm how title passed

    This mechanism only reaches real property (a house, land, or similar real estate interest) — it does not apply to personal property, which is Indiana's separate small estate affidavit's territory. Title must have passed either by intestate succession or by a will that has already been admitted to probate; a valid will that was never probated generally isn't covered.

  2. 2

    Identify every known distributee and calculate fractional interests

    The affidavit must name every known distributee and, if more than one, show how their fractional interests in the property are calculated.

  3. 3

    Gather the chain of title and legal description

    The affidavit must show the deed or instrument history that vested record title in the decedent, plus the property's full legal description — not just a street address.

  4. 4

    Prepare the affidavit covering all required statutory elements

    Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23(b) requires: the decedent's name and date of death; the affiant's relationship to the decedent; the deed history vesting title in the decedent; the legal description; the names of all known distributees; how title passed (intestate, or by an admitted will, naming the probate court and cause number); and any fractional-interest calculation.

  5. 5

    Consider the timing carefully before recording

    The affidavit can be filed before seven months have passed since a 2020 statutory change, but it is only relied upon as prima facie evidence of effective title transfer once seven months have actually elapsed and no personal representative has been appointed. Filing earlier is now procedurally allowed, but waiting until the seven-month mark to actually rely on it for a sale or transfer is often the more practical approach.

  6. 6

    Record the affidavit with the county recorder

    Unlike the small estate affidavit, this is filed with the county recorder in the county where the property is located — not presented to a bank or other asset holder. The recorder indexes it as the most recent title-transfer instrument, and the county auditor separately endorses it as exempt from sales-disclosure requirements and updates the tax duplicate with the distributees' names.

  7. 7

    If a title company hesitates, point to the prima facie evidence provision

    Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23(e) makes a good-faith recorded affidavit prima facie evidence of effective title transfer once the seven-month/no-personal-representative conditions are met — this is the statute's own answer to a title professional's caution, not a workaround.

What it actually looks like

Sample pages from the guide

Real pages from the Indiana guide PDF. Click any page to enlarge.

Print-friendly, readable on a phone or tablet, and designed to be taken to the bank or clerk. Every operational claim cites the actual statute or official publication.

How this compares

Indiana doesn't publish a fill-in form for this mechanism, so an attorney drafts the filing either way. The $37 is for the guide — the requirements checklist and everything around it — that turns the attorney's job into drafting alone, instead of research-and-drafting on your bill.

This guide Attorney alone (no prep) DIY research, no guide Doing nothing
Cost $37 + attorney's drafting fee $1,500–4,200+ (research + drafting) $0 upfront — real risk of a rejected filing Eventually full probate, if the estate is never settled
Time to filed Faster — drafting only 2–6 weeks (research + drafting) Unpredictable Not until you act
Bank/DMV/clerk pushback script Yes Sometimes No n/a
Statute citations Yes n/a If you find them yourself n/a
Delivery time Instant (guide); attorney schedules separately After consult + retainer Instant, but unverified n/a

Attorney costs reflect typical Indiana probate-attorney retainers for this kind of filing.

The most-searched sticking point

What to do when a bank, DMV, or clerk pushes back

A facially valid filing still gets rejected on the first try more often than it should — usually because front-line staff have never processed one before, not because anything is actually wrong. This is the single biggest gap in every free state resource: none of them tell you what to actually say. The guide's Section 5 gives you the exact script and citation for each of these:

  • Title company or realtor hesitates to rely on the affidavit

Each one has a specific script and statutory citation behind it — not just "you're right, they're wrong," but exactly what to say and what document to hand over. That's in the guide.

If a bank, DMV, title company, or court clerk rejects your filing for a reason traceable to following this guide, you get a full refund.

Email the stated rejection reason to support@estateaffidavitguide.com within 30 days of purchase and we refund the full purchase price within one business day. No phone tag, no forms, no fight. Not covered: an estate that turns out to be over the dollar limit, a dispute among heirs, or a missing document unrelated to the filing itself. Changed your mind for any other reason? You have 7 days, no questions asked. Full refund policy.

Avoid these

3 common reasons filings get rejected

A valid will exists but has not been admitted to probate
The statute's required content assumes title passed either by intestate succession or by a will that has already been ADMITTED to probate — the affidavit must state the probate court and cause number if a will is involved. Unlike some other states' heirship-affidavit mechanisms, Indiana's devolution affidavit is not clearly designed to cover a valid will that was simply never probated; formal probate is generally the correct path when a will exists and hasn't been admitted. — Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23(b)(6)
Fewer than seven months have passed since death
The affidavit can be filed before seven months have elapsed since a 2020 statutory change, but it is only legally relied upon as prima facie evidence of title transfer once seven months have actually passed, provided no letters testamentary or administration have been issued. Relying on it earlier risks the very disruption the waiting period exists to guard against. — Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23(f)
Family disagreement exists over who the heirs actually are
This affidavit is a sworn, self-executing statement with no judicial oversight — it is poorly suited to a situation where heirship itself is disputed among family members, since there is no hearing or court review built into the process the way a formal probate proceeding has. — Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23(b), (e)

Before you record the Indiana Devolution Affidavit

The recorded filing isn't automatically the end of the story — a title company or other relying party can still ask for more. This free one-pager has the real scenarios that come up after recording and what resolves each, emailed now. We'll also send a few short follow-ups over the next few weeks — then we stop. No ongoing newsletter.

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Questions

Frequently asked questions

Is a devolution affidavit the same thing as an affidavit of heirship?
Not by name — Indiana has no separate statute called 'affidavit of heirship.' What functions the same way is the devolution affidavit under Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23: a sworn, county-recorder-filed document that establishes evidence of who inherited a decedent's real property, without any court proceeding. Some third-party websites market this same instrument using the 'affidavit of heirship' label, but Indiana attorneys and the statute itself call it a devolution affidavit.
Is there a dollar limit on a devolution affidavit?
No. Unlike Indiana's small estate affidavit, which caps at $100,000 and covers personal property, the devolution affidavit has no dollar cap at all — it applies to real property regardless of value, based on how title passed and how long has elapsed since death, not on the property's dollar value.
How long do I have to wait before using a devolution affidavit?
Seven months since the date of death, with no personal representative appointed for the estate. A 2020 change (Senate Enrolled Act 50) allows the affidavit to be filed earlier than seven months, but it is only relied upon as evidence of effective title transfer once the seven-month mark has actually passed.
Does a devolution affidavit work if the decedent left a will?
It can, but only if that will has already been admitted to probate — the affidavit must state the probate court and cause number where the will was admitted. If a valid will exists but was never probated, this mechanism likely doesn't apply the way it would for a straightforward intestate estate; formal probate is generally the correct path instead.
What if the title company won't accept the affidavit?
This is a documented, real friction pattern — some title professionals are cautious about a document that relies entirely on the affiant's own sworn statements with no court review. Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23(e) directly addresses this: a good-faith recorded affidavit is prima facie evidence of effective title transfer once seven months have passed and no personal representative has been appointed, which is the statute's own built-in answer to that hesitation.
Which Indiana mechanism applies to my situation?
As a rule of thumb: personal property (bank accounts, vehicles, securities) worth $100,000 or less, with at least 45 days since death, points to the Small Estate Affidavit (Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1) — presented directly to the bank, employer, or insurer, no court and no county recorder involved. Real property (a house or land), regardless of value, points instead to the Devolution Affidavit (Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23) — recorded with the county recorder where the property sits, after a 7-month wait. The two mechanisms fork on asset type, not a shared dollar threshold, and many estates will need both if they include both a bank account and a house. This is informational only, not legal advice or a determination of which mechanism applies to your specific estate.
Does Indiana call this a 'small estate affidavit' like most other states?
Yes, for the personal-property mechanism — Indiana Code § 29-1-8-1 is commonly called a small estate affidavit, and that's the terminology used throughout this site's Indiana content. The real-property mechanism, by contrast, is called a devolution affidavit in the statute and by Indiana attorneys, not an affidavit of heirship or a small estate affidavit, even though some third-party sites use those labels for it.

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Primary sources

State sources

Every claim here cites the actual statute or an official publication — see them