Indiana Devolution Affidavit Checklist: How to File, Step by Step

Indiana does not publish a fill-in form for Devolution Affidavit — Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23 instead sets out what a compliant filing must contain. Here is the full sequence, with the statutory fact behind each 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 Indiana requires instead of a fill-in form

Indiana does not publish a fill-in devolution affidavit form. That means the requirements above — read directly against Indiana Code § 29-1-7-23 — are what a compliant filing has to satisfy, whether you prepare it yourself where permitted or bring it to an attorney to draft.

Recording it is only step one

A recorded filing doesn't always finish the job on its own — some mechanisms still need a follow-up step before a sale or transfer can actually close. Free one-pager: the real scenarios that come up after recording and what resolves each, emailed now. Then a few short follow-ups over the next few weeks — then we stop. No ongoing newsletter.

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