Losing a parent is hard enough. Discovering that her will does not account for everything she owned can make an already difficult time feel even more overwhelming. Fortunately, Indiana law has a clear process for handling exactly this situation.
Why some assets fall outside the will entirely
Not everything a person owns passes through their will. In Indiana, assets either go through probate or transfer directly to a named person without any court involvement. The will only has a say over assets that go through probate. Everything else transfers directly to whoever is named, no matter what the will does or does not include.
Assets that bypass probate regardless of the will
Several common asset types pass outside of probate entirely:
- Life insurance policies go directly to whoever is named as beneficiary.
- Retirement accounts such as 401(k)s and IRAs transfer directly to the named beneficiary.
- Real estate held as joint tenants with right of survivorship passes automatically to the surviving co-owner.
- Assets held in a trust follow the trust’s terms, not the will.
- Transfer-on-death deeds allow a homeowner to name a beneficiary who receives the property at death without going through probate.
One thing worth knowing: if the deceased co-owned property with someone else but without a formal right of survivorship agreement, their share of that property does not pass automatically. It goes through probate instead.
What happens to probate assets the will does not mention
When a will does not address a specific asset, Indiana law steps in to decide what happens to it. Any asset the will does not cover passes the same way it would if there were no will at all. For someone with no surviving spouse, that generally means the children inherit equally.
What to do if you discover assets the will does not cover
You can start by making a full inventory of everything your parent owned, including account statements, property records, insurance policies and retirement documents. For each asset, determine how it was titled and whether it had a named beneficiary.
If siblings are involved and questions about fairness are already surfacing, working with a probate attorney early can prevent misunderstandings from becoming bigger conflicts later.
