§ 29-1-1-3 — Definitions; rules of construction

(a) The following definitions apply throughout
this article, unless otherwise apparent from the context:
(1) "Child" includes an adopted child or a child that is in gestation
before the death of a deceased parent and born within forty-three
(43) weeks after the death of that parent. The term does not
include a grandchild or other more remote descendants, nor,
except as provided in IC 29-1-2-7, a child born out of wedlock.
(2) "Claimant" means a person having a claim against the
decedent's estate as described in IC 29-1-14-1(a).
(3) "Claims" includes liabilities of a decedent which survive,
whether arising in contract or in tort or otherwise, expenses of
administration, and all taxes imposed by reason of the person's
death. However, for purposes of IC 29-1-2-1 and IC 29-1-3-1, the
term does not include taxes imposed by reason of the person's
death.
(4) "Court" means the court having probate jurisdiction.
(5) "Decedent" means one who dies testate or intestate.
(6) "Devise" or "legacy", when used as a noun, means a
testamentary disposition of either real or personal property or
both.
(7) "Devise", when used as a verb, means to dispose of either real
or personal property or both by will.
(8) "Devisee" includes legatee, and "legatee" includes devisee.
(9) "Directed paralegal" means a nonlawyer assistant who is
employed, retained, or otherwise associated with a licensed
attorney or law firm and whose work is directly supervised by a
licensed attorney, as required by Rule 5.3 of the Rules of
Professional Conduct.
(10) "Distributee" denotes those persons who are entitled to the
real and personal property of a decedent under a will, under the
statutes of intestate succession, or under IC 29-1-4-1.
(11) "Estate" denotes the real and personal property of the
decedent or protected person, as from time to time changed in
form by sale, reinvestment, or otherwise, and augmented by any
accretions and additions thereto and substitutions therefor and
diminished by any decreases and distributions therefrom.
(12) "Expenses of administration" includes expenses incurred by
or on behalf of a decedent's estate in the collection of assets, the
payment of debts, and the distribution of property to the persons
entitled to the property, including funeral expenses, expenses of
a tombstone, expenses incurred in the disposition of the
decedent's body, executor's commissions, attorney's fees, and
miscellaneous expenses.
(13) "Fiduciary" includes a:
(A) personal representative;
(B) guardian;
(C) conservator;
(D) trustee; and
(E) person designated in a protective order to act on behalf of
a protected person.
(14) "Heirs" denotes those persons, including the surviving
spouse, who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession
to the real and personal property of a decedent on the decedent's
death intestate, unless otherwise defined or limited by the will.
(15) For purposes of IC 29-1-5, and with respect to testators and
attesting witnesses, "in the presence of" has the meaning set forth
in subdivision (16).
(16) For purposes of IC 29-1-5, and with respect to testators and
attesting witnesses, "presence" means a process of signing and
witnessing in which:
(A) the testator and witness are:
(i) directly present with each other in the same physical
space; or
(ii) able to interact with each other in real time through use of
any audiovisual communications technology now known or
later developed;
(B) the testator and witness are able to positively identify each
other; and
(C) each witness is able to interact with the testator and with
each other by observing:
(i) the testator's expression of intent to make a will;
(ii) the testator's actions in executing or directing the
execution of the testator's will; and
(iii) the actions of other witnesses when signing the will.
The term includes the use of technology or learned skills for the
purpose of assisting with hearing, eyesight, and speech, or for the
purpose of compensating for a hearing, eyesight, or speech
impairment.
(17) "Incapacitated" has the meaning set forth in IC 29-3-1-7.5.
(18) "Interested persons" means heirs, devisees, spouses,
creditors, or any others having a property right in or claim against
the estate of a decedent being administered. This meaning may
vary at different stages and different parts of a proceeding and
must be determined according to the particular purpose and
matter involved.
(19) "Issue" of a person, when used to refer to persons who take
by intestate succession, includes all lawful lineal descendants
except those who are lineal descendants of living lineal
descendants of the intestate.
(20) "Lease" includes an oil and gas lease or other mineral lease.
(21) "Letters" includes letters testamentary, letters of
administration, and letters of guardianship.
(22) "Minor" or "minor child" or "minority" refers to any person
under the age of eighteen (18) years.
(23) "Mortgage" includes deed of trust, vendor's lien, and chattel
mortgage.
(24) "Net estate" refers to the real and personal property of a
decedent less the allowances provided under IC 29-1-4-1 and
enforceable claims against the estate.
(25) "No contest provision" refers to a provision of a will that, if
given effect, would reduce or eliminate the interest of a
beneficiary of the will who, directly or indirectly, initiates or
otherwise pursues:
(A) an action to contest the admissibility or validity of the will;
(B) an action to set aside a term of the will; or
(C) any other act to frustrate or defeat the testator's intent as
expressed in the terms of the will.
(26) "Observe" means to perceive another's actions or expressions
of intent through the senses of eyesight or hearing, or both. The
term includes perceptions involving the use of technology or
learned skills to:
(A) assist the person's capabilities of eyesight or hearing, or
both; or
(B) compensate for an impairment of the person's capabilities
of eyesight or hearing, or both.
(27) "Observing" has the meaning set forth in subdivision (26).
(28) "Person" means:
(A) an individual;
(B) a corporation;
(C) a trust;
(D) a limited liability company;
(E) a partnership;
(F) a business trust;
(G) an estate;
(H) an association;
(I) a joint venture;
(J) a government or political subdivision;
(K) an agency;
(L) an instrumentality; or
(M) any other legal or commercial entity.
(29) "Personal property" includes interests in goods, money,
choses in action, evidences of debt, and chattels real.
(30) "Personal representative" includes executor, administrator,
administrator with the will annexed, administrator de bonis non,
and special administrator.
(31) "Petition for administration" means a petition filed under IC 29-1-7-5 for the:
(A) probate of a will and for issuance of letters testamentary;
(B) appointment of an administrator with the will annexed; or
(C) appointment of an administrator.
(32) "Probate estate" denotes the property transferred at the death
of a decedent under the decedent's will or under IC 29-1-2, in the
case of a decedent dying intestate.
(33) "Property" includes both real and personal property.
(34) "Protected person" has the meaning set forth in IC 29-3-1-13.
(35) "Real property" includes estates and interests in land,
corporeal or incorporeal, legal or equitable, other than chattels
real.
(36) "Unit" means the estate recovery unit of the office of
Medicaid policy and planning established under IC 12-8-6.5-1.
(37) "Unit address" means the unit's mailing address that appears
on the unit's Internet web site.
(38) "Will" includes all wills, testaments, and codicils. The term
also includes a testamentary instrument which merely appoints an
executor or revokes or revives another will.
(b) The following rules of construction apply throughout this article
unless otherwise apparent from the context:
(1) The singular number includes the plural and the plural number
includes the singular.
(2) The masculine gender includes the feminine and neuter.
Formerly: Acts 1953, c.112, s.103; Acts 1973, P.L.287, SEC.1.
As amended by Acts 1979, P.L.268, SEC.1; P.L.146-1984, SEC.1;
P.L.152-1987, SEC.8; P.L.33-1989, SEC.31; P.L.254-1997(ss),
SEC.28; P.L.176-2003, SEC.2; P.L.99-2013, SEC.1; P.L.81-2015,
SEC.15; P.L.190-2016, SEC.35; P.L.163-2018, SEC.3; P.L.231-2019,
SEC.5; P.L.185-2021, SEC.1.