§ 29-1-7.5-3 — Powers of personal representative to act without order of court

Indiana § 29-1-7.5-3

• Jurisdiction: Indiana
• Art. 1: PROBATE CODE
• Ch. 7.5: Unsupervised Administration and Claims Against

Text

(a) Subject to section 2(d) of this chapter, a
personal representative who administers an estate under this chapter
may do the following without order of the court:
(1) Retain assets owned by the decedent pending distribution or
liquidation including those in which the representative is
personally interested or which are otherwise improper for trust
investment.
(2) Receive assets from fiduciaries or other sources.
(3) Perform, compromise, or refuse performance of the decedent's
contracts that continue as obligations of the estate, as the personal
representative may determine under the circumstances. In
performing enforceable contracts by the decedent to convey or
lease land, the personal representative, among other possible
courses of action, may:
(A) execute and deliver a deed of conveyance for cash payment
of all sums remaining due or the purchaser's note for the sum
remaining due secured by a mortgage or deed of trust on the
land; or
(B) deliver a deed in escrow with directions that the proceeds,
when paid in accordance with the escrow agreement, be paid to
the successors of the decedent, as designated in the escrow
agreement.
(4) Satisfy written charitable pledges of the decedent irrespective
of whether the pledges constituted binding obligations of the
decedent or were properly presented as claims, if in the judgment
of the personal representative the decedent would have wanted
the pledges completed under the circumstances.
(5) If funds are not needed to meet debts and expenses currently
payable and are not immediately distributable, deposit or invest
liquid assets of the estate, including moneys received from the
sale of other assets, in federally insured interest-bearing accounts,
readily marketable secured loan arrangements, or other prudent
investments which would be reasonable for use by trustees
generally.
(6) Acquire or dispose of an asset, including land in this or
another state, for cash or on credit, at public or private sale; and
manage, develop, improve, exchange, partition, change the
character of, or abandon an estate asset.
(7) Make ordinary or extraordinary repairs or alterations in
buildings or other structures, demolish any improvements, raze
existing or erect new party walls or buildings.
(8) Subdivide, develop, or dedicate land to public use; make or
obtain the vacation of plats and adjust boundaries; or adjust
differences in valuation on exchange or partition by giving or
receiving considerations; or dedicate easements to public use
without consideration.
(9) Enter for any purpose into a lease as lessor or lessee, with or
without option to purchase or renew, for a term within or
extending beyond the period of administration.
(10) Enter into a lease or arrangement for exploration and
removal of minerals or other natural resources or enter into a
pooling or unitization agreement.
(11) Abandon property when, in the opinion of the personal
representatives, it is valueless, or is so encumbered, or is in
condition that it is of no benefit to the estate.
(12) Vote stocks or other securities in person or by general or
limited proxy.
(13) Pay calls, assessments, and other sums chargeable or
accruing against or on account of securities, unless barred by the
provisions relating to claims.
(14) Hold a security in the name of a nominee or in other form
without disclosure of the interest of the estate but the personal
representative is liable for any act of the nominee in connection
with the security so held.
(15) Hold, manage, safeguard, and control the estate's real and
personal property, insure the assets of the estate against damage,
loss, and liability, and insure the personal representative
personally against liability as to third persons.
(16) Borrow money with or without security to be repaid from the
estate assets or otherwise and advance money for the protection
of the estate.
(17) Effect a fair and reasonable compromise with any debtor or
obligor, or extend, renew, or in any manner modify the terms of
any obligation owing to the estate. If the personal representative
holds a mortgage, pledge, or other lien upon property of another
person, the personal representative may, in lieu of foreclosure,
accept a conveyance or transfer of encumbered assets from the
owner thereof in satisfaction of the indebtedness secured by lien.
(18) Pay taxes, assessments, compensation of the personal
representative, and other expenses incident to the administration
of the estate.
(19) Hold an interest in a proprietorship, partnership, limited
liability company, business trust, corporation, or another domestic
or foreign form of business or enterprise.
(20) Continue a business.
(21) Take any action that may be taken by shareholders, partners,
members, or property owners, including contributing additional
capital to or merging, consolidating, reorganizing, recapitalizing,
dissolving, or otherwise changing the form of the business
organization.
(22) Allocate items of income or expense to either estate income
or principal, as permitted or provided by IC 30-2-14.
(23) Employ persons, including attorneys, auditors, investment
advisors, or agents, even if they are associated with the personal
representative, to advise or assist the personal representative in
the performance of the personal representative's administrative
duties; act without independent investigation upon their
recommendations; and instead of acting personally, employ one
(1) or more agents to perform any act of administration, whether
or not discretionary.
(24) Do any of the following concerning a claim or demand made
in favor of or against the estate for the protection of the estate and
of the personal representative in the performance of the personal
representative's duties:
(A) Release, assign, settle, compromise, or contest the claim or
demand.
(B) Participate in mediation or submit to arbitration to resolve
any dispute concerning the claim or demand.
(C) Extend the time for payment of the claim or demand.
(D) Abandon the claim or demand.
(25) Sell, mortgage, or lease any real or personal property of the
estate or any interest therein for cash, credit, or for part cash and
part credit, and with or without security for unpaid balances.
(26) Select a settlement option under any qualified or
nonqualified benefit or retirement plan, annuity, or life insurance
payable to the estate, and take appropriate action to collect the
proceeds.
(27) Inspect and investigate property held, directly or indirectly,
by the personal representative for the purpose of:
(A) determining the application of environmental law with
respect to the property; and
(B) doing the following:
(i) Take action to prevent, abate, or remedy an actual or a
potential violation of an environmental law affecting the
property, whether taken before or after the assertion of a
claim or the initiation of governmental enforcement by
federal, state, or local authorities.
(ii) Compromise claims against the estate that may be
asserted for an alleged violation of environmental law.
(iii) Pay the expense of inspection, review, abatement, or
remedial action to comply with the environmental law.
(28) Distribute assets of the estate upon such terms as the
personal representative may impose. To the extent practicable,
taking into account the decedent's probable intention, the power
to distribute assets includes the power to:
(A) pay an amount to a distributee who is under a legal
disability or whom the personal representative reasonably
believes to be incapacitated by:
(i) paying the amount directly to the distributee or applying
the amount for the distributee's use and benefit;
(ii) paying the amount to the guardian appointed for the
distributee;
(iii) paying the amount to a custodian under the Indiana
Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (IC 30-2-8.5) or a custodial
trustee under the Uniform Custodial Trust Act (IC 30-2-8.6);
or
(iv) paying the amount to the trustee of a trust established by
the decedent or by the personal representative under
subsection (b); and
(B) make distributions of estate income and principal in kind,
in cash, or partly in each, in shares of differing composition.
(29) Distribute in kind all or part of the decedent's interest in a
retirement plan or retirement account that the estate:
(A) is a beneficiary of; or
(B) has an interest in;
to a distributee.
(30) Perform any other act necessary or appropriate to administer
the estate.
(b) A personal representative who administers an estate under this
chapter may, without court order, establish a trust to make distributions
to a distributee who is under a legal disability or whom the personal
representative reasonably believes is incapacitated. In establishing a
trust under this subsection, a personal representative may exercise:
(1) the authority given to custodians under the Indiana Uniform
Transfers to Minors Act (IC 30-2-8.5) to create a trust that
satisfies the requirements of Section 2503(c) of the Internal
Revenue Code and the regulations adopted under that Section; or
(2) the authority given to an attorney in fact under IC 30-5-5-15(a)(3) to establish a revocable trust for the benefit of a
principal.
(c) Unless the court revokes unsupervised administration and
converts the estate to supervised administration, the issuance of an
order on any matter in an unsupervised estate does not revoke the
personal representative's authority to continue to administer an estate
according to unsupervised administration.
Formerly: Acts 1975, P.L.288, SEC.11. As amended by Acts
1976, P.L.125, SEC.3; Acts 1981, P.L.260, SEC.1; P.L.182-1999,
SEC.4; P.L.84-2002, SEC.1; P.L.61-2006, SEC.3; P.L.95-2007, SEC.6;
P.L.231-2019, SEC.12; P.L.50-2025, SEC.3.