2023 Indiana Code › Title 29. Probate › Article 1. Probate Code › Chapter 1. General Provisions › 29-1-1-3. Definitions; Rules of Construction

Sec. 3. (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.