You inherited an interest in Indiana, or you are about to. Here is what the state actually requires to put it in your name, what can take it away if you do nothing, where the money goes when the operator cannot find you, and the order to do things in. Written by a mineral buyer who pays for the probate on a committed deal, so read it with that in mind.
Updated November 2026. Written by Stephen Clayman, career landman and owner of Berlin Royalties. Statutes were checked against primary sources; this is general information from a buyer, not legal advice, and the state-specific details are the reason to call a Indiana attorney, not a substitute for one.
Often not a full one. Indiana Code 29-1-7-23 lets anyone record an affidavit naming the decedent, the vesting deeds, and the distributees, and that recorded affidavit is prima facie evidence of the transfer; after seven months with no estate opened it also shows the property is free of estate debts. The urgent question in Indiana is different: whether the interest still exists under the 20-year Dormant Mineral Interest Act.
Minerals are real property. The Indiana Code 29-1-8-1 small estate affidavit, up to $100,000 for deaths after June 30, 2022 with a 45-day wait, is personal property only. For real property, Indiana Code 29-1-7-23 provides that real estate passes at death to the devisees or heirs subject to administration, and any person may record an affidavit stating the decedent's name and date of death, the vesting deeds, the distributees, and how each share passed. The recorded affidavit is prima facie evidence of the transfer, and once seven months have passed with no letters issued it is also evidence that the property is free of sale for the estate's debts. Buyers in the basin rely on it for inherited minerals more than on probate.
A nonresident's estate may still need an ancillary step under Indiana Code 29-2-1 before an examiner is satisfied, and a contested or large estate goes through probate.
Yes. Indiana Code 32-17-14, the Transfer on Death Property Act, covers real property including severed minerals. Record the deed before death.
Yes, the strictest in the country. Under Indiana Code 32-23-10 a severed mineral interest unused for 20 years is extinguished and reverts to the owner of the estate it was carved from, with no notice required before the lapse; the U.S. Supreme Court upheld it in Texaco v. Short (1982). Use means production, injection or storage operations, payment of rentals or royalties, use on a pooled or unitized tract, payment of taxes on the interest, or a statement of claim filed with the county recorder under 32-23-10-4 before the 20 years run, listing the owner's name and address and the land. A successor claiming the lapse publishes notice and mails it within ten days if an address is known; an owner of ten or more interests in the county who missed by inadvertence has 60 days from publication to file. The lapse cannot be waived in advance.
Indiana has no statute setting payment deadlines or late interest on private leases; the lease governs. Indiana Code 14-38-1-26 covers state-land royalties only. Our letter generator writes the statutory demand, and the full state table is on royalty payment laws by state.
Search Indiana Attorney General unclaimed property under the decedent's name and every spelling of it. Three-year dormancy for mineral proceeds. Our unclaimed royalties hub covers the search in every state we buy in, and we run it free whether or not you sell.
Indiana repealed its inheritance tax for deaths after 2012 and has no estate tax. The petroleum severance tax, Indiana Code 6-8-1-8, is the greater of 1 percent of value or 24 cents a barrel and 3 cents per Mcf. Inherited minerals take a federal stepped-up basis. The arithmetic is on our capital gains and depletion page, and a date-of-death appraisal is what documents the basis.
The printable version of that list, with the title path for every state, is our executor's checklist for mineral rights.
Send a photo of whatever you have. We will tell you what the family owns, what it pays, whether any money is sitting in suspense or with the state, what the title needs, and what it is worth, in writing and with the reasoning shown. Free, and the answer is the same whether or not you sell.
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Yes. Indiana Code 32-23-10 extinguishes a severed mineral interest unused for 20 years, with no advance notice required, and the U.S. Supreme Court upheld it. A statement of claim filed with the county recorder before the 20 years run is the cure.
Often not. A recorded affidavit under Indiana Code 29-1-7-23 is prima facie evidence of the transfer, and after seven months with no estate opened it also shows the property is free of estate debts. Operators and buyers in the basin generally accept it.
Check the county recorder's dormant mineral interest record and the last 'use' date. If the interest is alive and under 20 years, record a statement of claim the same day.