Petitions for Appointment of Special Administrators

The Supreme Court of Indiana recently issued an opinion that affects court handling of petitions to appoint special administrators. Effective immediately, upon filing of a petition for appointment of a special administrator, or of an administrator or personal representative for certain limited purposes, such as to pursue a wrongful death claim, your Marion County Probate Court will: 

1. Require the movant to identify each potential beneficiary (or his/her legal representative) by name and address in the motion/petition; and
2. Set the matter for hearing to determine suitability of the proposed special administrator, and to provide interested parties an opportunity to respond or object. 

If you motion/petition fails to include the names and addresses of potential beneficiaries, the Court will issue a notice to provide same. Once the petition is properly filed, the Court will set a hearing and require that notice be provided. The Court will not require a hearing if the movant files written consents from all beneficiaries. 

Please refer to In re Unsupervised Estate of Orlando, 2019 WL 2335856. 

If you would like to submit content or write an article for the Estate Planning & Administration Section, please email Kara Sikorski at ksikorski@indybar.org.