Wills, trusts, and probate in Marion County.
Indiana lets you plan around probate with a properly drafted revocable trust, a transfer-on-death deed for real estate, and pay-on-death beneficiary designations. Most Indianapolis estates settle through Marion County Probate Court within 6 to 12 months. The 10 firms below have deep Indiana trust-and-estate benches, and they range from white-shoe full-service shops to tight estate-only boutiques.
Estate planning in Indianapolis is not a one-size product. A young family with a starter house and a 401(k) needs a will, guardianship clauses, and beneficiary designations. A retired couple with rental properties, an IRA, and grown children needs a revocable living trust, a pour-over will, durable powers of attorney, and an Indiana transfer-on-death deed. A business owner exiting a closely held company needs all of that plus gift-tax planning and a buy-sell agreement. The 10 firms below cover the full range.
We weighted Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers selections, Avvo and Justia ratings, peer reviews on Martindale, and bar-association recognition (Indianapolis Bar Association, Indiana State Bar Association). We then cross-checked against published verdicts in estate-and-trust litigation, because the firm that drafts your documents is also the one you want defending them if a will contest lands in court. Costs in this market run from a $400 flat-fee simple will up to $7,500+ for a fully funded revocable trust package — we list real ranges next to each firm.
How we picked these 10: We cross-checked published verdicts, Super Lawyers and Best Lawyers selections, Avvo and Justia ratings, peer reviews, and bar association recognition. Firms that appeared consistently across at least two independent sources made the list. We do not accept payment for placement, and we do not write sponsored reviews. More on our methodology →
Practice focus: Estate planning, trusts, tax, probate, business succession
Indianapolis-headquartered AmLaw 200 firm with one of the deepest private wealth benches in the state. 179 attorneys recognized by Super Lawyers or Rising Stars. Strong fit for high-net-worth families, business owners, and trustees of complex multi-generation trusts.
Practice focus: Estate planning, administration, trust litigation, business succession
Founded in Indianapolis in 1879 and consistently ranked in Best Law Firms for Trusts & Estates. Strong on closely held business succession, charitable trusts, and multi-state estate coordination.
Practice focus: Estate planning, business succession, trusts, fiduciary disputes
One of Indianapolis’s most established business and estate firms. Estate group works closely with the firm’s tax and corporate partners on succession planning for Indiana family businesses.
Practice focus: Estate planning, trust administration, charitable giving, fiduciary litigation
AmLaw 200 firm with an Indianapolis office and a national private-client practice. Comfortable with charitable remainder trusts, conservation easements, family-office planning, and trust decanting.
Practice focus: Estate planning, trust administration, probate disputes
One of Indianapolis’s oldest firms. Managing Partner Lisa M. Borinstein leads the estate group and has 30+ years of Indiana trust and probate experience.
Practice focus: Estate planning, probate, appellate work, trust litigation
Indianapolis appellate and estate boutique. Bryan Lee Ciyou and partners have argued estate matters before the Indiana Supreme Court. Strong fit for contested wills, will-contests, and trust-removal proceedings.
Practice focus: Estate planning, elder law, special needs trusts, Medicaid
Indianapolis-area elder law and estate boutique. Rebecca Geyer is a Super Lawyer selection and a frequent CLE speaker on Indiana Medicaid planning. Particularly strong for special-needs trusts and long-term-care planning.
Practice focus: Estate planning, probate administration, business succession
Long-established Indianapolis estate and small-business practice. Bob York has 35+ years of Marion County probate experience and is recognized in Super Lawyers for trusts and estates.
Practice focus: Estate planning, probate, probate litigation
Boutique Indianapolis estate practice with 12+ years of focus on wills, trusts, and probate disputes. Justia Top Rated. Particularly approachable for first-time planners and small-estate probate matters.
Practice focus: Estate planning, end-of-life planning, probate, small-business succession
General practice with a heavy estate planning lane. 80+ years of combined experience between the partners. Common pick for Indianapolis families looking for a hands-on flat-fee planner who also handles their small-business legal needs.
Tell us a few details and we’ll match you with vetted estate planning attorneys in Indianapolis. Free, confidential, no obligation.
Request Free Consultation →Indianapolis estate planning fees split into three lanes. Simple flat-fee work: $300 to $800 for a single-person will package, $600 to $1,500 for a married-couple will-and-power-of-attorney bundle. Revocable trust packages: $2,500 to $4,500 for most middle-class estates, $5,000 to $7,500 once you start funding real estate or business interests into the trust. Hourly work for more complex planning, gift-tax returns, or estate administration: $275 to $525 per hour at the big firms (Ice Miller, Krieg DeVault, Bose McKinney, Frost Brown Todd), $225 to $375 per hour at the boutiques and solos.
Probate administration in Marion County is usually billed hourly against a retainer, with a rough total of 2 to 5 percent of the estate’s gross value for a routine unsupervised administration. A contested will or trust dispute can run $20,000 to $150,000 depending on how far it travels.
Initial planning meeting: 60 to 90 minutes. Bring your prior documents if you have any, a list of assets and account titling, and the names you want as executor, trustee, and guardian for minor children.
Draft turnaround: 2 to 4 weeks for a will-only package, 4 to 8 weeks for a fully funded revocable trust. Most firms send a redline, schedule a review call, then book a signing.
Signing and funding: One in-person appointment with the attorney, witnesses, and a notary. Funding the trust (retitling accounts, recording deeds) is another 30 to 60 days of follow-up.
Probate after death: Unsupervised administration in Marion County typically closes in 6 to 9 months. Supervised administration runs 12 to 18 months. Contested matters can run 2 to 4 years.
Match the firm to the size and complexity of your estate. If your net worth is under $1 million and your assets are mostly a house, a 401(k), and bank accounts, any of the boutiques on this list will do excellent work for half the price of a BigLaw shop. If you own a closely held business, multiple rental properties, an IRA over $2 million, or you have a blended-family inheritance question, lean toward Ice Miller, Krieg DeVault, Bose McKinney, or Frost Brown Todd — their estate teams sit next to tax, business, and real-estate partners who will be in the room when the planning hits an edge case.
Ask each firm two practical questions before you sign: who actually drafts the documents (partner, senior associate, or paralegal), and what the firm charges for the inevitable update three or five years later when tax law moves or your circumstances change. The answers vary widely, and the second number can dwarf the original drafting fee over a decade.
Guaranteed probate avoidance. No ethical estate planner guarantees you will avoid probate. A well-drafted and properly funded trust avoids probate for the assets titled in the trust. Assets left outside the trust still pass through the Marion County probate calendar.
Pressure to buy a packaged trust at a seminar. Free-dinner trust seminars often quote a flat package that looks reasonable until you read the engagement letter. The signing happens fast, the funding does not happen at all, and the family discovers years later that nothing was retitled. If a firm cannot tell you in plain English how they will fund the trust, walk away.
No tax review. Even at the modest end of the market, an Indianapolis estate planner should ask about IRA beneficiary designations, life-insurance ownership, and 529 plans. If the intake skips taxes entirely, the plan is incomplete.
Vague fee terms. A reputable firm will give you a written engagement letter that states the flat fee or hourly rate, what is included, what triggers extra charges, and what the cost is for future amendments. “Don’t worry about cost” is a red flag every time.
One-attorney shops with no succession plan. Your estate plan is meant to outlive you. If the solo who drafted it retires or dies, who holds your documents and answers questions in 15 years? Ask. A serious firm has a written answer.
Most firms on this list offer a free initial call. Use it. Bring this list and write down the answers. Compare across at least two firms before you sign anything.
Marion County Probate Court runs unsupervised by default. Indiana lets most estates close without judicial supervision, which keeps fees down and the timeline short. Your firm should know how to qualify the estate for unsupervised administration the day they file.
Indiana has no state estate or inheritance tax. Indiana repealed its inheritance tax in 2013. That removes a planning concern your friends in nearby Illinois still have to worry about. Federal estate tax exemption is the only number most Indianapolis families need to plan around, and at the current threshold it does not bite for the vast majority.
Transfer-on-death deeds work for Indiana real estate. Indiana adopted the Transfer on Death Property Act, so a properly recorded TOD deed passes a home to a named beneficiary outside probate. Done correctly, it is a low-cost alternative to retitling a home into a revocable trust.
Indiana spousal elective share. A surviving spouse has a statutory right to a share of the estate even if the will says otherwise. A good Indianapolis planner will flag this in any blended-family or second-marriage situation and structure around it cleanly.
Most Indianapolis families with a house, retirement accounts, and minor children do fine with a will, a durable power of attorney, an Indiana healthcare power of attorney, and beneficiary designations. A revocable trust starts to earn its keep when you own out-of-state real estate, want to keep your affairs private from the probate file, or want to leave assets in protected shares for a spouse, child, or grandchild.
$300 to $800 for a single-person will package and $600 to $1,500 for a married couple at the boutique and small firms. Big firms (Ice Miller, Krieg DeVault, Bose McKinney, Frost Brown Todd) charge $1,000 to $2,500 for the same documents because the time is partner time.
No. Indiana repealed its inheritance tax in 2013 and has no state estate tax. Federal estate tax is the only one most Indianapolis families plan around, and the current exemption is high enough that it does not affect the vast majority.
Unsupervised estate administration in Marion County typically closes in 6 to 9 months. Supervised administration runs 12 to 18 months. A contested will or trust can take 2 to 4 years.
Indiana recognizes transfer-on-death deeds for real estate. You record a deed during your lifetime naming the person who inherits the property automatically when you die. The home passes outside probate. It is a low-cost alternative to titling the home into a revocable trust.
Indiana gives a surviving spouse an elective share of the estate, even if the will leaves nothing. A good Indianapolis estate planner will flag this in any blended-family or second-marriage situation and structure around it so your intentions hold up.
Review every 3 to 5 years and every time a major life event happens: marriage, divorce, birth of a child, death of a beneficiary, a significant change in assets, or a move to or from Indiana. Most firms charge a reduced rate for routine updates.
Yes, and most Indianapolis estate firms expect to. Some firms include a discounted probate engagement letter in the original planning package. Ask up front whether your firm will represent the estate, what they charge for it, and whether your named executor can pick a different lawyer.
One last thing. Choosing a lawyer is personal. Call two or three firms before you sign. Ask each one the same question: How many matters like mine have you handled in the last three years, and what is the realistic range of outcomes? The answer tells you most of what you need to know. — The LawFirmSquare team