Current as of November 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Indiana did not adopt the Uniform Trust Code. Its Trust Code, Article 4 of Title 30, dates to 1971 and has its own reporting rule: an annual written statement of accounts to each income beneficiary, with a detailed nine-point format for any account filed with the court. Indiana also lets the court accept a CPA's unqualified certificate in place of other proof.
Who must provide an accounting in Indiana
Under IC 30-4-5-12, unless the trust terms provide otherwise or an adult, competent beneficiary waives it in writing, the trustee delivers a written statement of accounts to each income beneficiary, or the income beneficiary's personal representative, every year.
A settlor, beneficiary, a person with advisory or supervisory powers over the trust, or another interested person may petition the court to direct the trustee to file a verified written statement of accounts. Absent good cause, the court will not require one more than once a year.
Receipt is presumed if the trustee has procedures in place requiring the account to be mailed or delivered, including electronic delivery where the beneficiary has agreed to it.
A charitable trust with at least $500,000 in assets must also file an annual verified certification with the Attorney General that a statement of accounts has been prepared, and the governing instrument cannot waive that requirement.
What an Indiana trust accounting must contain
The annual statement to income beneficiaries must show at least all receipts and disbursements since the last statement and all trust property held at the date of the statement, at inventory value.
An account filed with the court must meet section 30-4-5-13. It shows the period covered; the principal the trustee is chargeable with under the last statement or the original inventory; itemized schedules of principal received and disposed of and of income received and disposed of; the principal and income balance at the close of the period, how it is invested, and both inventory and current market values; a statement that the trust has been administered according to its terms; the names and addresses of all living beneficiaries, noting any under a legal disability; a description of any unborn or unascertained beneficiaries; and the trustees' addresses.
The court may require proof supporting the account, and it may accept the unqualified certificate of a certified public accountant in place of other proof.
Income and principal allocation in Indiana
Allocation is governed by Indiana's principal and income chapter, IC 30-2-14.
Filing an accounting with the Indiana court
Most Indiana trusts are not docketed. Under IC 30-4-6-4, unless the trust expressly gives the court continuing jurisdiction, the trustee does not file the trust instrument, and a testamentary trust created under a probated will is not under the court's continuing jurisdiction once the estate distributes to the trustee.
Where the court's jurisdiction is continuing, section 30-4-5-12(d) requires the trustee to file a verified statement of accounts with the court every two years, and the court may require one at other times for good cause.
When an Indiana accounting is contested
IC 30-4-6-12 bars a claim for breach of trust against a beneficiary who has received a final account or other statement fully disclosing the matter and showing the end of the trust relationship, unless a proceeding begins within three years after receipt. For an adult, the beneficiary must receive it personally; for a minor or a person with a disability, the personal representative receives it. The bar does not cover fraud, misrepresentation or inadequate disclosure related to the settlement of the trust.
The protection runs from the final account, so the final account is where full disclosure matters most.
How T.E.A. Fiduciary helps
We prepare Indiana annual statements of accounts for income beneficiaries, verified court accounts in the section 30-4-5-13 format, and final accounts built to the full disclosure section 30-4-6-12 requires. We work alongside your attorney and your tax preparer; we do not prepare tax returns.
This page provides general information about Indiana fiduciary accounting requirements and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes and court rules change. Verify the current text before relying on any of it, and consult counsel on questions of legal interpretation.
More: the uniform framework · all state pages · our services
Primary source: Indiana Code Title 30, Article 4 (Indiana Trust Code).
Written by Christina Gutman, C.P.A. — Founder and Principal of T.E.A. Fiduciary. Christina is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of California and has specialized exclusively in fiduciary accounting for over a decade, preparing trust, estate, and conservatorship accountings for law firms, professional fiduciaries, trust companies, family offices, and individual trustees nationwide. She has also served as a forensic consultant in contested accounting matters. More about Christina
