Indiana End-of-Life Planning Checklist: Every Document You Need

End-of-life planning in Indiana is not one document — it is a coordinated set of documents that cover medical decisions, asset transfer, and emergency instructions. Most people start with an advance directive and stop there, leaving major gaps that create problems for their families later.

This checklist covers everything you need, in the order you should address it, based on Indiana's current statutory framework after SEA 204.

Medical Decision Documents

1. Advance Directive (Including HCR Appointment and Living Will)

This is your foundation. Under Indiana Code § 16-36-7, a single advance directive now covers your Health Care Representative appointment, your living will declaration, and your specific treatment preferences. You need:

• A primary HCR and at least one alternate
• A clear position on life-sustaining treatment (withhold vs. full intervention)
• Specific instructions on CPR, ventilation, artificial nutrition, and other interventions
• Proper execution — notarized or witnessed by two qualified adults
• The pregnancy exception addressed if applicable

2. POST Form (If Terminally Ill or Seriously Frail)

If you have a serious progressive illness or terminal diagnosis, pair your advance directive with a Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment form. Unlike the advance directive, the POST is a medical order signed by your physician that is legally binding on emergency responders. It covers resuscitation status, level of medical intervention, artificial nutrition, and antibiotics.

Print it on pulsar pink paper for instant EMS recognition.

3. Out-of-Hospital DNR (If Applicable)

A separate medical order instructing EMS to withhold CPR outside hospital settings. Uses State Form 49559. Consider a MedicAlert bracelet or necklace — the only legally recognized identification device for DNR patients in Indiana.

4. Psychiatric Advance Directive (If Applicable)

If you have a mental health condition that could temporarily impair your capacity, Indiana allows a psychiatric advance directive specifying preferences for inpatient admission, psychotropic medications, and physical restraint. Requires a psychiatrist's attestation of your capacity at the time of signing.

Asset Transfer Documents

5. Transfer-on-Death (TOD) Deed for Real Estate

Indiana's TOD deed lets you name beneficiaries who automatically inherit your real property at death, bypassing probate entirely. Critical requirements:

• Must be recorded with the county recorder before your death (unrecorded deeds are void)
• Requires county auditor endorsement
• If property is held as tenants by the entirety, both spouses must sign
• Name backup beneficiaries or include "LDPS" (lineal descendants per stirpes) language in case a beneficiary predeceases you

Recording fee: $25 flat ($35 in Marion County).

6. Vehicle TOD Designation

Complete BMV Form 3811 (Affidavit for Designation of Beneficiaries), have it notarized, and apply for a new title with the TOD beneficiary listed. Cost: $15 title fee. After the new title is issued, sign and date the TOD signature line on the face of the title.

7. Financial Account Beneficiaries

Review and update payable-on-death (POD) designations on bank accounts, retirement accounts, and life insurance policies. These designations bypass probate and override your will.

Coordination Steps

8. Organ Donation Registration

Register through the Indiana BMV, Department of Natural Resources, Professional Licensing Agency, or Donate Life Indiana. Registration creates "first-person authorization" that cannot be overridden by your HCR, power of attorney, or next of kin after death.

9. Distribution of Copies

Your advance directive does no good if nobody can find it. Provide copies to:

• Your HCR and alternate HCR
• Your primary care physician
• Your attorney (if you have one)
• Your local hospital's medical records department
• A trusted family member or friend

Keep the original in a secure but accessible location — not a safe deposit box that requires a court order to open after death.

10. Review Schedule

Indiana advance directives do not expire, but life circumstances change. Review your documents after any major event: marriage, divorce, new diagnosis, birth of children or grandchildren, death of your named HCR, or a move to a new state (out-of-state directives may have limited recognition).

The Indiana Advance Directive & Living Will Kit covers the medical decision documents on this checklist with step-by-step guides, witness checklists, and execution instructions coordinated with Indiana's asset transfer tools.

See more Indiana guides →