regulation

§ 15.201

25 CFR Ch. I (4–1–06 Edition)
(f) All original or certified copies of
wills, codicils, and any revocations of
wills or codicils;
(g) Any statements renouncing interest that have been submitted to the
agency;
(h) Claims of creditors against the estate, date stamped to show when the
agency received them;
(i) All documentation of payment of
claims before the probate proceeding;
(j) All other documents required in
§ 15.104;
(k) Tribal options to purchase interests of a decedent;
(l) Affidavit of the probate clerk or
probate specialist describing what efforts have been made to locate any
missing probable heirs and beneficiaries; and
(m) Any other documentation that
may be required at the time of probate
proceedings.

Subpart C—Preparing the Probate
Package
§ 15.201 What will BIA do with the documents that I provide?
Once we receive the documents that
you provide us under § 15.104, the probate specialist or probate clerk will:
(a) Use the documents to prepare a
probate package; and
(b) Consult with you and any other
sources to obtain any additional information needed for a complete package.
§ 15.202 If the decedent owed me
money, how do I file a claim against
the estate?
(a) If you wish to make a claim
against the estate of a decedent, you
must submit to us an original and two
copies of an itemized statement of the
debt. The statement must show the
amount of the original debt and the remaining balance on the date of the decedent’s death.
(b) The itemized statement must
state whether you have filed a claim
against the decedent’s non-trust assets.
(c) We must receive your claim within 60 days from the date we received
the verification of the decedent’s death
in § 15.101 to include the claim as part
of the probate package.

Subpart D—Probate Processing
and Distributions
§ 15.301 What happens after BIA prepares the probate package?
(a) After we have assembled all the
documents required by § 15.203, a probate specialist will refer the case to
OHA for assignment to a deciding official.
(b) At the same time the probate specialist refers the case to OHA, we will
notify all interested parties of:
(1) The right of the probable heirs or
beneficiaries to request a formal hearing before an ALJ or Indian probate
judge;
(2) The identification of the probable
legal heirs or the submission of an
original or certified copy of a will or
revocation and listed beneficiaries;
(3) Any known claims against the estate; and
(4) The address of the OHA office
where the probate package has been
sent.
(c) We will send the notice described
in paragraph (b) of this section by regular mail. It will inform the probable
heirs or beneficiaries that:
(1) They may ask OHA for an in-person hearing at a site convenient to
most of the parties, a video conference
or teleconference hearing (if available),

§ 15.203 What must the complete probate package contain?
The complete probate package must
contain all of the following:
(a) A certified copy of the death certificate, or if one does not exist, some
other reliable evidence of death as required by § 15.101;
(b) A completed Form OHA–7, ‘‘Data
for Heirship Findings and Family History,’’ certified by BIA, with the enrollment or other identifying number
shown for each potential heir or beneficiary, if such number has been assigned;
(c) A certified inventory of trust or
restricted real property;
(d) A statement describing all income
generating activity;
(e) A copy of the decedent’s IIM account ledger showing the balance of
the account at the date of death and
the balance of the account at the date
of probate package submission;

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