Ind. Code ch. 29-3-4

in effect

Ind. Code § 29-3-4-1 Protective orders; notice and hearing; findings; protective arrangements

Sec. 1. (a) Upon petition by any person and after a hearing under IC 29-3-5, the court may issue, without the appointment of a guardian, any protective order for the benefit of a person who has been adjudicated an incapacitated person or is a minor. (b) Notice of the filing of a petition under this chapter for the issuance of a protective order and the hearing on the petition shall be given under IC 29-3-6. (c) Incapacitated persons and minors have the same rights at the hearing on a petition filed under this chapter for the issuance of a protective order as they would have at a hearing for the appointment of a guardian. (d) The court may issue a protective order concerning an incapacitated person if the court finds that: (1) the incapacitated person: (A) owns property or has income requiring management or protection that cannot otherwise be provided; (B) has or may have financial or business affairs that may be jeopardized or impaired; or (C) has property that needs to be managed to provide for the support or protection of the incapacitated person; (2) the incapacitated person is unable to manage the incapacitated person's property and financial or business affairs effectively; and (3) the protection sought is necessary. The court shall make the orders that it considers proper and appropriate to protect the person, business affairs, and property of the incapacitated person. (e) The court may issue a protective order concerning a minor if the court finds that: (1) the minor: (A) owns property or has income requiring management or protection that cannot otherwise be provided; (B) has or may have financial or business affairs that may be jeopardized or impaired; or (C) has property that needs to be managed to provide for the support or protection of the minor; and (2) the protection sought is necessary. The court shall make the orders it considers proper and appropriate to protect the person, business affairs, and property of the minor. (f) If the court finds grounds for a protective order under subsection (d) or (e), it may, without appointing a guardian, declare the person to be a protected person and authorize or ratify any transaction necessary or desirable to meet the needs of the protected person. Protective arrangements include the following: (1) The payment, delivery, deposit, or retention of property, including delivery of property to a custodian under IC 30-2-8.5. (2) The sale, mortgage, lease, or other transfer of property. (3) The entry into an annuity contract, a contract for life care, a deposit contract, or a contract for training and educating a person. (4) The addition to or establishment of a suitable trust. A court may order a trustee, custodian, or other person to file periodic reports concerning a transaction involving property of a minor ordered under subdivisions (1) through (4). As added by P.L.169-1988, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.33-1989, SEC.66; P.L.6-2010, SEC.9; P.L.105-2026, SEC.3.

Ind. Code § 29-3-4-1.5 Confidential health disclosure order; petition; hearing; procedure to disclose confidential health information

Sec. 1.5. (a) A person may file a verified petition for the issuance of a confidential health disclosure order against a respondent health care provider that: (1) has existing health or medical records in the possession or custody of the respondent health care provider that contain medical evidence of capacity or incapacity about an alleged incapacitated person; or (2) may be able to create a report to summarize medical evidence of capacity or incapacity about an alleged incapacitated person. (b) A verified petition filed under this section must state the following: (1) The name, age, and residence address of the alleged incapacitated person. (2) The name and address of any legal counsel that represents the alleged incapacitated person, which is known or reasonably available to the petitioner. (3) The name and last known address of each person described in IC 29-3-6-1(a)(4)(A) through IC 29-3-6-1(a)(4)(D). (4) Facts sufficient to establish that the following conditions are met: (A) Any person alleges that the alleged incapacitated person requires the appointment of a guardian or limited guardian under this article. (B) The alleged incapacitated person does not possess medical evidence of capacity or incapacity sufficient to establish or rebut evidence that may be presented in a hearing for the appointment of a guardian under IC 29-3-5-1. (C) The alleged incapacitated person cannot provide or has refused to provide written authorization under 45 CFR 164.508 for disclosure of medical evidence of capacity or incapacity about the alleged incapacitated person. (D) No other person is able and willing to provide a written authorization under 45 CFR 164.502(g)(2) for the disclosure of medical evidence of capacity or incapacity about the alleged incapacitated person. (E) The respondent health care provider possesses medical evidence of capacity or incapacity about the alleged incapacitated person and is not willing to disclose the medical evidence of capacity or incapacity without a written authorization under 45 CFR 164.508 or a court order under 45 CFR 164.512. (5) The name and address of the respondent health care provider. (6) A description of: (A) the existing health or medical records or the type of existing health or medical records in the possession or custody of the respondent health care provider that contain medical evidence of capacity or incapacity about the alleged incapacitated person; or (B) a narrative report sought from the respondent health care provider that would identify medical evidence of capacity or incapacity about the alleged incapacitated person. A petition filed under this section is not a confidential case record. However, any protected health information contained within the petition must be excluded from the publicly filed document and must be filed as a confidential document under Rule 5(B) of the Indiana Rules on Access to Court Records. (c) A verified petition under this section may be combined with any other petition for relief filed under this article, including a petition to establish a limited or full guardianship. (d) If the court receives a verified petition that complies with the requirements of subsection (b), the court shall issue an order to set a hearing date. In the order setting the hearing date, the court shall do the following: (1) Appoint an attorney or guardian ad litem to represent the alleged incapacitated person if the verified petition does not identify an attorney under subsection (b)(2). (2) State that any person with an objection to a confidential health disclosure order being issued in response to a verified petition filed under this section shall file a written objection not later than ten (10) days prior to the hearing date set under subsection (e) or shall appear in person at the hearing to testify to the objection. (e) In its discretion, the court shall set the hearing required under subsection (d) on a date that is as soon as practicable. (f) Not later than three (3) business days after the court issues an order under subsection (d), the petitioner shall serve a copy of the verified petition and a copy of the order setting a hearing date, by first class mail, upon the following: (1) The respondent health care provider. (2) The alleged incapacitated person or the person having physical custody and care of the alleged incapacitated person. (3) The alleged incapacitated person's attorney described in subsection (b)(2) or the court appointed attorney or guardian ad litem appointed under subsection (d)(1). (4) Each individual identified in subsection (b)(3) of the verified petition. (5) Each respondent health care provider identified in subsection (b)(5) of the verified petition. (6) Any other person to whom the court directs that notice be served. Any person who is entitled to receive notice under this subsection may waive the service of notice in writing. (g) At the hearing, the petitioner has the burden of proving, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the conditions alleged in subsection (b)(4) are met. An individual entitled to receive notice under subsection (f) may present evidence at the hearing. (h) If the court finds that the petitioner has proven that the conditions in subsection (b)(4) apply and it is in the best interest of the alleged incapacitated person to issue a confidential health disclosure order, it shall grant the verified petition and issue a confidential health disclosure order that requires the respondent health care provider to: (1) produce a copy of the alleged incapacitated person's medical records that contain medical evidence concerning the capacity or incapacity of the person; or (2) prepare a written narrative report for the court with a professional assessment of the capacity or incapacity of the alleged incapacitated person to make personal, financial, and health care decisions without substantial assistance and the suitability of less restrictive alternatives to a guardianship. (i) A confidential health disclosure order issued by a court under this section is intended to comply with the standard in 45 CFR 164.512(e) for disclosure of protected health information in judicial proceedings. (j) The respondent health care provider shall comply with the confidential health disclosure order and transmit the medical evidence of capacity or incapacity of the person described in subsection (h) to the court. Upon receipt of the respondent health care provider's response, the court shall: (1) serve a copy of the medical records or medical report produced by the respondent health care provider to the alleged incapacitated person and the alleged incapacitated person's attorney or guardian ad litem, not more than five (5) days after receipt of the records; and (2) determine, in the court's discretion, whether it is in the best interest of the alleged incapacitated person to disclose all or part of the medical records or medical report produced by the respondent health care provider to any other individual identified in the verified petition under subsection (b)(3). To make a determination under subdivision (2) concerning whether the medical evidence of capacity or incapacity should be disclosed to any other individual, the court shall consider all material facts and circumstances stated in the filed pleadings and in any hearing record; medical evidence that contains a specific diagnosis of functional impairment of the alleged incapacitated person; and the likelihood that a limited guardianship or full guardianship may be warranted for the alleged incapacitated person in the current proceeding or a future proceeding under this article. (k) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the petitioner shall bear the costs and expenses incurred by the respondent health care provider to comply with the confidential health disclosure order. (l) The record of: (1) any court hearing held under this section; (2) all exhibits entered during a hearing; (3) all records or reports produced by a respondent health care provider in response to a confidential health disclosure order; and (4) all written objections filed or entered as evidence in a proceeding under this section; must be filed as a nonpublic document under Rule 5 of the Indiana Rules on Access to Court Records. (m) Once any action filed under this article concerning the alleged incapacitated person has been fully adjudicated, every individual who received any records in the course of those proceedings shall destroy all documents that contain medical evidence of capacity or incapacity about the individual alleged to be incapacitated. As added by P.L.38-2023, SEC.12. Amended by P.L.99-2024, SEC.11.

Ind. Code § 29-3-4-2 Contracts, trusts or business transactions of incapacitated person or minor; ratification by court; exercise of parental powers in absence of guardian

Sec. 2. The court may, without appointment of a guardian, by protective order authorize or ratify: (1) any contract, trust, or other transaction relating to the property and financial or business affairs of the incapacitated person or minor if the court determines the transaction to be in the incapacitated person's or the minor's best interest; or (2) if no guardian is acting for an incapacitated person, the exercise of any power on the incapacitated person's behalf that is the same as that given to the parent of a minor under IC 29-3-3-3. As added by P.L.169-1988, SEC.1. Amended by P.L.33-1989, SEC.67.

Ind. Code § 29-3-4-3 Creditors and dependents to be considered by court before issuing protective order; appointment of limited guardian; authority conferred by order

Sec. 3. Before issuing a protective order under this chapter, the court shall consider the interest of creditors and dependents of the protected person and, in view of the disability or minority of the protected person, whether the protected person needs the protection of a guardian. The court may appoint a limited guardian to assist in the establishment of any protective arrangement or other transaction. All persons acting under a protective order have the authority conferred by the order and serve until discharged by the court after reporting to the court all matters conducted under the order. As added by P.L.169-1988, SEC.1.

Ind. Code § 29-3-4-4 Compensation; persons whose services benefited protected person or his or her property

Sec. 4. If not otherwise compensated for services rendered, any guardian, attorney, physician, or other person whose services are provided in good faith and are beneficial to the protected person or the protected person's property is entitled to reasonable compensation and reimbursement for reasonable expenditures made on behalf of the protected person. These amounts may be paid from the property of the protected person as ordered by the court. As added by P.L.169-1988, SEC.1.

Source: Open US Law by Vaquill AI (CC BY 4.0)URL: https://iga.in.gov/laws/2026/ic/titles/29Fetched: 10/17/2026