The Department of the Interior (Department) is considering potential updates to regulations governing probate of property that the United States holds in trust or restricted status for American Indians. Since the regulations were revised in 2008, the Department identified opportunities for improving the probate process. The Department is seeking Tribal input and public comment on its ideas for improvements in the regulations in general, and on the potential regulatory changes identified below in particular.

The Department probates thousands of estates each year for American Indian individuals who own trust or restricted property. The Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA), the Office of Hearings and Appeals (OHA), and the Office of the Special Trustee for American Indians (OST) each play a role in the probate process. BIA compiles the information necessary to build a case record (i.e., the probate file) and then transfers the record to OHA for a judge to hold a hearing and issue a final probate decision. In accordance with the judge's final probate decision, BIA distributes the trust or restricted real property (“land”) and OST distributes the trust personalty (“trust funds”) from the estate.

After the American Indian Probate Reform Act (AIPRA) was enacted in 2004, the Department codified regulations implementing it at 43 CFR part 30 for the OHA adjudication process and at 25 CFR part 15 for the BIA and OST portions of the probate process. In an effort to streamline the process and benefit Indian heirs and devisees, the Department is in the process of identifying where improvements can be made through regulatory change.