Ohio

Every Ohio county has a Probate Court — a division of the Court of Common Pleas with its
own judge, dedicated to estates, guardianships and adoptions. The executor applies there for
letters of authority to administer the estate. Forms are standardised statewide by the
Supreme Court of Ohio, which makes the paperwork unusually consistent from county to county.

Two shortcuts for smaller estates

Ohio is generous here, and many estates never need a full administration:

• Release from administration — available where the estate is worth no more than $35,000,
  or up to $100,000 where the surviving spouse inherits everything. The court simply
  releases the assets rather than appointing anyone to administer them.
• Summary release from administration — a further, smaller-scale route for estates that
  barely exceed funeral costs.

Check the current thresholds before relying on them; they are statutory and have been raised
before.

No state death tax

Ohio's estate tax was repealed for deaths on or after 1 January 2013, and Ohio has no
inheritance tax. Only the federal return is potentially in play, and for the overwhelming
majority of estates it is not. This makes Ohio administration notably simpler than
neighbouring Pennsylvania.

What still has to happen

Inventory and appraisal within the statutory period, notice to creditors, payment of debts and
the final income tax returns, then an account to the court. Ohio expects the executor to file
an inventory and a final account on the court's own forms, and the deadlines are
enforced more actively than in some states.

Under Ohio Revised Code § 2107.03 a will must be in writing, signed at the end by the
testator, and attested and subscribed by two competent witnesses who saw the testator
sign or heard them acknowledge the signature. The testator must be 18 or older and of
sound mind.

Handwriting alone does not make a will valid

This is the point people get wrong. Ohio will accept a will that is written out by hand — but
it must still be witnessed by two people exactly like a typed one. There is no holographic
exception. A handwritten, unwitnessed will is simply not valid in Ohio, however clear the
intention.

Put another way: in Ohio the handwriting is irrelevant and the witnesses are everything.

Witnesses should not inherit

An interested witness does not void the will, but the gift to that witness can be cut back to
what they would have received on intestacy. Use two disinterested witnesses and remove the
question.

Make it self-proving

Attach an affidavit signed by the testator and both witnesses before a notary. Without it,
someone has to locate a witness after the death and have them testify or give a deposition.

Also worth doing

• Name an alternate executor, and consider expressly waiving bond — it saves the estate
  a real premium.
• Consider Ohio's transfer-on-death designation affidavit for real estate, which moves a
  house outside probate entirely. It is a genuinely useful Ohio tool, but it interacts with
  the will in ways worth taking advice on.
• Review after a marriage, divorce, birth or a move to Ohio. Divorce revokes provisions in
  favour of a former spouse, but do not rely on that instead of rewriting.

Yes, and Ohio is one of the more precise states about it. Commission is set by statute in
Ohio Revised Code § 2113.35.

The statutory rates

On personal property, and on the proceeds of real property that is sold:

Plus 1% of the value of real property that is not sold — so an executor who transfers the
family home to the beneficiaries rather than selling it still earns a commission on it, at the
lower rate.

Confirm the current rates against the statute; they are legislative and can be amended.

Extra allowance for extra work

Where the executor has performed unusually burdensome services, the court may allow further
compensation. Conversely the court can reduce or deny commission where the executor has failed
in their duties or caused loss to the estate.

How it is approved

Commission is claimed on the final account filed with the Probate Court. Beneficiaries may
object, and the court rules. Ohio's account-based system means the figure is reviewed as a
matter of routine rather than only on complaint.

If the will fixes the figure

The will governs where the executor accepts the appointment on those terms. A legacy to the
executor may be intended instead of a fee — read the wording before assuming both.

Tax

Commission is taxable income to the executor; an inheritance is not. With no Ohio estate or
inheritance tax to offset, a family executor who is also a beneficiary is often better off
declining the fee. Worth an accountant's view.

An Ohio executor is reimbursed from the estate for the reasonable expenses of
administration, separately from the statutory commission. These appear on the account filed
with the Probate Court, so they will be read.

Normally claimable

• Funeral, burial or cremation, the headstone, and a reasonable reception.
• Probate Court filing fees, certified copies of letters of authority, certified death
  certificates, and newspaper notice where required.
• Attorney's fees for the administration, and accountant's fees for the final Form 1040 and any
  Form 1041.
• Appraiser's fees — Ohio requires an inventory with appraised values, so this is a routine
  and expected cost.
• Carrying costs on estate property until sale or transfer: insurance, property tax, utilities,
  security, maintenance, lawn care and snow removal.
• Cleaning, clearing, storing, moving and shipping contents.
• Travel on estate business at a reasonable rate.
• Bond premiums where the will did not waive bond.

Normally not claimable

• The executor's lost wages, meals near home, or personal spending — that is what the
  commission covers.
• Costs run up for one beneficiary's convenience rather than the estate's.
• Improvements beyond preparing a property for sale as it stands.
• Anything without a receipt.

The rule that decides it

Open an estate bank account under the estate's own taxpayer identification number and run
everything through it. Ohio's inventory-and-account structure means the court sees your
arithmetic twice, on its own standard forms. That is a discipline rather than a burden — keep
a dated log from the first week and both filings largely write themselves.

Ohio's county Probate Courts, standardised statewide forms and generous small-estate releases
mean most Ohio estates are handled comfortably by a family member with a lawyer's help. A
bank trust department or an attorney serving as executor is worth the cost in narrower
cases.

Consider a professional when

• The estate holds an operating business, a farm, or rental property that has to keep
  running. Ohio farmland brings valuation and family-succession questions of its own.
• There is conflict among the beneficiaries, or a will contest looks likely.
• A beneficiary is a minor or incapacitated, so a trust runs for years and the Probate Court
  will supervise closely — the same court also handles guardianships, and it takes that role
  seriously.
• The named executor lives out of state. Ohio permits a non-resident executor in more
  circumstances than some states, but they must generally appoint a resident agent, and
  attending the county Probate Court for the inventory and account is a practical burden.
• The estate is large enough for the federal estate tax to be in play. With no Ohio death
  tax, this is the only tax planning that matters here.

What it costs

Corporate fiduciaries charge a negotiated percentage, usually referenced to the § 2113.35
rates, often with a minimum annual fee that makes small estates uneconomic. Attorneys generally
bill hourly. Ask for either in writing.

Middle ground

Appoint a family member, waive bond in the will, and let them retain a probate attorney at
the estate's expense to prepare the inventory and account. For the great majority of Ohio
estates this is the right answer, and the standardised forms keep the legal bill down.

A named executor who does not want the job can decline before letters issue.