A house or land without probate in Ohio

An owner (with their spouse, if any) can sign a transfer on death designation affidavit naming beneficiaries for real estate. It must be recorded with the county recorder where the property is before the owner dies.

Checked against official sources: October 30, 2026.

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Ohio

Real estate (TOD deed)

Yes · Transfer on death designation affidavit

An owner (with their spouse, if any) can sign a transfer on death designation affidavit naming beneficiaries for real estate. It must be recorded with the county recorder where the property is before the owner dies. At death, title vests in the beneficiaries. To record the transfer, a beneficiary files a sworn affidavit of confirmation with a certified copy of the death certificate, presented to the county auditor and filed with the county recorder.

Law: Ohio Rev. Code 5302.22-5302.24, 5302.222

Source: Official page

Does real estate count toward the small estate limit?

Kind of propertyHow it is treatedDetails
Real estate in Ohio
Counts

Ohio real estate in the person's name counts and is transferred by certificate of transfer, unless it passes by a transfer on death designation affidavit or survivorship deed.

Law: R.C. 2113.03(B), 2113.031(C)(3)(b), 5302.22

Main home (primary residence)
Counts

The person's home counts like other real estate in their name, unless it passes by transfer on death designation affidavit or survivorship deed.

Law: R.C. 2113.03, 5302.22

Surviving spouse in Ohio

A surviving spouse can take the person's cars, up to $65,000 combined, and one boat, boat trailer and outboard motor, by affidavit at the clerk of courts title office; these are not estate assets. The spouse (and minor children) are entitled to a $40,000 allowance for support from the estate, reduced by the value of the lowest-valued car if the spouse took more than one. The release from administration limit is $100,000 when the spouse receives everything, and the spouse can apply for summary release when the estate is no more than the $40,000 allowance plus up to $5,000 for funeral costs. An employer may pay the person's wages to the spouse.

Law: R.C. 2106.18, 2106.19; R.C. 2106.13; R.C. 2113.03, 2113.031; R.C. 2113.04

Who inherits with no will in Ohio

If there is no will and there is a surviving spouse, the spouse gets everything if all the person's children are also the spouse's children, or if there are no children. If some children are not the spouse's, the spouse gets the first $20,000 or $60,000 (depending on whose children they are) plus one-half or one-third of the rest, and the children share the remainder. With no spouse, children (or their descendants) inherit; then parents; then brothers and sisters; then grandparents and their descendants; then other next of kin and stepchildren.

Law: Ohio Rev. Code 2105.06

Source: Official page

Related pages

Free help in Ohio

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.