Ohio Laws on Probating an Estate

Probate laws are meant to divide estates justly.US Supreme Court image by dwight9592 from Fotolia.com

Probate is the legal process by which an estate's assets are divided up to pay off debts and taxes, with the remaining assets shared among the heirs. The Ohio State Bar Association says all estates in Ohio must go through probate, though estates under $50,000---$100,00 if it's all going to a surviving spouse---may be exempt from most of the formal procedures.

Valid Will

The Ohio Bar says that for a will to be valid, the writer or "testator" must be more than 18 years of age, of sound mind and not coerced, and the testator's signature must be witnessed by two people who sign as witnesses and do not stand to inherit anything. A testator is of sound mind if he knows who he and his family are, knows what he owns and whom he wants to inherit it, and understands he's making a will. The will must be submitted to the probate court, which will decide if it's valid; if not, the estate will be probated as if the deceased had no will.

The bar says that if the will is valid, the probate court will appoint an executor, who is usually named in the will; if the deceased doesn't have a valid will, the court will choose an administrator---usually one of the deceased's relatives---to carry out the same duties. The executor or administrator must identify and inventory all property that will go through probate and provide the information to the court. He must also resolve any lawsuits, the deceased was involved in, settle claims against the estate, pay off any remaining taxes and distribute the estate among the heirs. When the assets have been disbursed and all legal issues settled, the executor/administrator will make a final accounting to the court.

The Ohio Bar says the state exempts some property from probate: property the deceased held as a joint tenant along with another tenant who has "right of survivorship"; property held in a trust; accounts that are transferred at death or payable at death to a named beneficiary; and insurance or retirement benefits that are payable to a named beneficiary.

The estate or the heirs may still have to pay Ohio state taxes on property that falls outside probate.