Ohio: Annual Trust Accounting Requirements

Requirements one by one

Ohio separates a beneficiary report from a testamentary court account

Under § 5808.13(A)–(G), division (C) governs the out-of-court trustee's report. It applies to a
trust with a fiscal year ending on or after January 1, 2007 and requires delivery
at least annually and at termination. Section 5801.02 applies the Trust Code to
inter vivos express trusts and to testamentary trusts to the extent stated in
the probate-title cross-reference.

A testamentary trustee accountable to probate court also follows §§ 2109.30(A)–
(B) and 2109.303(A). That court account is ordinarily rendered at least once every
two years, on a good-cause court order, and as a final account within 30 days
after administration ends unless the court sets another period.

Recipient and vacancy rules are specific

The annual and termination report goes automatically to current beneficiaries.
Any other beneficiary receives it after requesting it. Section 5808.13(A) also
requires the trustee to keep current beneficiaries reasonably informed and,
unless unreasonable, to respond promptly to a beneficiary's administration-
information request.

When a vacancy leaves no cotrustee in office, the former trustee sends current
beneficiaries a report for the service period. A personal representative or
guardian may send that report for a deceased or incapacitated trustee.

The two accounting formats demand different contents

The § 5808.13(C) beneficiary report covers trust property, liabilities, receipts,
disbursements, the source and amount of trustee compensation, an asset list, and
each asset's market value when feasible.

The testamentary court account itemizes receipts, disbursements, distributions,
ending funds, assets, investments, and investment changes. It separates a
testamentary trustee's receipts and disbursements between principal and income,
requires vouchers or proof subject to the corporate-fiduciary exception, and is
signed by the trustee; the court may accept one signature when multiple trustees
account together.

Trust terms and beneficiary waiver are different

Under § 5801.04(A)–(C), trust terms generally control. The protected floor covers
specified notices and a current beneficiary's request for reports or related
administration information after age 25. The settlor may redirect that protected
information to a beneficiary surrogate, who must act in good faith for the current
beneficiary.

Section 5808.13(D) separately lets a beneficiary waive a report or other required
information and later withdraw the waiver for future items. During the settlor's
lifetime, subsection (G) makes the duties under § 5808.13 exclusive to the settlor,
whether or not the settlor has capacity to revoke.

Delivery and legal effect need separate analysis

Under §§ 5801.08–5801.09(A), delivery must use a method reasonably suitable and likely to
result in receipt. First-class mail, personal delivery, last-known home or business
delivery, and a properly directed electronic message are listed. The ordinary
beneficiary report is sent; a testamentary account follows the separate probate-
court filing and examination process.

Under § 5810.05(A)–(D), an adequately disclosing report starts a two-year period
only if it also informs the recipient of the time allowed to sue. Without that
route, the four-year period starts at the first of trustee departure, termination
of the beneficiary's interest, trust termination, or the time the beneficiary knew
or should have known of the breach.

A report is not itself a release. Section 5810.09 protects the trustee only when a
beneficiary or representative validly consents, releases, or ratifies, and not when
the trustee induced it improperly or the signer lacked knowledge of rights or
material facts.

What trips people up

• Annual and biennial rules coexist. The beneficiary report is at least annual;
  the separate testamentary probate-court account is at least once every two years.
• Other beneficiaries are request-based. The automatic recipient is a current
  beneficiary, not every qualified beneficiary.
• The four-year period has four triggers. Knowledge or reason to know of the
  breach is an independent trigger alongside the three termination/departure events.
• A report is not automatically a settlement. The two-year disclosure rule and
  a beneficiary's consent or release are separate legal routes.

Common questions

Must every asset have a market value?

No. Section 5808.13(C) requires respective market values only when feasible. The
report still lists the trust assets and the other required financial information.

Can the trustee send only a redacted trust instrument?

If the beneficiary does not expressly request the entire instrument, § 5808.13(B)
allows a copy limited to provisions the trustee determines relevant. After the
beneficiary requests the entire instrument, the trustee must furnish the entire
copy.

What can a court do if the trustee does not report?

Under §§ 5810.01 and 5810.04, the court may compel duties or an account, enjoin a
breach, require redress, appoint or suspend a fiduciary, remove the trustee, reduce
or deny compensation, grant other appropriate relief, and equitably award costs,
expenses, and reasonable attorney fees in a trust-administration proceeding.

Does the annual report need signatures, witnesses, or notarization?

Section 5808.13 does not impose those execution formalities on the ordinary
beneficiary report. Section 2109.303 does require the separate testamentary court
account to carry the trustee's signature and supporting vouchers or proof, subject
to its stated exceptions.

Statutes and sources

• Ohio Rev. Code §§ 5801.02, 5808.13(A)–(G). Trust scope, report recipients,
  timing, contents, vacancy, waiver, and revocable-settlor rule. Official enacted
  Sub. H.B. 499
  (accessed August 9, 2026).
• Ohio Rev. Code §§ 5801.04(A)–(C), 5801.08–5801.09(A). Trust terms,
  beneficiary-surrogate floor, delivery, and notice requests. Official enacted
  Sub. H.B. 416
  (accessed August 9, 2026).
• Ohio Rev. Code §§ 5810.01, 5810.04. Breach remedies and equitable fee/cost
  awards. Official enacted Sub. H.B. 416
  (accessed August 9, 2026).
• Ohio Rev. Code § 5810.05(A)–(D). Two-year report cutoff and four-year
  residual period. Official enacted Sub. H.B. 499
  (accessed August 9, 2026).
• Ohio Rev. Code § 5810.09. Consent, release, ratification, and knowledge or
  misconduct exceptions. Official enacted S.B. 117
  (accessed August 9, 2026).
• Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2109.30(A)–(B), 2109.303(A). Testamentary trustee court-
  account timing, contents, proof, and signature. Official enacted S.B. 124
  (accessed August 9, 2026).