Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in Ohio

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Filing, timing, and property scope

Ohio Rev. Code § 2115.02 starts with the appointment date:

“Within three months after the date of the executor's or administrator's appointment, unless the probate court grants an extension of time for good cause shown, the executor or administrator shall file with the court an inventory.”

The inventory covers the decedent's interest in Ohio real property and the tangible and intangible personal property that is to be administered and has come into the fiduciary's possession or knowledge. A successor does not repeat an inventory already filed by a prior executor or administrator unless the court considers a new filing necessary.

Date-of-death values and appraisal routes

Every listed asset receives a date-of-death value. A readily ascertainable value does not require an appraisal, but the asset still belongs in the inventory. Current Form 6.1 makes the division visible: check “Appraised” when the appraiser valued the item and leave the column blank when the fiduciary determined the readily ascertainable value.

For other property, § 2115.06 ordinarily calls for one suitable, disinterested appraiser appointed by the fiduciary, approved by the court, and sworn to a faithful discharge of the trust. The court may dispense with appraisement. It may also approve separate appraisers by asset or for another county, and the fiduciary may use the county auditor's real-property valuation instead of appointing a real-property appraiser.

Statewide form signatures and notice blocks

Standard Probate Form 6.0 is signed by the fiduciary and, when an appraiser is used, by the appraiser under a separate certificate. The fiduciary states that the attached schedule is complete to the fiduciary's knowledge and that the readily ascertainable values are correct. The current form does not include a fiduciary oath, penalty-of-perjury declaration, or notary block.

Form 6.0 also includes a surviving spouse's waiver of notice of the time and place of taking the inventory and a separate waiver of inventory-hearing notice for interested persons.

Hearing, objections, reappraisal, and refusal to file

Under § 2115.16, the court sets a hearing no later than one month after filing. The fiduciary may notify interested persons, and the court may order service on designated persons for good cause or on its own initiative. An interested person may file exceptions before the statutory five-day prehearing cutoff; fraud or concealment of assets is not subject to that cutoff.

After court approval, § 2115.17 makes the inventory's real-property appraisement conclusive except for estate tax unless the court orders a reappraisal.

Nonfiling does not produce immediate automatic removal. Under § 2115.03, the court first requires a court order setting an early filing day. Failure to comply after personal service—or inability to serve because the fiduciary absconds or conceals self—permits removal and new letters. The former fiduciary's bond may be pursued for estate injury and unadministered property.

What trips people up

“Readily ascertainable” means no outside appraisal is required; it does not mean the asset can be left off the inventory. Form 6.1 distinguishes the valuation source with a checkbox rather than creating a separate inventory.

The three-month filing clock and the one-month hearing clock have different triggers. The first runs from appointment; the second starts only when the inventory is filed.

Common questions

Must a successor fiduciary file the same inventory again?

Not ordinarily. Section 2115.02 excuses a successor when a prior executor or administrator already filed, unless the court believes a new inventory is necessary.

Who pays an outside appraiser?

The fiduciary determines the amount subject to the probate judge's approval. Section 2115.06 allows the approved fee to be charged to the estate as a cost of the proceeding and directs consideration of training, qualifications, experience, time, and property value.

Statutes and sources

• Ohio Rev. Code §§ 2115.02, 2115.03, 2115.06, 2115.16, and 2115.17 — filing, deadline, extension, property scope, valuation date, appraisers, hearing, exceptions, reappraisal, removal, and bond consequences. Official enrolled 129th General Assembly S.B. 124: https://search-prod.lis.state.oh.us/api/v2/general_assembly_129/legislation/sb124/05_EN/pdf/ (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Form 6.0 — fiduciary statement, category totals, signatures, appraiser certificate, spouse waiver, hearing waiver, and hearing entry: https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/docs/LegalResources/Rules/superintendence/probate_forms/decedentEstate/6_0.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).
• Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Form 6.1 — item, appraisal-source, and value schedule: https://www.supremecourt.ohio.gov/docs/LegalResources/Rules/superintendence/probate_forms/decedentEstate/6_1.pdf (accessed 2026-08-10).