Ohio: Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements

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).