Ohio: Small Estate Affidavit Thresholds & Procedure

Requirements one by one

Governing law

R.C. § 2113.03 ("Court may order estate released from administration") is
the main track. A separate section in the same chapter, § 2113.031
("Summary release from administration"), creates the narrower,
funeral-expense-linked shortcut described above; § 2113.031(F) explicitly
preserves the option to use § 2113.03 instead. Both sit inside R.C.
Chapter 2113, the probate administration chapter — Ohio doesn't run a
separate, non-court affidavit statute at all.

Dollar threshold

For § 2113.03: $35,000 in estate assets generally, or up to $100,000 if a
surviving spouse is entitled to the entire estate — either because a valid
will leaves everything to the spouse, or because the decedent died
intestate and the spouse is entitled to the whole estate under Ohio's
intestacy statute. For § 2113.031: the lesser of $5,000 or the funeral and
burial expenses, for a non-spouse applicant who paid or is obligated to pay
those expenses; or, for a surviving spouse, the $40,000 family-support
allowance (R.C. § 2106.13(A)) plus up to $5,000 more in funeral costs — up
to $45,000 total in the spouse's case.

Court filing required?

Yes, for both — there's no version of this that bypasses the probate
court entirely. Section 2113.03 requires an application, notice to the
surviving spouse and heirs, and (absent a waiver) newspaper publication to
other interested parties before the court will act. Section 2113.031 is
lighter — no publication requirement is stated — but it's still a formal
application decided by the probate court, not a document you can simply
hand to a bank.

Waiting period after death

Neither section states a fixed number of days or months that must pass
before filing. But § 2113.03(H) makes clear that any transfer under a
release from administration remains "subject to the limitations pertaining
to the claims of creditors" in R.C. § 2117.06 — Ohio's general six-month,
from-death creditor-claim bar. In practice this means real property
transferred earlier than that six-month mark can still be reached by a
later-filed creditor claim, which is why many practitioners wait for that
window to close before finalizing a real-estate transfer, even though nothing
in § 2113.03 itself requires waiting to file.

Works with a will, intestacy, or both?

Both. Section 2113.03(A)(2)(a) covers a decedent who left a will naming a
spouse as sole beneficiary, and § 2113.03(A)(2)(b) separately covers an
intestate decedent whose spouse takes the whole estate; the $35,000
general track under § 2113.03(A)(1) doesn't depend on a will at all.
Section 2113.031 likewise doesn't require either.

Does it cover real property?

Yes, for both tracks — a real difference from states where the simplified
affidavit reaches only personal property. Section 2113.03(B) lets the
court direct "transfer of real property to the persons entitled to" it as
part of the same order, and § 2113.03(G) treats that order as having the
same title-clearing effect as a full administration would for "an innocent
purchaser for value." Section 2113.031(D)(3) does the same for a summary
release, directing "transfer to the applicant of the title to any
interests in real property included in the decedent's estate," and
§ 2113.031(C)(3)(b) requires the applicant to attach a certificate-of-transfer
application if real property is involved.

Signature formalities

Different for each track. Section 2113.031's application "has been signed
and acknowledged by the applicant in the presence of a notary public or a
deputy clerk of the probate court" — a genuine notarization (or in-person
clerk) requirement written into the statute itself; county probate courts
(Cuyahoga's filing guide, for one) flag that the form "MUST be notarized
PRIOR to filing." Section 2113.03's application carries no comparable
statutory notary or witness requirement — it's filed and reviewed like any
other court application, under the Ohio Supreme Court's standard probate
forms, without the same explicit acknowledgment clause.

Protection for the bank/holder

Strong, for both, but the mechanism is the court's order rather than a
private affidavit's own force. Section 2113.03(G) gives the release order
"the same effect as administration proceedings in freeing real property...
from possible claims of unsecured creditors" for an innocent purchaser for
value. Section 2113.031(E) makes a certified copy of the summary-release
order, together with a certified copy of the application, "sufficient
authority" for a financial institution or other entity to transfer title
to the applicant — the holder relies on the court's order, not on the
applicant's word alone.

What trips people up

People sometimes assume Ohio has a bank-facing affidavit like some other
states' small-estate shortcuts; it doesn't — every path here ends in a
probate court order, with filing fees and a short waiting period for the
court to act. A second trap: the $100,000 spousal threshold only applies
when the spouse is entitled to the ENTIRE estate — if minor children who
aren't the surviving spouse's own children are also entitled to a share,
the spouse-only exception doesn't apply and the lower $35,000 general cap
controls instead. A third: because real property released under either
section stays exposed to creditor claims until the six-month bar runs,
title companies and buyers often want that window closed before treating a
released title as fully clear, even though the statute doesn't force a
wait before filing.

Common questions

Is there a private affidavit I can just hand to the bank, like in some
other states? No — Ohio's small-estate shortcuts are both probate court
applications ending in a court order; there's no version that skips the
court entirely.

Does the $35,000/$100,000 threshold include the house? Yes, if you're
using § 2113.03 — real property counts toward the total, and the same
order can transfer it. It's a genuinely different answer from a state
where real estate is excluded from the calculation altogether.

Do I have to wait a set number of months before applying? No fixed
waiting period is written into either section, but real estate transferred
this way remains subject to creditor claims until Ohio's six-month
creditor-claim deadline has passed.

What if I only need to cover funeral expenses? Summary Release from
Administration (§ 2113.031) is built for exactly that — up to $5,000 for a
non-spouse who paid the funeral bill, or up to $45,000 for a surviving
spouse combining the family allowance and funeral costs — but the
application must be notarized before filing.

Statutes and sources

• R.C. § 2113.03(A) — "Subject to division (I) of this section, an estate
  may be released from administration under division (B) of this section
  if either of the following applies: (1) The value of the assets of the
  estate is thirty-five thousand dollars or less. (2) The value of the
  assets of the estate is one hundred thousand dollars or less and either
  of the following applies: (a) The decedent devised and bequeathed in a
  valid will all of the assets of the decedent's estate to a person who is
  named in the will as the decedent's spouse, and the decedent is survived
  by that person. (b) The decedent is survived by a spouse whose marriage
  to the decedent was solemnized in a manner consistent with Chapter 3101.
  of the Revised Code or with a similar law of another state or nation, the
  decedent died without a valid will, and the decedent's surviving spouse
  is entitled to receive all of the assets of the decedent's estate under
  section 2105.06 of the Revised Code or by the operation of that section
  and division (B)(1) or (2) of section 2106.13 of the Revised Code." —
  https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2113.03 (accessed
  2026-07-06)
• R.C. § 2113.03(B) — "Upon the application of any interested party, after
  notice of the filing of the application has been given to the surviving
  spouse and heirs at law in the manner and for the length of time the
  probate court directs, and after notice to all interested parties by
  publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, unless
  the notices are waived or found unnecessary, the court, when satisfied
  that division (A)(1) or (2) of this section is satisfied, may enter an
  order relieving the estate from administration and directing delivery of
  personal property and transfer of real property to the persons entitled
  to the personal property or real property." —
  https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2113.03 (accessed
  2026-07-06)
• R.C. § 2113.03(G)-(H) — "(G) An order of the court relieving an estate
  from administration shall have the same effect as administration
  proceedings in freeing real property in the possession or under the
  control of an innocent purchaser for value from possible claims of
  unsecured creditors. (H) Any delivery of personal property or transfer of
  real property pursuant to an order relieving an estate from
  administration is made subject to the limitations pertaining to the
  claims of creditors set forth in divisions (B) and (C) of section
  2117.06 of the Revised Code." —
  https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2113.03 (accessed
  2026-07-06)
• R.C. § 2113.031(B)-(C) — "(B)(1) If the value of the assets of the
  decedent's estate does not exceed the lesser of five thousand dollars or
  the amount of the decedent's funeral and burial expenses, any person who
  is not a surviving spouse and who has paid or is obligated in writing to
  pay the decedent's funeral and burial expenses ... may apply to the
  probate court for an order granting a summary release from administration
  ... (C)(2)(c) [The application] Has been signed and acknowledged by the
  applicant in the presence of a notary public or a deputy clerk of the
  probate court;" — https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2113.031
  (accessed 2026-07-06)
• R.C. § 2113.031(D) — "If the probate court determines that the
  requirements of division (C) of this section are satisfied, the probate
  court shall issue an order that grants a summary release from
  administration in connection with the decedent's estate. The order has,
  and shall specify that it has, all of the following effects: (1) It
  relieves the decedent's estate from administration. (2) It directs the
  delivery to the applicant of the decedent's personal property together
  with the title to that property. (3) It directs the transfer to the
  applicant of the title to any interests in real property included in the
  decedent's estate." — https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2113.031
  (accessed 2026-07-06)
• R.C. § 2106.13(A) — "If a person dies leaving a surviving spouse and no
  minor children, leaving a surviving spouse and minor children, or leaving
  minor children and no surviving spouse, the surviving spouse, minor
  children, or both shall be entitled to receive, subject to division (B)
  of this section, in money or property the sum of forty thousand dollars
  as an allowance for support." —
  https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2106.13 (accessed
  2026-07-06)