Simplified route
$35,000
Release from administration; no waiting period stated.
Eligibility and caveatsOhio estate administration
Ohio probate: rules, process, costs, executor fees and deadlines
Ohio probate court appoints an executor named in an admitted will if the person is suitable and competent, accepts and gives any required bond. Ohio R.C. 2113.05. Estimate this estate.
Small-estate limit: $35,000
In Ohio, estates up to $35,000 can use the small-estate route; executor fees run 4% down to 2% on a sliding scale (Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.35); and every claim is barred six months after the death. Ohio calls its simplified procedure release from administration and provides a higher limit when a surviving spouse receives the entire estate.
Sources reviewed August 7, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised .
Answer first
Ohio simplified probate route
Up to $35,000; no waiting period stated. Source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.03(A).
Release from administrationOhio summary release from administration
A person who is not the surviving spouse may apply if they paid the funeral and burial expenses or are obligated in writing to pay them, and estate assets do not exceed the smaller of $5,000 or those expenses. A qualifying surviving spouse has a separate test based on the support allowance and funeral expenses, and must meet the statute’s payment or prepayment conditions. The probate court requires an application and supporting documents. Ohio R.C. 2113.031.
No combined Ohio probate total
The Probate Court where the estate is opened sets or collects the filing charge. The commission rates (Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.35) run on the totals in the estate’s court accounting. Each side in full: Ohio probate filing cost and Ohio executor fees.
Screen a specific Ohio estate with the calculators on the small-estate page and the executor-fee page, or compare states in the full estate navigator.
What the reviewed rules establish
Court cost
Varies locally
Set locally; ask the receiving court.
Ohio publishes statutory base charges, but each probate court may add local-rule fees. Where it is set: https://codes.ohio.gov/ohio-revised-code/section-2113.03.
Executor compensation
Statutory schedule
A statutory percentage schedule applies. Source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.35.
Compensation detailOhio accounting calculatorCreditor deadline
Multiple triggers
Ohio Rev. Code § 2117.06(B) (Ohio Laws and Administrative Rules; reviewed August 7, 2026)
Timeline and creditor detailsStatutes read in full for Ohio
Read on the enacting state’s own site, with the date each was read.
| Citation | What reading it established | Read on |
|---|---|---|
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.031 (summary release from administration), eff. Oct. 12, 2006 | Summary release from administration: Ohio’s funeral-bill track under R.C. 2113.031 — small estate route note | 2026-10-09 |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.35 (commissions), eff. Sept. 29, 2015 | Ohio pays its executors on four different bases, and only one of them is the probate estate — representative pay note | 2026-09-17 |
| Ohio Rev. Code § 2117.06 (presentation and allowance of creditor claims) | Ohio runs its creditor bar from the death itself, not from a notice, and appointing nobody does not pause it — creditor deadline note | 2026-09-17 |
Ohio decision map
The four facts that change the Ohio route
Each Ohio answer below links to the page that sets out its source.
| Question | Recorded Ohio answer |
|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Release from administration |
| What property and basis count? | probate property within the rule's stated scope; gross value for this route. |
| What is the amount screen? | $35,000 |
| What is the time or deadline record? | No universal waiting period stated; creditor deadlines: separate clocks by triggering event |
| What does the cost record establish? | No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule. |
| What does compensation use? | Statutory percentage schedule, measured on the estate accounting. |
Limits and unresolved costs
- Actual filing totals vary by probate court.
- The simplified procedure requires a court application.
- Summary release from administration (O.R.C. 2113.031) is a distinct, smaller track from the $35,000/$100,000 release from administration: it is limited to the lesser of $5,000 or the decedent's funeral and burial expenses for a person who paid them, or, for a surviving spouse, the statutory support allowance plus up to $5,000 for funeral and burial. Form 5.10 is the application.
- Executor compensation is not a single percentage of one figure. O.R.C. 2113.35(A) pays 4%/3%/2% on personal property and realty sold, while subsection (B) adds 1% on real property that is not sold and 1% on certain non-probate property, so the total depends on the estate accounting rather than on the probate value alone.
- Creditor claims are barred six months after the date of death under O.R.C. 2117.06(B), and that period runs whether or not an executor or administrator is appointed within it.
Continue
What Ohio courts publish
Each link goes to the court’s own page and is checked before every release.
- Official formForm 5.10, Summary Release From Administration (PDF)Supreme Court of Ohio
Standard probate form adopted for use in every Ohio probate court.
- Forms indexOhio standard probate forms, decedent estatesSupreme Court of Ohio
Limits on court material
- Ohio adopts statewide standard probate forms, but each county probate court sets its own filing charges and local rules.
Ohio primary sources
Each rule on the Ohio pages comes from one of these 5 sources; the citation opens the publisher’s own text. All were last rechecked October 3, 2026.
Simplified-procedure rule
Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.03(A), Ohio Revised Code, Release from Administration.
- Small-estate limit: $35,000
- Small-estate limit when the surviving spouse takes the whole estate: $100,000
Court cost rule
Ohio Rev. Code § 2101.16, Ohio Revised Code, Probate Court Fees.
- Filing fee: no single statewide figure (statutory base plus local additions)
Simplified-procedure rule
Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.031(B), Ohio Revised Code, Summary Release From Administration.
- Small-estate route: summary release from administration for the lesser of $5,000 or funeral and burial expenses
Executor compensation rule
Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.35, Ohio Revised Code, Executor and Administrator Fees.
- Personal representative's commission schedule: 4% to $100,000, 3% to $400,000, 2% above
- The personal representative's commission adds a 1% fee on real property not sold under subsection (B)
Creditor deadline rule
Ohio Rev. Code § 2117.06(B), Ohio Revised Code, Presentation of Creditor Claims.
- Outer limit on creditor claims: six months after death, regardless of appointment
Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Ohio source list · how sources are checked · report a correction