Ohio Small Estate Affidavit

Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: Ohio lets a small estate be settled with a court petition for summary or simplified administration, usable with no waiting period stated in the statutes, and it is filed with the court (or the office that holds probate authority). Real estate: yes.

The verdicts

What the statute actually says

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.

— Ohio Rev. Code 2113.03

The dollar limit

Release from administration: assets ≤$35,000, or ≤$100,000 when everything passes to the surviving spouse (ORC §2113.03); summary release from administration under ORC §2113.031: assets not exceeding the lesser of $5,000 or the decedent’s funeral and burial expenses (applicant who paid them, not a surviving spouse); for a surviving spouse, assets not exceeding the support allowance plus an amount, not exceeding $5,000, for funeral and burial expenses. Verified on codes.ohio.gov.

All 51 limits, compared.

The form

There is an official free form: Ohio Supreme Court Form 5.0, Application to Relieve Estate from Administration [R.C. 2113.03], published on sc.ohio.gov. Ask the probate court in the county where the person lived whether it requires anything further before you file.

The waiting period is the part that voids transfers

Using the instrument before its waiting period has run is the most common way one of these fails. A bank can refuse it, and a transfer made on a defective affidavit can be unwound — with the person who signed it personally exposed, because these are sworn statements made under penalty of perjury. Wait the full period and count from the date of death.

What could not be verified

This is an application/petition process (not a sworn ‘affidavit’ route as such); the statutes state no waiting period. The 2113.03 application text does not mention notarization, but a summary release application under 2113.031 must be signed and acknowledged before a notary public or a deputy clerk of the probate court. The statute text was read on codes.ohio.gov and the standard probate form on sc.ohio.gov.

When this route is the wrong one

• The estate is over the limit. Full administration applies, and using the small-estate route anyway does not make it valid.
• There is real estate and this route does not reach it. A house needs the instrument that can actually transfer title.
• Someone disputes it. These procedures assume agreement; a contested estate belongs in front of a judge.
• Debts exceed assets. Paying the wrong creditor first can make you personally liable.

Related: how the process works, step by step · affidavit versus summary administration.

General information drawn from state statutes and official court materials, not legal advice. Probate and small-estate procedure is STATE law and differs in every state; thresholds, waiting periods and forms change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. Using the wrong instrument, or using one before its waiting period has run, can make a transfer ineffective and can expose the person who signs the affidavit to personal liability. We are not a law firm and we sell no forms.