CHAPTER 2123: DETERMINATION OF HEIRSHIP

Whenever property passes by the laws of intestate succession, or under a will to a beneficiary not named in such will, proceedings may be had in the probate court to determine the persons entitled to such property.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

In a situation described in section 2123.01 of the Revised Code, the executor or administrator may file in the probate court of the county where the estate is being administered a petition signed by such executor or administrator or his attorney, which petition shall be verified. The surviving spouse and the legatees and devisees, or the heirs and distributees of the decedent, including those whose names are unknown, shall be made parties defendant. The petition shall contain a concise statement of the pertinent facts and shall conclude with a prayer for the determination of the heirs and distributees of such decedent or of the devisees or legatees not named in the will and their respective interests in the estate.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Upon the filing of the petition mentioned in section 2123.02 of the Revised Code the same proceedings, pleadings, and rule days as in civil actions in the court of common pleas shall apply. All parties defendant who are known to be residents of the state and whose place of residence is known shall be served with summons, as provided for the service of summons in civil actions in such court.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

In a proceeding to determine heirship, nonresident defendants and defendants whose names or places of residence are unknown shall be served by publication as in civil actions in the court of common pleas.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

At the time assigned for the hearing of a proceeding set forth under section 2123.01 of the Revised Code, or at any time to which said hearing may be adjourned, the probate court may hear proof taken by commission, or by witnesses produced in open court, of the facts set forth in the petition, and shall, if satisfied from the evidence, find and adjudge who are or were the heirs or next of kin of the decedent, and entitled by the laws of this state to inherit the estate of the deceased, or the devisees or legatees named or unnamed in the will, which finding and adjudication shall be entered on the journal of the court, which entry, or a certified copy thereof, shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein found.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Whenever it is necessary for any person other than an executor or administrator to determine who are or were the heirs at law of a deceased person, on the petition of any interested party and proceedings like those set forth in sections 2123.01 to 2123.05, inclusive, of the Revised Code, the probate court may make a determination thereof.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Any fiduciary may make a final distribution of an estate or take any other appropriate action respecting a trust, upon the determination set forth in section 2123.05 of the Revised Code, and shall thereupon, together with the surety, be discharged from liability arising from such determined interest, and the title to any property thereupon purchased from such fiduciary shall be free from such determined interest.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953