Ohio Revised Code Search

...Except oral wills, every will shall be in writing, but may be handwritten or typewritten. The will shall be signed at the end by the testator or by some other person in the testator's conscious presence and at the testator's express direction. The will shall be attested and subscribed in the conscious presence of the testator, by two or more competent witnesses, who saw the testator subscribe, or heard the test...

...No agreement to make a will or to make a devise or bequest by will shall be enforceable unless it is in writing. The agreement shall be signed by the maker or by some other person at the maker's express direction. If signed by a person other than the maker, the instrument shall be subscribed by two or more competent witnesses who heard the maker acknowledge that it was signed at the maker's direction.

...andum shall be deposited in the probate court when the will is probated or within thirty days after the will is probated, unless the court grants an extension of time for good cause shown. A copy may be substituted for the original document, book, record, or memorandum if the copy is certified to be correct by a person authorized to take acknowledgments. (B) Notwithstanding division (A) of this section, if a will in...

...No person under eighteen years of age shall witness a will executed pursuant to section 2107.03 of the Revised Code or an agreement to make a will or to make a devise or bequest by will pursuant to section 2107.04 of the Revised Code.

... the office of the judge of the probate court in the county in which the testator lives, before or after the death of the testator, and if deposited after the death of the testator, with or without applying for its probate. Upon the payment of the fee of twenty-five dollars to the court, the judge shall receive, keep, and give a certificate of deposit for the will. That will shall be safely kept until delivered or di...

...tor by a written order, or to a probate court for a determination of its validity when the testator so requests. After the testator's death, the will shall be delivered to the person named in the indorsement on the envelope of the will, if there is a person named who demands it. If the testator has filed a complaint in the probate court for a judgment declaring the validity of the will pursuant to section 5817.02 of ...

...e will to be brought before the probate court of the county in which the decedent was domiciled. By judicial order, the court may compel the person having the custody or control of the will to produce it before the court for the purpose of being proved. If the person having the custody or control of the will intentionally conceals or withholds it or neglects or refuses to produce it for probate without reasonable ca...

...l when the will was declared valid by a court pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 5817.10 of the Revised Code, the declaration took place in a county different from the county in which the will of the testator would be probated under section 2107.11 of the Revised Code, and the named beneficiary knew of the declaration and of the death of the testator and did not notify the judge of the court in which the will was...

... In the county of this state in which a court rendered a judgment declaring that the will was valid pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 5817.10 of the Revised Code. (B) For the purpose of division (A)(2) of this section, intangible personal property is located in the place where the instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, or chose in action is located or if there is no instrument of that nature where th...

...ome may contest the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the application. Preceding a hearing of a contest as to jurisdiction, all parties named in such will as legatees, devisees, trustees, or executors shall have notice of the hearing in such manner as may be ordered by the court. When that contest is made, the parties may call witnesses and shall be heard upon the question involved. The decision of the court as...

...If a devise or bequest is made to a person who is one of only two witnesses to a will, the devise or bequest is void. The witness shall then be competent to testify to the execution of the will, as if the devise or bequest had not been made. If the witness would have been entitled to a share of the testator's estate in case the will was not established, the witness takes so much of that share that does not exce...

...dead: (1) If it appears to the probate court that a witness to such will has gone to parts unknown; (2) If the witness was competent at the time of attesting its execution and afterward became incompetent; (3) If testimony of a witness cannot be obtained within a reasonable time. (B) When offered for probate, a will shall be admitted to probate and allowed when there has been a prior judgment by a court declaring...

... it but is infirm and unable to attend court, the probate court may issue a commission with the will annexed directed to any suitable person. In lieu of the original will, the probate court, in its discretion, may annex to the commission a photocopy of the will or a copy of the will made by any similar process. The person to whom the commission is directed shall take the deposition or authorize the taking of t...

...The probate court shall admit a will to probate if it appears from the face of the will, or if the probate court requires, in its discretion, the testimony of the witnesses to a will and it appears from that testimony, that the execution of the will complies with the law in force at the time of the execution of the will in the jurisdiction in which the testator was physically present when it was executed, with the la...

...ht to receive the notice in the probate court. The person may file the waiver of the right to receive the notice at any time prior to or after the will has been admitted to probate. (3) The fact that the notice described in division (A)(1) of this section has been given, subject to division (B) of this section, to all persons described in division (A)(1) of this section who have not waived their right to receive the...

...th any testimony or prior judgment of a court declaring the will valid pursuant to division (A)(1) of section 5817.10 of the Revised Code, by the judge or the clerk of the probate court in a book to be kept for that purpose. A copy of the recorded will, with a copy of the order of probate annexed to the copy of the recorded will, certified by the judge under seal of the judge's court, shall be as effectual in all c...

...If real property devised by will is situated in any county other than that in which the will is proved, declared valid, or admitted to probate, an authenticated copy of the will and the order of probate or the judgment declaring validity shall be admitted to the record in the office of the probate judge of each county in which the real property is situated upon the order of that judge. The authenticated copy s...

...s been admitted to probate by a probate court and another will of later date is presented to the same court for probate, notice of the will of later date shall be given to those persons required to be notified under section 2107.19 of the Revised Code, and to the fiduciaries and beneficiaries under the will of earlier date. The probate court may admit the will of later date to probate the same as if no earlier will h...

...uirements of that section if a probate court, after holding a hearing, finds that the proponent of the document as a purported will has established, by clear and convincing evidence, all of the following: (1) The decedent prepared the document or caused the document to be prepared. (2) The decedent signed the document and intended the document to constitute the decedent's will. (3) The decedent signed the d...

...er the death of a testator, the probate court shall admit the lost, spoliated, or destroyed will to probate if both of the following apply: (A) The proponent of the will establishes by clear and convincing evidence both of the following: (1) The will was executed with the formalities required at the time of execution by the jurisdiction in which it was executed. (2) The contents of the will. (B) No person opposin...

...When application is made to the probate court to admit to probate a will that has been lost, spoliated, or destroyed as provided in section 2107.26 of the Revised Code or a document that is treated as a will as provided in section 2107.24 of the Revised Code, the party seeking to prove the will shall give a written notice by certified mail to the surviving spouse of the testator, to all persons who would be entitle...

...07.27 of the Revised Code, the probate court may hear testimony. If the court is satisfied that the contents of the will have been substantially proved, the court may record the will as thus proven. The record shall have all the effects of a record of the original will.

...probate may be recorded by the probate court if it appears to the court's satisfaction that the record has been destroyed and if it appears, by reason of a certificate signed and sealed by the probate judge, that the copy is a true copy of the original will or a true copy of the original will and its probate.

...When the record of a will has been destroyed, the original will may again be admitted to probate and record.

...Sections 2107.29 and 2107.30 of the Revised Code do not affect the proceedings or extend the time for contesting the validity of any will or for asserting rights thereunder. The record provided for in such sections must show that the original record was destroyed, and the time, as near as may be, when the will was originally admitted to probate and record.