Ohio Revised Code Search

...A surviving spouse or a person with the right of disposition under section 2108.70 or 2108.81 of the Revised Code is entitled to a reimbursement from the estate of the decedent for funeral and burial expenses, if paid by the surviving spouse or person with the right of disposition, to the extent that the rights of other creditors of the estate will not be prejudiced by the reimbursement.

...Any antenuptial, postnuptial, or separation agreement to which a decedent was a party is valid unless an action to set it aside is commenced within four months after the appointment of the executor or administrator of the estate of the decedent, or unless, within the four-month period, the validity of the agreement otherwise is attacked.

...In addition to the rights provided in this chapter, a surviving spouse of a decedent who died testate or intestate is entitled to any other rights prescribed in other chapters of the Revised Code, including, but not limited to, any dower rights under Chapters 2103. and 5305. of the Revised Code.

...Unless otherwise specified by a provision of the Revised Code or this section, a surviving spouse shall exercise all rights under Chapter 2106. of the Revised Code within five months of the initial appointment of an executor or administrator of the estate. It is conclusively presumed that a surviving spouse has waived any right not exercised within that five-month period or within any longer period of time allowed by...

...As used in Chapters 2101. to 2131. of the Revised Code: (A) "Will" includes codicils to wills admitted to probate, lost, spoliated, or destroyed wills, and instruments declared valid under division (A)(1) of section 5817.10 of the Revised Code, but "will" does not include inter vivos trusts or other instruments that have not been admitted to probate. (B) "Testator" means any person who makes a will.

...Except when the intent of the testator clearly is to the contrary, the following rules of construction shall apply in interpreting the terms "inheritance" and "bequest": (A) The term "inheritance," in addition to its meaning at common law or under any other section or sections of the Revised Code, includes any change of title to real property by reason of the death of the owner of that real property, regardless of w...

...A person who is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind and memory, and not under restraint may make a will.

...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.

...(A) An existing document, book, record, or memorandum may be incorporated in a will by reference, if referred to as being in existence at the time the will is executed. That document, book, record, or memorandum 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...

...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.

...A will may be deposited by the testator, or by some person for the testator, in 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 certificat...

...During the lifetime of a testator, the testator's will, deposited according to section 2107.07 of the Revised Code, shall be delivered only to the testator, to some person authorized by the testator 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 o...

...(A) If real property is devised or personal property is bequeathed by a will, the executor or any interested person may cause the 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 c...

...(A) No property or right, testate or intestate, shall pass to a beneficiary named in a will who knows of the existence of the will for one year after the death of the testator and has the power to control it and, without reasonable cause, intentionally conceals or withholds it or neglects or refuses within that one year to cause it to be offered for or admitted to probate. The property devised or bequeathed to that b...

...(A) A will shall be admitted to probate: (1) In the county in this state in which the testator was domiciled at the time of the testator's death; (2) In any county of this state where any real property or personal property of the testator is located if, at the time of the testator's death, the testator was not domiciled in this state, and provided that the will has not previously been admitted to probate in this st...

...When a will is presented for probate or for a declaratory judgment of its validity pursuant to Chapter 5817. of the Revised Code, persons interested in its outcome 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...

...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...

...(A) When offered for probate, a will may be admitted to probate and allowed upon such proof as would be satisfactory, and in like manner as if an absent or incompetent witness were 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 ...

...When a witness to a will, or other witness competent to testify at a probate or declaratory judgment proceeding, resides out of its jurisdiction, or resides within 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 o...

...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...

...If it appears that the instrument purporting to be a will is not entitled to admission to probate, the court shall enter an interlocutory order denying probate of the instrument, and shall continue the matter for further hearing. The court shall order that not less than ten days' notice of the further hearing be given by the applicant, the executor named in the instrument, the persons holding a power to nominate an e...

...(A)(1) Subject to divisions (A)(2) and (B) of this section, when a will has been admitted to probate, the fiduciary for the estate or another person specified in division (A)(4) of this section shall, within two weeks of the admission of the will to probate, give a notice as described in this division and in the manner provided by Civil Rule 73(E) to the surviving spouse of the testator, to all persons who would be ...

...When admitted to probate every will shall be filed in the office of the probate judge and recorded, together with 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 co...

...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...