Ohio has no state estate tax and no inheritance tax. So why do Ohio families still lose thousands of dollars at death? Because of probate itself. Six legal tools move your assets around probate.
General information, not legal advice. This guide explains Ohio law in general terms for the public. It isn't legal advice and isn't a substitute for the advice of an attorney licensed in Ohio. Taylored Tax is a firm of Enrolled Agents, enrolled to practice before the Internal Revenue Service. We don't practice law, draft legal documents, or recommend which legal instrument you should use. Reading this guide or booking a call doesn't make you our client.
Ohio repealed its estate tax effective January 1, 2013. Ohio has no inheritance tax. Both facts hold in 2026. If your estate, plus taxable gifts you made during life, stays below the federal threshold, no Ohio or federal transfer tax is due. Real estate you own in a state with its own estate tax can still be taxed there. The federal threshold is $15 million per person in 2026 under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. A married couple can pass up to $30 million free of federal estate tax: by using both spouses' $15 million, or by electing portability on the first spouse's estate tax return to carry over whatever part of the first $15 million wasn't used. The return is due 9 months after death; if one wasn't otherwise required, the IRS allows the election up to 5 years after death.
With no estate or inheritance tax, Ohio is a friendlier state to die in than Pennsylvania, New York, Massachusetts, Illinois, or any other state that still taxes estates or inheritances. But Ohio still isn't a free ride. The cost that remains is the probate process: the time, the publicity, the executor commission, the attorney fee, and the court costs.
| What you owe at death in Ohio | 2026 reality |
|---|---|
| Ohio estate tax | $0. Repealed January 1, 2013. |
| Ohio inheritance tax | $0. Ohio doesn't have one. |
| Federal estate tax | $0 below $15M per person; a couple can reach $30M if the first spouse's exclusion is used or carried over. No scheduled expiration under the 2025 federal law; indexed for inflation from 2027. |
| Probate court costs | $125 to $250+ initial deposit, plus publication fees, plus per-filing fees. County-dependent. |
| Executor commission | 4 percent on first $100K, 3 percent on next $300K, 2 percent above $400K, plus 1 percent on real estate that isn't sold (set by Ohio statute). |
| Probate attorney fees | No fixed schedule. Ohio law allows a reasonable fee, and the court can set it. We use 2.5 percent in the example below as our own estimate; contested cases cost more. |
| Time tied up | At least 6 months, because creditors get 6 months to file claims. Our estimate: 6 to 12 months for a clean case, 1 to 2+ years if contested. |
Put it all together: a $1,000,000 estate that runs through Ohio probate could pay roughly $48,000 in commissions, attorney fees, and court costs. The estate is locked up for the better part of a year. Most of the $48,000 leaves the family.
Ohio law gives you six proven ways to pass assets to your family without probate court touching them. Most Ohio families need more than one of these tools. The right combination depends on what you own.
Ohio's signature probate-avoidance move. You (and your spouse, if you're married) sign a notarized affidavit naming who inherits your home (or any Ohio real estate) when you die. You record it with the county recorder before death. While you're alive, you keep complete control: you can sell, mortgage, change the beneficiary, or revoke it. At death, title passes to the named beneficiary without probate. Authority: Ohio Revised Code 5302.22.
Commonly used for: A primary home, a rental property, a vacation cabin, farmland. People who own Ohio real estate as a sole owner, tenant in common or survivorship tenant.
You set up a trust, name yourself as trustee while you're alive, and retitle your assets in the trust's name. At your death, a successor trustee distributes the assets according to your instructions. No probate court. As a bonus in Ohio, trust assets aren't subject to the surviving spouse's elective share, which matters a lot for second marriages and blended families. Authority: Ohio Trust Code, Chapters 5801 through 5811.
Commonly used for: Multiple properties, business interests, blended families, families that want incapacity coverage, or estates large enough for multi-generation planning. The successor trustee can also act if you become unable to manage assets.
Your 401(k), IRA, 403(b), and life insurance policy each ask you to name a beneficiary. That beneficiary inherits the account directly, by contract, without probate. Beneficiary forms are the easiest probate-avoidance move on the list, and the most commonly broken. Where it breaks: naming "my estate" as the beneficiary, or leaving the beneficiary blank. Both can pull the asset back into probate and can accelerate the income tax bill on retirement accounts.
Terrence holds the life insurance licenses on our team and is paid when a policy is placed.
Commonly used for: Ohio residents with a retirement account or life insurance. Families commonly review these forms every five years and after major life events.
On a savings account, checking account, or certificate of deposit (CD), you can add a "POD" designation that names who inherits the balance. On a brokerage account holding stocks and bonds, you can register the account in "TOD" form to do the same. You keep complete control during your lifetime. The beneficiary deals directly with the bank or broker after your death. Authority: Ohio Revised Code (ORC) 2131.10 (POD bank accounts); Ohio's Uniform Transfer-on-Death Security Registration Act, Chapter 1709 (TOD brokerage).
Commonly used for: Ohio bank and brokerage accounts. Setup cost: zero. Filed directly with the institution.
Ohio lets you name a transfer-on-death beneficiary for any vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor you own as a sole owner or jointly with survivorship. You file BMV Form 3811 (notarized) with your County Clerk of Courts Title Office. At your death, the beneficiary applies for a new title with the death certificate. Separately, a surviving spouse can take up to $65,000 of vehicle value plus one watercraft, one watercraft trailer and one outboard motor without probate. Authority: ORC 2131.13 (transfer on death); ORC 2106.18 and 2106.19 (surviving spouse).
Commonly used for: Cars, trucks, boats, RVs, motorcycles. Especially valuable for collectible vehicles where the value is high.
If a husband and wife (or any two co-owners) take title to Ohio real estate as "survivorship tenants," the surviving owner takes full title at the first death by recording a death certificate plus a short affidavit with the county recorder. No probate. Authority: ORC 5302.17.
Commonly used for: Couples who want both names on the deed and want survivorship to operate by deed. Many Ohio couples combine a survivorship deed (handles the first spouse's death) with a TODDA both spouses sign naming the children (handles the second).
Plus 6 to 12 months of court administration, and the estate becomes public record.
Assets transfer in weeks, without a court case, and the family keeps roughly $45,500 to $47,500 of the $48,000 after setup costs.
Numbers are illustrative based on Ohio's statutory executor schedule (ORC 2113.35) and our own attorney fee estimate. Your actual numbers depend on county, asset mix, and complexity. This isn't legal or tax advice.
We're Enrolled Agents. We work on the tax: what your estate would owe the IRS, which filings it triggers, and what each choice is worth in dollars. We don't draft documents and we don't practice law.
Every tool on this page is a legal instrument. Which one fits your family, how it's drafted, and how it works with the documents you've already signed are questions for an Ohio attorney. It helps to know what each choice is worth in tax before you sit down with that attorney.
Avoiding probate is one part of a full estate plan. Four Ohio issues go beyond probate and need separate attention:
Every term below appears in this guide or in the documents your attorney will hand you.
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| Probate | The court process that moves what you owned into the names of the people who inherit it. In Ohio it runs through the probate court in your county. |
| Executor | The person who settles your estate in probate. Ohio law sets the executor's commission. |
| Transfer on Death Designation Affidavit (TODDA) | A notarized form, filed with the county recorder, that names who inherits your Ohio real estate without probate. |
| Revocable living trust | A trust you control and can change or cancel during your life. Assets titled in it skip probate. |
| Successor trustee | The person who takes over your trust at your death or if you can't manage your affairs, and hands out the assets under your instructions. |
| Funded trust | A trust that holds your assets because you retitled them into its name. An unfunded trust avoids no probate. |
| Elective share | The part of an estate a surviving spouse can claim by law, even if the will leaves them less. |
| Beneficiary designation | The form on a retirement account or life insurance policy that names who receives it at your death. |
| 401(k), IRA, 403(b) | Retirement accounts. A 401(k) or 403(b) comes through an employer. An individual retirement account (IRA) you open yourself. |
| Payable on death (POD), transfer on death (TOD) | A beneficiary named directly on a bank or brokerage account. The account passes to that person without probate. |
| Certificate of deposit (CD) | A bank deposit held for a set term at a set interest rate. |
| Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) | Ohio's motor vehicle agency. Its Form 3811 names a transfer-on-death beneficiary for a vehicle, watercraft or outboard motor. |
| Survivorship tenants, survivorship deed | Co-owners on a deed that gives the surviving owner full title at the first death, without probate. |
| Estate tax | A tax on what you leave, paid by the estate before anyone inherits. Ohio repealed its estate tax in 2013. |
| Inheritance tax | A tax on what a person receives, set by that person's relationship to you. Ohio doesn't have one. |
| Transfer tax | A general name for estate, inheritance and gift taxes: taxes on wealth passing from one person to another. |
| Federal threshold | The amount you can leave before federal estate tax applies: $15 million per person in 2026. A married couple can pass up to $30 million by using both spouses' amounts, or by electing portability to carry over the first spouse's unused amount (up to 5 years after death if no return was otherwise required). |
| Medicaid estate recovery | The state's right to be repaid from some of your assets at death for benefits Medicaid paid while you were alive. |
| Legacy Trust Act | The Ohio law that allows a trust built to protect assets from your own creditors. A revocable trust doesn't do that. |
| Ancillary probate, situs state | A second probate in another state where you own real estate. The situs state is the state where the property is located. |
| ORC, Ohio Trust Code | Ohio Revised Code (state law). The Ohio Trust Code is Chapters 5801 through 5811 of the ORC. |
Ohio has no estate or inheritance tax, but the federal estate tax can still apply. We're always glad to talk about how it works. For anything about drafting or choosing legal documents, talk with an Ohio attorney.
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