Who Inherits If You Die Without a Will in Ohio

If there is a surviving spouse and no children, or all of the decedent's children are also the surviving spouse's children, the spouse takes everything. If the spouse is not the parent of the decedent's only child, the spouse takes the first $20,000 plus one-half of the rest. With more than one child, the spouse takes the first $60,000 plus one-third of the rest if the spouse is a parent of some but not all of the children, or the first $20,000 plus one-third if the spouse is the parent of none of them; the children share the remainder. With no spouse or descendants, the estate passes to parents, then siblings (and their descendants), then grandparents and their descendants, then next of kin, then stepchildren, and finally to the state.

After an executor or administrator is appointed, the probate court cites the surviving spouse to elect whether to take under the will or under the intestate statute. A spouse who elects against the will takes the intestate share, but not more than one-half of the net estate (one-third if two or more of the decedent's children or their descendants survive). The election must be made within five months after the initial appointment of the executor or administrator (the court may extend this for good cause); a spouse who does nothing is presumed to take under the will.

Ohio does not use a small estate affidavit. Instead, the probate court may relieve an estate from administration on application (see simplified probate). A summary release from administration is available when estate assets do not exceed the lesser of $5,000 or the funeral and burial expenses, to a non-spouse who paid or is obligated in writing to pay those expenses; a surviving spouse may use it when assets do not exceed the spouse's support allowance plus up to $5,000 of funeral and burial expenses. The application must be on the Supreme Court form and signed before a notary or deputy probate clerk; real estate passes through a certificate of transfer.