Ohio
Death Laws & End-of-Life Guide

At a Glance

File it before anything else can happen.

Every death in Ohio is registered with the local registrar of vital statistics by the funeral director or whoever is in charge of final disposition, and the attending physician, coroner, or medical examiner certifies the cause (O.R.C. 3705.16). The hard deadline isn't a day count, it's the burial permit: no body is buried, entombed, or cremated until the registrar issues one, and the registrar won't issue one until a death certificate or provisional death certificate is filed (O.R.C. 3705.17). Funeral homes normally file within a few days.

Who files it.

The funeral director or person in charge of final disposition files the death certificate with the local registrar. The coroner, medical examiner, or physician has 48 hours after being notified of the death to complete and sign the medical certificate of death (O.R.C. 3705.16). Nothing can be buried or cremated until the registrar issues a burial permit, and no permit issues until a death certificate or provisional death certificate is on file (O.R.C. 3705.17).

Who can order copies.

Immediate family members, legal representatives, and persons with a direct and tangible interest can order certified copies.

• -Ohio Department of Health Vital Statistics: odh.ohio.gov
• -Cost: $21.50 per certified copy
• -Expedited service available through VitalChek

Who can order a death certificate in Ohio?

Ohio prints no relationship requirement for a standard certified copy. A copy that includes the Social Security number for a death in the last five years goes only to an authorized requestor: the spouse or legal partner, a child, grandchild or great-grandchild, the funeral director, the executor or administrator, an agent with power of attorney, or an official acting under law. Certified copies come from Ohio's Bureau of Vital Statistics, Ohio Department of Health; more than 100 local vital statistics offices issue same-day copies, online through the state portal, by mail with the application, or in person at a local office.

How do I get a death certificate in Ohio?

Order certified copies from Ohio's vital records office; this section's source link is the official process. The funeral home or cremation provider usually orders the first copies for you. Ask each bank, insurer, court, and agency whether it needs its own certified copy before you decide how many to order.

How much does a death certificate cost in Ohio?

$21.50 per certified copy in Ohio, as shown above. Additional-copy pricing varies; the official source linked in this section has the current fee schedule.

At a Glance

When probate is required.

Ohio requires probate for estates with solely-owned assets exceeding $35,000 (or $100,000 if the surviving spouse is the sole beneficiary). Estates below these thresholds may qualify for a simplified release from administration. (O.R.C. 2113.03)

If you die without a will.

Ohio intestate succession (O.R.C. 2105.06) determines who inherits:

• -Surviving spouse only (no children): gets everything
• -Spouse + children all from that spouse: spouse gets everything
• -Spouse + children from a prior relationship: spouse gets first $20K plus one-third of the remainder; children split the rest
• -No spouse, children survive: children inherit equally
• -No spouse or children: parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives

What goes through probate.

Only assets owned solely by the deceased without beneficiary designations. Joint tenancy property, accounts with named beneficiaries, and life insurance pass outside probate automatically.

Handwritten wills.

Ohio lets a will be handwritten, but it still has to be signed at the end and witnessed by two or more competent witnesses (Ohio Rev. Code 2107.03). A court can save a document that misses a formality only if the person signed it in front of two witnesses, so it won't rescue a will someone wrote and signed alone (R.C. 2107.24). A will valid under the law of the place the person was when they signed it, or of their home state when they died, is admitted here (R.C. 2107.18).

Source: Ohio Rev. Code 2107.03 (Ohio Laws) ↗Source: Ohio Rev. Code 2107.24 ↗

How long does probate take in Ohio?

A straightforward Ohio probate typically runs 6-12 months, as shown in this section. Contested wills, missing heirs, or real property in other states stretch it well past that.

What is the small-estate limit in Ohio?

$35,000. Estates under that figure can use the simplified process or affidavit covered above instead of full probate.

Do I need a probate attorney in Ohio?

Not always. If the estate qualifies for the simplified process covered above, many people handle it without a lawyer. Hire one for full probate, a contested will, or property in more than one state. Before you hire anyone, know the fee structures: hourly, flat, and (in a few states) statutory percentages. Our probate attorney cost guide covers what each should run you.

Does Ohio allow transfer-on-death deeds?

Yes. Ohio authorizes the transfer on death designation affidavit under Ohio Rev. Code §§ 5302.22 to 5302.24. Record it while you’re alive and the property passes to your named beneficiary at death, outside probate, revocable any time before then. Ohio replaced its old TOD deed with the transfer on death designation affidavit in December 2009; it works the same way (record it, keep full ownership, revocable), but the document you record today is an affidavit, not a deed, though TOD deeds recorded before the switch remain valid.

Source: Ohio Rev. Code §§ 5302.22 to 5302.24 ↗

Time off work after a death in Ohio

Ohio doesn't require a private employer to give bereavement leave, paid or unpaid. Whatever you get is your employer's policy, and it can be changed or refused.

Who it covers. State employees only, and only those whose pay comes directly by warrant of the director of budget and management. No private employee is covered.

How much. None required of private employers. State employees get three days.

Paid or unpaid. Not applicable to private employers. The state-employee leave is paid.

Ohio's bereavement statute is real but it is a state-payroll benefit, so an Ohio reader who finds ORC 124.387 online will think it covers them and it doesn't. The same statute covers pregnancy loss for state employees: a state employee who is "the parent of a miscarried or stillborn child" gets the same three paid days, with appropriate medical documentation for a miscarriage or a copy of the fetal death certificate for a stillbirth. Ohio has no state paid sick leave law and no state family leave law, so private-sector workers have no state leave to redirect. Private employers set their own policies; the Ohio Department of Commerce Bureau of Wage and Hour enforces the minimum wage, minor labor and prevailing wage laws and does not collect vacation, sick or holiday benefits.

Source: Ohio Rev. Code § 124.387 (bereavement leave, state employees only); Ohio Rev. Code ch. 4111 (Minimum Fair Wage Standards) ↗

Can I leave money to care for my pet in Ohio?

Yes. Ohio enforces pet trusts under Ohio Rev. Code 5804.08, so money you set aside for an animal is legally binding on whoever you put in charge of it. The trust ends when your animal dies, or when the last of them dies if you covered more than one. Ohio puts no year limit on it, so a young parrot or horse is covered for its whole life. Whoever you name in the trust enforces it, and if you name nobody a court appoints someone. Anyone who cares about an animal the trust pays for can ask the court to appoint an enforcer or to remove one who isn't doing the job. A judge can cut the amount back if it holds more than your animal's care requires. Unless your trust says where the extra should go, it comes back to you if you're living, and otherwise goes to your heirs. Ohio covers an animal that was alive while you were, so a pet your family takes in after you die needs its own arrangement. Ohio also narrows who can complain to the court, down to a person who cares about an animal the trust actually pays for. Name the caretaker, the person who'll enforce the trust, and a backup for each, because the statute won't pick any of them for you.

Source: Ohio Rev. Code 5804.08 ↗

How to set one up, and what it costs →

Die without a will in Ohio and this law picks your heirs.

If you die intestate (without a valid will) in Ohio, Ohio Rev. Code § 2105.06 decides who inherits everything a will would have covered. The shares depend on exactly who survives you: spouse, children, parents, siblings. What you told people you wanted doesn't matter. Only a signed will changes these defaults.

What your spouse gets.

What your spouse inherits depends on who else survives you. The four common family shapes:

• -Spouse only (no descendants or parents): the entire estate.
• -Spouse + parents (no descendants): still the entire estate, parents take nothing when a spouse survives.
• -Spouse + joint descendants: the entire estate; joint children inherit nothing while the spouse lives.
• -Spouse + blended family: first $20,000 plus half the balance (one non-joint child); with multiple children, first $60,000 (spouse is a parent of at least one) or $20,000 (parent of none) plus one-third of the balance.
• -Source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2105.06

Children's shares.

The children take everything in equal shares, with a dead child's share passing to that child's descendants per stirpes.

No spouse, no children: the line of succession.

After descendants come parents, then siblings or their descendants (half-blood siblings count in full), then grandparents in paternal and maternal halves, then next of kin, then stepchildren or their descendants, and only then does the estate escheat to the state.

At a Glance

Ohio Living Will Declaration.

Ohio recognizes a Living Will Declaration under O.R.C. 2133.02. This document specifies your wishes for life-sustaining treatment if you have a terminal condition or are in a permanently unconscious state. It must be signed by the declarant and two adult witnesses, or notarized.

Healthcare Power of Attorney.

Ohio recognizes a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care (O.R.C. 1337.12), which designates an agent to make medical decisions when you can't. Like the living will, it's signed in front of two adult witnesses or acknowledged before a notary public, one or the other (O.R.C. 1337.12(A)(1)(b)).

IPOST (Intensive Care Unit and Post-Acute Care Orders for Scope of Treatment).

Ohio uses the IPOST form for seriously ill patients. The IPOST is a medical order signed by a physician that provides specific instructions for CPR, medical interventions, and artificial nutrition.

Where do I get Ohio's advance directive form?

Start with O.R.C. 1337.11 et seq. (Ohio Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care), linked as this section's source. Use the current form or sample that the official source provides or identifies. Form authority and execution requirements vary by state, so confirm the source before signing and get legal help if your situation or the instructions are unclear.

Does Ohio require a notary or witnesses for an advance directive?

Ohio accepts either 2 adult witnesses or a notary, as shown in the requirements above; you don't need both. Anyone 18 or older of sound mind can make one.

At a Glance

Cremation regulations.

No cremation until at least 24 hours have passed since the death shown on a complete, nonprovisional death certificate filed under O.R.C. 3705.16. The one exception is a virulent communicable disease, where the health department with jurisdiction can order the cremation sooner (O.R.C. 4717.23). A burial permit from the local registrar is required as well, and crematories must be licensed by the Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors.

Right of disposition.

You can name someone to carry out your disposition in a written declaration, and that assignment comes first (O.R.C. 2108.72). If you didn't, O.R.C. 2108.81 sets the order: (1) surviving spouse, (2) the sole surviving child, or all surviving children collectively, (3) parents, (4) siblings of the whole or half blood, collectively, (5) grandparents, then more distant relatives.

Green burial.

Green burial is permitted in Ohio. Natural burial is allowed at cemeteries that permit it. Ohio has several dedicated green burial grounds.

Who decides what happens to the body in Ohio

Ohio sets this order by statute. The first person on the list who is available and willing decides, and a funeral home takes its instructions from them.

1. representative named in the decedent's written declaration under ORC §§ 2108.70-2108.73, then any successor representative named there
2. the surviving spouse
3. the sole surviving child, or all surviving children collectively
4. the surviving parent or parents (the parent who was residential parent and legal custodian when the decedent reached majority takes precedence over the other)
5. the surviving sibling, whole or half blood, or all surviving siblings collectively
6. the surviving grandparent or grandparents
7. the surviving grandchild, or all surviving grandchildren collectively
8. the lineal descendants of the decedent's grandparents, as described in ORC § 2105.06(I)
9. the person who was the decedent's guardian at the time of death
10. any other person willing to assume the right, including the estate's personal representative or the licensed funeral director with custody, after attesting in writing to a good faith effort to locate everyone above
11. for an indigent person or anyone whose disposition is the state's or a subdivision's responsibility, the public officer or employee charged with arranging it

Naming someone in advance. A standalone written declaration under ORC § 2108.70, titled in the statutory form at § 2108.72(B) "Appointment of Representative for Disposition of Bodily Remains, Funeral Arrangements, and Burial or Cremation Goods and Services." An adult of sound mind assigns one or more rights of disposition to a representative (which may be a group) and may name a successor representative; the declaration is signed and dated by the declarant and signed by a notary public or two witnesses under § 2108.73. It is not part of a health care power of attorney, and § 2108.70(D) makes it supersede the default order in § 2108.81.

When the same tier disagrees. Under ORC § 2108.79, where a group or class holds the right and its members disagree, "the decisions of the majority of the persons in the group or class shall prevail"; if fewer than all have been located after reasonable efforts, the majority of those located prevails; and if no majority can be reached, "the probate court of the county in which the declarant or deceased person resided at the time of death shall make the decision" using the criteria in § 2108.82(B).

A person loses the right under § 2108.75 by dying, being declared incompetent, resigning, failing to act within 48 hours of notification of the death (or 72 hours absent notification), being unlocatable with reasonable effort, or refusing to assume the costs of disposition. Sections 2108.76 and 2108.77 add more: a former spouse named before a divorce is out unless re-designated in writing after the marriage ended, and anyone charged with murder, aggravated murder, or voluntary manslaughter, or with domestic violence alleged to have contributed to the death, is out unless the charges are dismissed or they are acquitted, as is a spouse in a pending divorce or one the probate court finds was estranged from the decedent.

Source: Ohio Rev. Code § 2108.81 (assignment of the right of disposition by law), with the advance declaration at §§ 2108.70-2108.73, disqualifications at §§ 2108.75-2108.77, and disputes at § 2108.79 ↗

If you can't afford the funeral in Ohio

Three separate pots of money, on three different agencies' websites, collected nowhere. A family that qualifies for all three usually claims none of them.

1. When nobody can pay. Two layers. The city, village or township must bury or cremate an indigent resident at its own expense under R.C. 9.15, and it can then claim back part of the cost from the state's Indigent Burial and Cremation Support Program. The local government entity (city, municipality or township) determines indigency, hires the funeral home and pays it. The State of Ohio Board of Embalmers and Funeral Directors administers the reimbursement fund.

What it pays. "Reimbursements shall not exceed $1000 for an adult (age 12 and over) or $750 for a child (age 11 and under)." "The program's appropriated amount is $250,000 for Fiscal Year 2027 and will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis until the fund is depleted." R.C. 9.15 itself sets no ceiling on what the local entity has to spend, and it also requires "a metal, stone, or concrete marker on which the person's name and age, if known, and date of death shall be inscribed."

What disqualifies you. "Decedent must be at or under the 150th percentile of the federal poverty level to be considered indigent," determined by the local government entity, matching R.C. 9.15's definition of an indigent person as "a person whose income does not exceed one hundred fifty per cent of the federal poverty line, as revised annually by the United States department of health and human services." R.C. 9.15 also states that "A political subdivision is not relieved of its duty to bury or cremate a person at its expense under this section when the body is claimed by an indigent person."

The official page ↗

2. If the death was caused by a crime. R.C. 2743.51 includes in allowable expense, for funeral costs, "any reasonable charges that are not in excess of seven thousand five hundred dollars per funeral," with family attendance costs inside that limit capped so they "shall not exceed five hundred dollars for each family member."

Ohio crime victim compensation ↗

3. Money the person was already owed. Search Ohio's unclaimed property before you borrow anything. Searching and claiming are free.

Ohio unclaimed property ↗

The family never touches the state money and neither does the funeral home: "Only a local government entity may apply for reimbursement" and "Applications submitted by funeral directors will be denied." The city has 60 days from the date of issuance on the burial transit permit to file, and the fund can run dry mid-year. If it does, the city still has to pay: "A local government entity must carry out this duty even if funds are no longer available through the program." Crime victim claims must be filed within 3 years of the crime.

At a Glance

No Ohio estate tax.

Ohio repealed its state estate tax effective January 1, 2013. Ohio residents aren't subject to a state-level estate tax.

Federal estate tax.

Ohio residents are still subject to the federal estate tax. The federal exemption is $15 million per individual in 2026. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent.

No Ohio inheritance tax.

Ohio doesn't impose an inheritance tax. Beneficiaries inheriting assets from an Ohio decedent pay no state-level inheritance tax.

Does Ohio have an estate tax?

No. Ohio has no state estate tax. Only the federal estate tax applies, and only to estates over $15 million per person (2026), $30 million for a married couple.

Does Ohio have an inheritance tax?

No. Ohio doesn’t tax inheritances. Heirs owe no state tax on what they receive.

What is the federal estate tax exemption for 2026?

$15 million per person, $30 million for a married couple, indexed for inflation. The Working Families Tax Cuts Bill (Public Law 119-21, 2025) made the higher exemption permanent. Estates below the threshold owe no federal estate tax.

At a Glance

The Ohio Donor Registry.

Ohio maintains a donor registry through Lifebanc, LifeCenter, and Midwest Transplant Network. Registration through the Ohio BMV when obtaining or renewing a driver's license is the most common method.

Your family can't override an adult donor's decision.

Under the Ohio Anatomical Gift Act, a registered donor's decision is legally binding. Nobody else can make, amend, or revoke the gift after your death (O.R.C. 2108.08(A)). One exception: if the donor is an unemancipated minor, a parent who is reasonably available can revoke or amend the gift (O.R.C. 2108.06(A)(5) and (B)(5)). Organ procurement organizations still consult families in practice, so tell yours what you decided.

Source: O.R.C. 2108.08 (action by person other than donor) ↗Source: O.R.C. 2108.06 (amending or revoking an anatomical gift) ↗

How to register.

Register online at donatelifeohio.org, at any Ohio BMV location, or by completing a donor card.

• -Online: donatelifeohio.org
• -At the Ohio BMV when renewing your license
• -Donor card: available from Lifebanc or LifeCenter