Back to Ohio
Belmont County, OH Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | Belmont County Probate Court, the probate division of the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas under the Ohio Revised Code (R.C. 2101.01). The Supreme Court of Ohio's trial-court directory styles it the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile and Probate Divisions, and the court's own site brands it the Belmont County Probate and Juvenile Courts. One elected probate judge presides over both divisions, which is common in Ohio's smaller counties, and the court's own local rules are titled for the Probate and Juvenile Division together |
| Filing office | The probate court's own office at the Belmont County Courthouse in St. Clairsville. The elected probate judge is also the clerk of the probate court (R.C. 2101.11(A)(1)(a)), so wills, estates, guardianships and name changes are filed with the probate court directly. The court's own site states that court staff cannot provide legal advice |
| Courthouse | Belmont County Courthouse, 101 West Main Street, Room 204, St. Clairsville, OH 43950. The court is on the second floor. Enter at the front of the building through the entrance under the stairs, which the court states is the only open door, pass through security including a metal detector, and take the door across from the elevator on the second floor |
| Mailing address | The court publishes no separate post office box, so mail goes to 101 West Main Street, St. Clairsville, OH 43950. Call (740) 699-2144 before mailing an original will or another original document, because the court requires original signatures and does not accept copies |
| Phone | (740) 699-2144, the number the court publishes under the word Probate on every page of its own site and in the footer of the Belmont County Courts case portal (verified July 2026). The juvenile side of the same combined court is (740) 699-2141, and the Common Pleas general division is a different number again, so ask for the probate office |
| Fax | (740) 232-1731, published on the court's contact page, where the juvenile division lists the same number. Loc.R. 3.6 lets the court accept documents by fax or email in probate civil proceedings, with limits: nothing that requires certification or authentication, a cover page is required, the transmission is treated as the original filed by the attorney of record, and a filing that needs payment is not processed until the clerk takes a card payment by phone. Ask the court before relying on fax for an estate filing; the e-filing rule separately states that e-filing does not include faxes or emails (Loc.R. 8) |
| [email protected], published in the site-wide header and on the contact page. The juvenile division uses a separate address | |
| Office hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the hours of operation the court publishes on its contact page and its court hours and holiday schedule page. Its Make Payments page states that in-person payments are taken between the same hours, and Rule 2 of the court's local rules (amended January 22, 2026) sets the regular times for holding sessions of court at 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Do not arrive at closing time: the court's own miscellaneous page asks people coming in to register a medical license to arrive between 8:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. The court publishes a holiday list that includes two half-days, closing at 12:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, 2026, and at 12:00 p.m. on December 22, 2026 |
| Filing fee | Ohio sets most probate fee items by statute, including $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary and $15.00 to probate a will (R.C. 2101.16(A)), and lets each probate court require its own advance deposit for costs by local rule, up to $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)), plus optional computerization and dispute-resolution charges (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163). Belmont County publishes its own deposit schedule in Loc.R. 28.1 (local rules amended January 22, 2026), echoed with minor differences on its Deposits and Court Costs page and repeated in its estate-route instructions: $200.00 for a full estate administration, $150.00 for a release from administration with a will, $125.00 for a release from administration without a will, $100.00 for an application for summary release from administration, and $61.00 to probate a will only. Those deposits are the counter figures rather than the statutory items, and separate court costs are added, so confirm the current total with the court at (740) 699-2144 before you file |
| Local forms | Yes. Belmont County publishes its own supplemental forms alongside the statewide Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio. Its estate-route instructions name Form ES.1 (Order Dispensing With Appraisal), Form ES.2 (Judgment Order, Wrongful Death), Form ES.3 (Judgment Order, Litigation), Form ES.21 (Non-Public Record Information) and Form MISC.02 (Self-Representation Acknowledgment), and its probate forms page posts a Report of Distribution, a Form 5.9 Report of Distribution for a released estate, an Application for Transfer of a Motor Vehicle, an Application to Pay Attorney Fees, an Application for Temporary Commissioner and an attorney form for a temporary order on safe deposit boxes. Loc.R. 26.7 adds a local Certificate of Giving Notice of Account |
| E-filing | Yes for attorneys, not yet for families filing without one. Loc.R. 8 (amended January 22, 2026) states that all attorneys must use the court's e-filing system, that self-represented filers may but are not required to register, and that e-filing was opened first to the prosecutor's office, agencies and local attorneys with self-represented access to follow. A self-represented filer who does not use the system files by mail, commercial carrier or personal delivery, and the clerk must accept, docket and scan the paper document. Filing runs through the Belmont County Courts portal, a CourtView system that carries an attorney e-filing registration link and requires a 2-inch top margin on the first page of anything submitted through it. Because Loc.R. 8 defines the clerk as the clerk of the Juvenile Division, ask the probate office at (740) 699-2144 which estate filings the system currently takes |
| Case search | Yes. The Belmont County Courts public portal is a CourtView docket search shared by the Common Pleas, Probate, Juvenile and Belmont County Court divisions, and its own instructions give the probate case-number format: two digits of year, two characters for case type, then a four-digit case number, as in 22CV0000. The public search is protected by a reCAPTCHA check, so use a normal browser. For anything the docket does not show, including copies, ask the probate court's office in Room 204 |
| Remote appearance | Available at the court's discretion. Loc.R. 7 is a court technology plan that defines in-person, video, telephone and hybrid appearances, and its own definitions say video hearings are conducted using Zoom. Its hearing management plan lists probate pre-trial conferences, and other probate matters on a party's request, as available in person, by video, by telephone or hybrid unless good cause is shown. Evidentiary proceedings held remotely must be recorded and reported as if in person, and the court can require a personal appearance at any point. Ask the court at (740) 699-2144 whether a particular estate hearing can be handled remotely |
| Website | https://www.belmontcountyohiocourts.com/probate-court/ (the Belmont County Probate and Juvenile Courts site, with contacts, the deposit schedule, route instructions, forms and the 2026 hearing calendars) and https://www.belmontcountyohiocourts.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/Local_Rules_2026.pdf (the court's own local rules, amended January 22, 2026). The Supreme Court of Ohio directory still lists this court at belmontcountyjuvenilecourt.com, which now redirects to the same site |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Belmont County, know exactly what is in the estate. Which Ohio route fits depends on whether there is a will, on who inherits, and on the value and titling of the assets, because a full administration, a release from administration and a summary release are different filings with different forms, different notice steps and different deposits at this court. Those routes and their dollar ceilings are statewide and are explained on the Ohio state page. Belmont County makes the choice easier than most counties do, because the court publishes a separate instruction page for each of the three routes, listing the documents to bring, every form to file and the deposit for that route.
Identify every bank and credit-union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life-insurance policy, vehicle, and parcel of real property, along with every debt, before you file. The court's own instructions tell you to bring titles, account numbers, stock certificate numbers and insurance policy numbers, to value real property from the county's property records, and to value vehicles, boats, campers and similar assets from a current nationally recognized used-vehicle guide. How each asset is titled decides whether it passes through the estate at all: property held jointly with right of survivorship, accounts with a named beneficiary, and land covered by a recorded transfer on death designation affidavit (R.C. 5302.22) go directly to the survivor or beneficiary and never reach the probate court. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step, so that the application you hand across the counter in Room 204 lists the estate accurately the first time.
Which court handles jurisdiction
Belmont County Probate Court in St. Clairsville is the single probate filing office for the whole county. Everything is at one address, 101 West Main Street, Room 204, on the second floor of the Belmont County Courthouse, and there is no branch, satellite or district probate office. The court serves every part of the county, including the cities of St. Clairsville, the county seat, and Martins Ferry, the villages of Barnesville, Bellaire, Belmont, Bethesda, Bridgeport, Brookside, Flushing, Holloway, Morristown, Powhatan Point, Shadyside, Wilson and Yorkville, and the townships of Colerain, Flushing, Goshen, Kirkwood, Mead, Pease, Pultney, Richland, Smith, Somerset, Union, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeling and York. The river towns on the county's eastern edge, among them Bridgeport, Martins Ferry, Bellaire and Shadyside, sit directly across the Ohio River from Wheeling, West Virginia, so families here often hold accounts and property on both sides of the river, which matters when you list the estate.
Venue for an Ohio estate is the county where the decedent was a resident at the time of death (R.C. 2113.01). If the person lived in Belmont County, file in Belmont County Probate Court, even if they died in a hospital in Wheeling, Steubenville, Zanesville or Columbus. Ohio's statute says resident, not domiciled, and the probate court in which the will is admitted is the court that grants letters. Ohio has no probate district, circuit or regional overlay: all 88 counties have their own probate court, seated at the county seat (R.C. 2101.01(A)), and Belmont County's sits in St. Clairsville.
Several courts share this courthouse and this county's court websites, and only one office handles estates. Belmont County Probate Court, reached at (740) 699-2144, is the probate division of the Court of Common Pleas and is where wills, estates, guardianships and name changes are filed. The same elected judge also runs the Juvenile Division, (740) 699-2141, so the office answers as the Probate and Juvenile Courts and shares one building entrance and one case portal with the other Belmont County courts. The Common Pleas general and domestic relations divisions and the three locations of the Belmont County Court are separate courts with their own numbers listed in the portal footer, and they do not open estates.
The jurisdiction process
- Pick your route before you fill anything in. The court publishes a separate instruction page for each of the three estate routes and states when each applies: a full administration is required where there is a surviving spouse and the assets exceed $100,000, where there is no surviving spouse and the assets exceed $35,000 (R.C. 2113.03), or where a wrongful death or litigation action is filed with the court; a release from administration fits smaller estates; and a summary release fits the smallest, generally where the estate is $5,000 or less and the applicant paid or is obligated to pay the funeral bill (R.C. 2113.031). The statewide ceilings and how they work are covered on the Ohio state page. Note that the court's release instructions list the ceilings tiered by date of death, so an estate for someone who died decades ago may be judged against a lower figure.
- Gather the documents the court asks for. The original signed will if there is one, a certified copy of the death certificate, the names and addresses of the surviving spouse, children, next of kin, legatees and devisees, titles and account, certificate and policy numbers, the market value of any real property from the county's property records, and vehicle values from a current nationally recognized used-vehicle guide. For a release or a summary release the court also wants the paid funeral bill, or the bill itself, showing that the applicant paid it or is obligated to pay it. The court requires forms to be typed or clearly printed and all signatures to be original, and it does not accept copies. A person named in a will to settle the estate is an executor; a person appointed where there is no will is an administrator; Ohio's umbrella term for either, used throughout the Revised Code and the forms, is fiduciary.
- Assemble the statewide forms plus Belmont County's own. Ohio uses one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio in every county, and this court adds supplemental forms of its own. For a full administration with a will its instructions list Form 2.0 (Application to Probate Will), Form 1.0 (Surviving Spouse, Children, Next of Kin, Legatees, and Devisees), Form 2.1, Form 2.4, Form 4.0 (Application for Authority to Administer Estate), Form 4.3, Form 4.4, Form 3.0, Form 4.2, Form 4.6, Form 8.6 and Forms 7.0 and 7.0(A), together with the county's own Form ES.1 (Order Dispensing With Appraisal), Form ES.2, Form ES.3, Form ES.21 (Non-Public Record Information) and Form MISC.02 (Self-Representation Acknowledgment). With no will the same list applies without the will-specific items. Before appointment the application must name the surviving spouse and next of kin and state in general terms what the estate consists of and its probable value (R.C. 2113.07).
- File in Room 204, by mail, or through the portal if you have an attorney. Take the completed forms to the probate court on the second floor of the courthouse at 101 West Main Street, St. Clairsville, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, or mail them to the same address. Under Loc.R. 8 all attorneys must use the court's e-filing system, self-represented filers may but are not required to register, and e-filing was opened first to the prosecutor's office, agencies and local attorneys, so a family filing without a lawyer files on paper and the clerk must accept, docket and scan it. Anything submitted through the court's portal needs a 2-inch top margin on the first page.
- Pay the deposit for your route. Belmont County's own schedule, Loc.R. 28.1 as amended January 22, 2026 and posted on the court's Deposits and Court Costs page, sets $200.00 for a full estate administration, $150.00 for a release from administration with a will, $125.00 for a release without a will, $100.00 for an application for summary release from administration and $61.00 to probate a will only. The court takes cash, credit cards, money orders and checks in person, accepts mailed payments, and offers online payment through its portal; its instruction pages note a credit-card surcharge, given as 3 per cent on the summary release page and 4 per cent on the release page. Ohio's statutory fee items, including $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary and $15.00 to probate a will (R.C. 2101.16(A)), sit underneath those deposits, and the statute caps a local-rule advance deposit at $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)), so ask the court what the total will be for your filing.
- Expect a hearing if you are filing a full administration without an attorney. The court's full administration instructions state that a pro se applicant must attend a hearing that will take place within 4 to 6 weeks from the time of filing, and that the applicant is notified of the date by mail. At the hearing a magistrate reviews the application to become fiduciary and, on approval, explains the fiduciary's rules, rights and responsibilities and issues letters of authority.
- Collect the letters of authority. On an admitted will the court issues letters testamentary to the executor; with no will it issues letters of administration to the administrator (R.C. 2113.05). Either way the appointment is recorded on Form 4.5 (Entry Appointing Fiduciary; Letter of Authority), and the certified letter of authority is what banks, transfer agents and title companies rely on. Certified copies are $1.00 per page with a $1.00 minimum (R.C. 2101.16(A)) and the court's own schedule sets copies at $1.00 (Loc.R. 28.2(D)), so ask for enough copies for every institution the estate deals with while you are at the counter.
- Send the Medicaid estate recovery notice within 30 days where it applies. Where the decedent or the decedent's spouse was subject to the Medicaid estate recovery program, the person responsible for the estate must submit a completed medicaid estate recovery notice form to the administrator of the medicaid estate recovery program not later than thirty days after letters are granted or an application for release or summary release is filed (R.C. 2117.061). Compliance is certified to the court on Form 7.0, and this court lists Forms 7.0 and 7.0(A) in all three of its route instruction sets, including the release and summary release routes. Belmont County charges $28.00 where the medicaid recovery certification is the only thing filed (Loc.R. 28.1(J)).
- File the inventory within three months, and watch the hearing calendar. The fiduciary must file an inventory of the decedent's real and personal property within three months after appointment unless the court grants an extension for good cause (R.C. 2115.02), on Form 6.0 (Inventory and Appraisal). Belmont County sets inventory hearings twice a month at 10:00 a.m. on a published calendar, so the date you file decides which hearing your inventory is heard on and when the deadline for service compliance or exceptions falls. Loc.R. 25.1 has the court issue a notice on the 90th day after appointment if no inventory has been filed, and Loc.R. 25.7 limits inventory waivers to next of kin who are named beneficiaries in the will.
- Handle creditor claims. In Ohio all claims against the estate must be presented within six months after the date of death, whether or not an executor or administrator was appointed in that period, and a claim presented later is forever barred, subject to the Medicaid estate recovery exception (R.C. 2117.06, R.C. 2117.061). Ohio requires no newspaper advertisement of the grant of letters, although a release from administration can require notice by publication unless it is waived or found unnecessary (R.C. 2113.03); Belmont County's schedule carries a publication fee for estates of $500.00 (Loc.R. 28.3(B)), so ask the court whether publication is needed in your case before you assume the cost.
- Account, then close. The fiduciary must render a final and distributive account within six months after appointment unless one of the statutory exceptions applies, and where the sole heir or beneficiary is also the fiduciary a certificate of termination may be filed instead (R.C. 2109.301). The account goes in on Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account). Belmont County hears accounts monthly at 10:00 a.m. on a published calendar, requires evidence that the account was sent to each heir or beneficiary and offers a local Certificate of Giving Notice of Account for that purpose (Loc.R. 26.7), and does not require vouchers with an estate account unless personal property other than a motor vehicle is distributed (Loc.R. 26.6). Where Ohio real estate passes through the estate, apply for a Certificate of Transfer on Form 12.0 with Form 12.1 and record the certificate with the Belmont County Recorder; the court warns that transferring real estate may require an additional fee.
Executor duties
Ohio's statewide duties apply here in full: file the inventory within three months of appointment (R.C. 2115.02), render a final and distributive account within six months unless a statutory exception applies (R.C. 2109.301), and remember that claims against the estate are barred six months after the date of death rather than six months after any notice (R.C. 2117.06). Those are covered on the Ohio state page. What follows is what Belmont County adds on top, from its own local rules.
The court chases late filings on a published schedule rather than waiting for a complaint. Loc.R. 25.1 issues a notice on the 90th day from appointment where no inventory has been filed, addressed to the fiduciary's attorney or, where the fiduciary has no attorney, directly to the fiduciary. Loc.R. 25.2 follows with a citation 30 days later, and Loc.R. 25.3 institutes removal proceedings, set for hearing within 30 days, if the inventory is still not filed 30 days after the citation. Loc.R. 26.1 does the same for accounts, mailing a notice at six months after appointment in an estate that requires an account and giving 30 days to file, with a citation under Loc.R. 26.2 and removal under Loc.R. 26.3 on the same 30-day steps. Loc.R. 25.5 and Loc.R. 26.4 both state plainly that a fiduciary who does not file on time may be removed and a successor appointed. Extensions are available but bounded: not exceeding 90 days for an inventory unless the court approves longer (Loc.R. 25.6), and not more than 90 days in total for an account unless an exception under R.C. 2109.301(B)(1) applies (Loc.R. 26.5).
Three local paperwork duties are easy to miss. First, Loc.R. 26.7 requires evidence that the account or supplemental final account was sent to each heir or beneficiary, signed by both the fiduciary and the attorney, and the court supplies a local Certificate of Giving Notice of Account for it. Second, Loc.R. 27 covers the certificate of giving notice of the probate of a will: where one is required and has not been filed, the court sends a notice to the attorney, and if the certificate is not filed within 30 days the citation and penalty provisions apply. Third, waivers are narrower here than filers expect: Loc.R. 25.7 requires inventory waivers only from next of kin who are named beneficiaries in the will, and Loc.R. 19(D) requires release-from-administration waivers only from the named beneficiaries in a testator's last will, but from all next of kin where the estate is intestate.
Vouchers and closing. Loc.R. 26.6 says vouchers need not be filed with a partial or final account in an estate unless personal property other than a motor vehicle is distributed, though the court may require them case by case. Loc.R. 19(C)'s 13-month status conference is the backstop: if the estate is still open then, the fiduciary and the attorney appear with a written status report. Where the estate holds real property that has to be sold, Loc.R. 18 sets a pre-trial conference within 10 days after a land sale action passes its one-year anniversary, with a written status report filed at least seven days ahead addressing the efforts to sell and when the case will close.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Belmont County
Belmont County uses the statewide Standard Probate Forms and adds supplemental forms of its own, which is unusual for a county this size. Ohio has one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio and used in all 88 counties, and that set is what carries the substance of an estate filing. On top of it, the Belmont County Probate Court names its own forms in its route instructions and posts several as downloads, so check the county's list before you assume the statewide set is complete.
The load-bearing statewide items for a decedent's estate are Form 1.0 (Surviving Spouse, Children, Next of Kin, Legatees, and Devisees), Form 2.0 (Application to Probate Will) with Form 2.1 and Form 2.4, Form 4.0 (Application for Authority to Administer Estate) with Forms 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4, Form 4.5 (Entry Appointing Fiduciary; Letter of Authority), Form 3.0 (Appointment of Appraiser), Form 5.0 (Application to Relieve Estate From Administration) with Form 5.1 (Assets and Liabilities of Estate to be Relieved from Administration), Form 5.2 and Form 5.6, Form 5.10 (Summary Release From Administration) with Form 5.11, Form 6.0 (Inventory and Appraisal), Forms 7.0 and 7.0(A) for Medicaid estate recovery, Form 8.6, Form 12.0 (Application for Certificate of Transfer) with Form 12.1, and Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account). Confirm the current version on the Supreme Court of Ohio forms page before you file, because form numbering and titles are revised from time to time.
Belmont County's own additions are named on its estate-route instruction pages and its probate forms page: Form ES.1 (Order Dispensing With Appraisal), Form ES.2 (Judgment Order, Wrongful Death), Form ES.3 (Judgment Order, Litigation), Form ES.21 (Non-Public Record Information), Form MISC.02 (Self-Representation Acknowledgment), a Report of Distribution, a Form 5.9 Report of Distribution for an estate released from administration, an Application for Transfer of a Motor Vehicle, an Application to Pay Attorney Fees, an Application for Temporary Commissioner and an attorney form for a temporary order on safe deposit boxes. Loc.R. 26.7 adds a local Certificate of Giving Notice of Account, and Appendix A to Loc.R. 19 prints an Order of Private Sale, Personal Property. The court's full administration instructions also call for a Form 4.6, Fiduciary's Acceptance, which does not appear in the Supreme Court of Ohio's current decedent's estate set either. None of the ES or MISC numbers appears in that statewide set, so these forms have to come from this court.
Two presentation rules matter. The court requires forms to be typed or clearly printed with original signatures and accepts no copies, and anything submitted through the Belmont County Courts portal must carry a 2-inch top margin on the first page so the electronic file stamp has somewhere to go.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide forms you file in Belmont County, including Forms 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.1, 5.10, 6.0, 7.0, 12.0 and 13.0, with the numbered variants and waivers |
| Belmont County Probate Court forms (belmontcountyohiocourts.com) | The court's own downloadable forms, including the Report of Distribution, the Form 5.9 Report of Distribution for a released estate, the Application for Transfer of a Motor Vehicle, the Application to Pay Attorney Fees, the Application for Temporary Commissioner, the safe deposit box form and the name-change set |
| Belmont County Probate Court: my loved one has passed (belmontcountyohiocourts.com) | The court's estate landing page, linking its own instructions for full administration, release from administration and summary release, each with the documents to bring, the complete form list for that route and the deposit |
| Belmont County Probate and Juvenile Division local rules, amended January 22, 2026 (belmontcountyohiocourts.com) | The court's own rules: hours (Rule 2), remote appearances (Rule 7), e-filing (Rule 8), decedent's estates (Rule 19), inventories (Rule 25), accounts (Rule 26), the certificate of giving notice of probate of a will (Rule 27) and the deposit and cost schedule (Rule 28) |
Fees
Belmont County is one of the Ohio counties that publishes its own figures, so you do not have to guess what to bring. The deposit schedule appears twice: in Loc.R. 28.1 of the court's local rules, whose cover page is marked amended January 22, 2026, and on the court's Deposits and Court Costs page, which carries no date. The two agree on most estate lines, with two differences flagged below: the web table omits the release-with-will line, which the local rule and the court's release instructions both give as $150.00, and the two sources differ on a summary release with a will. The court's own route instruction pages repeat the local rule's figures. Ohio sets the underlying fee items by statute, including $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary, $15.00 to probate a will, $60.00 to relieve an estate from administration or grant a summary release, $10.00 for an inventory with appraisement, $12.00 for an account and $1.00 per page for certified copies (R.C. 2101.16(A)), and caps an advance deposit required by local rule at $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)) while allowing separate computerization and dispute-resolution charges (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163). Belmont County's deposits are framed as deposits against the case's costs rather than as a single filing fee, so confirm the total at (740) 699-2144 before you file.
| Filing | Deposit under Loc.R. 28.1, amended January 22, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Full estate administration, appointment of a fiduciary to file a civil action, testamentary trust, appointment of a guardian of a minor or an incompetent, emergency guardianship, conservator, protective services | $200.00 |
| Release of estate from administration, with a will | $150.00 in Loc.R. 28.1(B), repeated on the court's release instructions. The Deposits and Court Costs page omits this line |
| Release of estate from administration, without a will | $125.00 |
| Application for summary release from administration | $100.00 |
| Application for summary release with a will, or a certificate of transfer | $150.00 in Loc.R. 28.1(G). The court's Deposits and Court Costs page lists $125.00 for the same line, so confirm which applies |
| Probate of will only | $61.00 |
| Will contest, determination of heirship, concealment of assets, declaratory judgment and other contested actions | $150.00 |
| Certification of notice to the administrator of the medicaid estate recovery program only | $28.00 |
| Will deposited with no estate opened | $25.00 |
| No estate where the date of death is more than ten years earlier | $40.00 |
| Authenticated copies in an estate | $37.00 plus the pages of record |
Court costs are charged on top of the deposit. Loc.R. 28.2 sets $1.00 for copies, $10.00 for the computer fund, $3.00 for computerized legal research, $10.00 for mediation, $10.00 for special projects, $1.00 for conduct of business and $10.00 for certified mail, and Loc.R. 28.3 sets a publication fee for estates of $500.00. The court's Deposits and Court Costs page matches on every one of those except certified mail, which it gives as $8.00, so ask which figure is current. Both sources close with the same caution: for probate proceedings not listed, contact the court, and these court costs may be changed by the court without amending the local rules or as required by statute.
How to pay. The court accepts cash, credit cards, money orders and checks, takes in-person payments between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, accepts payments mailed to 101 West Main Street, St. Clairsville, OH 43950 with the case number included, and offers online payment through the Belmont County Courts portal. A credit-card surcharge applies, stated as 3 per cent on the court's summary release instructions and 4 per cent on its release from administration instructions, so confirm the current rate before paying by card. The court also warns on both release pages that transferring real estate may require an additional fee, and Loc.R. 28.1 charges separately for an application for a certificate of transfer.
Timeline
- Filing to appointment, without an attorney: 4 to 6 weeks. The court's full administration instructions state that a pro se applicant must attend a hearing that will take place within 4 to 6 weeks from the time of filing, with notice of the date sent by mail. A magistrate reviews the application at that hearing and issues letters of authority on approval, so a family filing without counsel should plan on one trip to St. Clairsville after filing before it has authority to deal with banks.
- Inventory: due within three months of appointment (R.C. 2115.02), then heard on a published calendar. Belmont County sets inventory hearings twice a month, all at 10:00 a.m., and publishes the pairings for the year: inventories docketed January 1 to January 15, 2026 were heard February 2, 2026 with a deadline for service compliance or exceptions of January 27, 2026; those docketed January 16 to January 31 were heard February 17, 2026 with a deadline of February 10, 2026. The pattern holds through the year, so the day you file decides your hearing date, roughly two to five weeks out.
- Inventory not filed on time: notice on day 90, then a citation. Loc.R. 25.1 has the court issue a notice on the 90th day from appointment, to the fiduciary's attorney or directly to the fiduciary where there is none, and Loc.R. 25.2 issues a citation if the inventory is still not filed 30 days after that notice. Loc.R. 25.6 allows extensions only by leave of court for good cause and not exceeding 90 days unless the court approves longer.
- Account: due within six months of appointment (R.C. 2109.301), then heard monthly. Belmont County hears accounts once a month at 10:00 a.m. on a published calendar: accounts docketed during January 2026 were heard March 2, 2026 with a service-compliance or exceptions deadline of February 24, 2026, and accounts docketed during February 2026 were heard April 1, 2026 with a deadline of March 26, 2026. Loc.R. 26.1 has the court mail a notice at six months after appointment giving 30 days to file, Loc.R. 26.2 issues a citation set for hearing within 30 days if it is still not filed, and Loc.R. 26.5 caps extensions at 90 days in total unless a statutory exception applies.
- Exceptions to an inventory or an account: pre-trial within 30 days, hearing within 30 days after that. Loc.R. 19(B) requires the court to set all exceptions for a pre-trial conference within 30 days after the exceptions are filed, and at that conference to set an evidentiary hearing within 30 days thereafter unless the matter goes to mediation; where mediation does not resolve it, the evidentiary hearing is set within 30 days of the court learning that.
- Estate still open at 13 months: status conference. Loc.R. 19(C) makes every decedent's estate still open after 13 months subject to a status conference, other than estates held open by asbestos claims or where a partial account has been filed. The fiduciary and the attorney must both attend and hand the court a written status report at the conference, so this is the practical deadline for closing a straightforward Belmont County estate.
Local nuance
Belmont County-specific considerations
This is one court with two divisions, and the estate counter is inside a secured courthouse. One elected judge presides over both the Probate Division and the Juvenile Division of the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas, the court brands itself the Belmont County Probate and Juvenile Courts, and its local rules are titled for the Probate and Juvenile Division together, with a first section of general rules that applies to both. Practically that means the probate line, (740) 699-2144, and the juvenile line, (740) 699-2141, reach the same office, and the court's own site states that court staff cannot provide legal advice. Getting to the counter takes a moment: the court states that all visitors enter at the front of the building through the entrance under the stairs, that no other doors are open, and that everyone passes through security including a metal detector, and the court itself is on the second floor in Room 204, through the door across from the elevator.
E-filing exists but is not yet the route for a family filing alone. Loc.R. 8, in the general-rules section of the rules amended January 22, 2026, says all attorneys must use the court's e-filing system, that self-represented filers may but are not required to register, and that e-filing was opened first to the prosecutor's office, agencies and local attorneys with self-represented access to follow. A self-represented filer who does not use the system files by mail, commercial carrier or personal delivery, and the clerk must accept the paper document, docket it and scan it before the end of the next business day, after which the paper copy is destroyed and the electronic version is the official record. The rule exempts documents for in camera review, documents filed under seal, exhibits that cannot be stored electronically and pro hac vice motions; caps a submission at 20 megabytes; requires PDF except for proposed orders, which go in Word; allows one captioned document per filing; and lets documents be submitted around the clock with clerk review during business hours. Because the rule defines the clerk as the clerk of the Juvenile Division, confirm with the probate office which estate filings the system currently accepts.
One portal does search, e-filing and payment for every court in the county. The Belmont County Courts public portal is a CourtView system shared by the Common Pleas, Probate, Juvenile and Belmont County Court divisions, which is why its footer lists six phone numbers. Its own instructions distinguish the case-number formats: for probate, juvenile or common pleas cases, enter two digits of year, two characters for case type and a four-digit case number, as in 22CV0000, while the Eastern, Western and Northern county court divisions add a location character. The public search sits behind a reCAPTCHA check, so use a normal browser rather than expecting a direct link to work, and the portal asks that anything filed through it carry a 2-inch top margin on the first page so the electronic file stamp does not cover text.
The published hearing calendars are the county's most useful local fact. Most Ohio probate courts leave a filer guessing when an inventory or an account will be reviewed. Belmont County publishes both calendars a year ahead, all hearings at 10:00 a.m., with a third column giving the deadline for service compliance or exceptions ahead of each hearing. Inventories are heard twice a month and accounts once a month, so the date you file determines your hearing date and your compliance deadline. Combine that with the court's statement that a pro se full administration applicant is heard within 4 to 6 weeks of filing, and a family can map most of a Belmont County estate onto a calendar before it starts.
Watch the two half-days and the credit-card surcharge. The court's holiday list closes the office at 12:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, 2026, and at 12:00 p.m. on December 22, 2026, in addition to the usual holidays. On payment, the court's own instruction pages give a credit-card surcharge of 3 per cent on the summary release page and 4 per cent on the release from administration page, and its two publications of the cost schedule differ on certified mail, $10.00 in Loc.R. 28.2(E) against $8.00 on the Deposits and Court Costs page, and on a summary release with a will or a certificate of transfer, $150.00 in Loc.R. 28.1(G) against $125.00 on that page. Ask which figure is current when you call.
Recent updates
| Change | What it means for a Belmont County estate |
|---|---|
| Local rules amended January 22, 2026 | The court's current Local Court Rules of Practice for the Court of Common Pleas of Belmont County, Ohio, Probate/Juvenile Division carry that amendment date on the cover. They contain the e-filing rule (Rule 8), the court technology and remote appearance plan (Rule 7), an artificial intelligence policy (Rule 9), the decedent's estates rule with its 13-month status conference (Rule 19), the inventory and account notice and citation steps (Rules 25 and 26) and the deposit and court-cost schedule (Rule 28). They are published by the court itself as a scanned PDF |
| E-filing opened to attorneys, self-represented access to follow | Loc.R. 8 states that all attorneys must use the court's e-filing system, that e-filing was made available first to the prosecutor's office, agencies and local attorneys, and that self-represented filers will have the option later. Until then a family filing without a lawyer files on paper and the clerk must accept, docket and scan it. Confirm the current position with the probate office |
| 2026 inventory and accounting hearing calendars published | The court has posted the full year of inventory hearing dates and accounting hearing dates, all at 10:00 a.m., each paired with the docket window it covers and a deadline for service compliance or exceptions. This lets a fiduciary work backwards from a hearing date when deciding when to file |
| Court website consolidated onto belmontcountyohiocourts.com | The Supreme Court of Ohio trial-court directory still lists this court at belmontcountyjuvenilecourt.com. That domain and its local-rules path now redirect to the court's current site, so use belmontcountyohiocourts.com |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Belmont County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the St. Clairsville-area home was held jointly with right of survivorship, or was covered by a transfer on death designation affidavit recorded with the Belmont County Recorder before death (R.C. 5302.22), it passes to the survivor outside probate and the court is not involved in the house itself. If other assets stood in the decedent's sole name, the spouse files in Belmont County Probate Court: Form 2.0 and Form 4.0 with a will, leading to letters testamentary, or Form 4.0 alone with no will, leading to letters of administration, with the court's own Form MISC.02 where the spouse files without an attorney. Where the spouse inherits everything and the estate is $100,000 or less, it may qualify to be released from administration rather than fully administered (R.C. 2113.03), a shorter filing on Forms 5.0 and 5.1 with a $150.00 deposit where there is a will or $125.00 where there is not (Loc.R. 28.1(B), amended January 22, 2026). | Asset discovery to confirm how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to reach the court, including accounts held across the river. Packet generation for the Belmont County filing, whether a full administration or a release. A vetted attorney referral if the title or a claim turns out to be contested. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | Where the whole estate is worth $35,000 or less, or $100,000 or less where a surviving spouse inherits everything, an interested party can apply to relieve the estate from administration on Forms 5.0 and 5.1 instead of running a full administration (R.C. 2113.03); the deposit is $125.00 without a will and $150.00 with one (Loc.R. 28.1(B), amended January 22, 2026). A release still requires the Medicaid estate recovery notice within thirty days where the program applies (R.C. 2117.061) and does not shorten the six-month creditor window (R.C. 2117.06). Because self-represented filers cannot yet e-file here, an out-of-state child files by mail to 101 West Main Street, St. Clairsville, OH 43950 and calls (740) 699-2144 to confirm what the office needs, rather than flying in to file. The court's online docket lets a filer at a distance check what has been entered. | Asset discovery to establish the estate's value from out of state and confirm which route it qualifies for. Packet generation for the release or the full administration, assembled so it can be mailed to St. Clairsville and accepted the first time, with original signatures where the court requires them. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Because real property has to be sold, this goes through a full administration on a $200.00 deposit (Loc.R. 28.1(A), amended January 22, 2026): with no will the parent files Form 4.0 in Belmont County Probate Court, is appointed administrator and receives letters of administration; with a will the parent probates it on Form 2.0 and receives letters testamentary. A parent filing without an attorney attends a hearing within 4 to 6 weeks of filing, where a magistrate reviews the application and issues the letters. The inventory follows within three months (R.C. 2115.02) on Form 6.0 and is heard on the court's twice-monthly inventory calendar at 10:00 a.m. Where the property is transferred to heirs rather than sold, the route is a Certificate of Transfer on Form 12.0 with Form 12.1, recorded with the Belmont County Recorder. If a land sale action runs past a year, Loc.R. 18 sets a pre-trial conference and a written status report. | Asset discovery for the child's accounts, insurance and real property. Packet generation for the administration and the inventory, timed against the court's published hearing calendar. Attorney referral where the sale, a mortgage payoff or a dispute among heirs makes counsel worthwhile. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Belmont County Probate Court (belmontcountyohiocourts.com), (740) 699-2144 | The filing office for estates: contacts, the deposit and court-cost schedule, the estate-route instructions, the court's own forms, the 2026 hearing calendars, the holiday list and the courthouse entry and parking page. Court staff can explain procedure but the court states that staff cannot provide legal advice |
| Belmont County Probate Court: my loved one has passed (belmontcountyohiocourts.com) | The court's estate landing page, with its own instructions for full administration, release from administration and summary release, each listing when the route applies, the documents to bring, every form for that route and the deposit |
| Belmont County Probate Court deposits and court costs (belmontcountyohiocourts.com) | The court's posted deposit and court-cost tables, matching Loc.R. 28 on the estate lines. Undated, so check the figures against the local rules and the court |
| Belmont County Probate and Juvenile Division local rules, amended January 22, 2026 (belmontcountyohiocourts.com) | The court's own rules, including hours (Rule 2), remote appearances (Rule 7), e-filing (Rule 8), decedent's estates and the 13-month status conference (Rule 19), inventories (Rule 25), accounts (Rule 26) and the deposit and cost schedule (Rule 28) |
| Belmont County 2026 inventory hearing dates (belmontcountyohiocourts.com) and 2026 accounting hearing dates | The court's published calendars pairing each docket window with its hearing date, all at 10:00 a.m., and the deadline for service compliance or exceptions before each one |
| Belmont County Courts case records search and payments (eservices.belmontcountycourts.com) | The county's CourtView portal: public docket search covering probate case numbers, online payment of court costs, and attorney e-filing registration. Protected by a reCAPTCHA check, so use a normal browser |
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide forms used in every Ohio county, including Belmont, with the numbered variants and waivers |
| Supreme Court of Ohio, Ohio trial courts directory (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The official court names and links for every county's Court of Common Pleas divisions. Its Belmont entry still points at belmontcountyjuvenilecourt.com, which redirects to the court's current site |
| Supreme Court of Ohio local rules of court (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide index of trial-court local rules, useful if an estate touches more than one county |
| Ohio Legal Help (ohiolegalhelp.org) | Plain-language Ohio probate guides, including release from administration and summary release, from a statewide non-profit. Not a government site, so confirm court contact details with the court itself |
| Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (lasco.org), (740) 283-4781 or toll free (800) 837-4781 | Free civil legal help for eligible low-income residents, veterans and seniors. Ohio Legal Help's county tool names LASCO as the legal-aid program covering Belmont County, and LASCO's Steubenville office, 500 Market Street, Suite 705, handles Belmont, Harrison, Jefferson, Monroe and Noble counties at the numbers above. LASCO's predecessor operated Southeastern Ohio Legal Services. Confirm it can take a probate matter before relying on it |
| Ohio Legal Help: find your legal aid (ohiolegalhelp.org) | Confirms which legal-aid program covers a given Ohio county and how to apply. For Belmont County it returns LASCO and Pro Seniors, which serves Ohio residents aged 60 and over |
| Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral (ohiobar.org) | Referrals to Ohio probate attorneys, useful in a county with a small local bar |
When to hire an attorney
Many Belmont County estates are uncontested and can be handled without an attorney, and this court is better set up for that than most: it publishes route-by-route instructions, its own forms, a deposit schedule and its hearing calendars, and it walks a pro se applicant through the fiduciary's duties at the appointment hearing. Consider counsel when a will is contested or a dispute among heirs is likely, when real property has to be sold or divided or a land sale action is needed, when oil and gas or mineral interests are part of the estate, when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing a claim inside the six-month window (R.C. 2117.06), when a wrongful-death or injury claim is part of the estate, when assets sit across the river in West Virginia or in another state, or when a guardianship has to run alongside the estate. Two practical local factors point the same way: e-filing here is currently for attorneys, so counsel can file and be served electronically while a self-represented filer works on paper, and the court's inventory and account rules run on notice, citation and removal steps that a fiduciary who misses a deadline will feel quickly. The court itself strongly recommends working with an attorney on its estate landing page, and states that court staff cannot provide legal advice. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Ohio probate attorney serving Belmont County and the surrounding eastern Ohio counties.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit-union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Belmont County real estate and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and which Ohio route fits before you drive to St. Clairsville.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the estate settlement paperwork for your route, whether a full administration, a release from administration or a summary release, on the statewide Standard Probate Forms alongside the Belmont County forms the court's instructions call for, ready to file in Room 204 or by mail.
Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Ohio probate attorney serving Belmont County.
Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file for probate in Belmont County?
With the Belmont County Probate Court at the Belmont County Courthouse, 101 West Main Street, Room 204, St. Clairsville, OH 43950. It is the probate division of the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas (R.C. 2101.01), and because the elected probate judge is also the court's clerk (R.C. 2101.11(A)(1)(a)), estates are filed with the probate court itself rather than with a county clerk of courts. File in Belmont County if the person was a resident of the county at the time of death (R.C. 2113.01). The court is on the second floor; enter at the front of the building through the entrance under the stairs and pass through security.
Is there e-filing for probate in Belmont County?
Yes, but as things stand it is for attorneys. Loc.R. 8, in local rules amended January 22, 2026, states that all attorneys must use the court's e-filing system, that self-represented filers may but are not required to register, and that e-filing was made available first to the prosecutor's office, agencies and local attorneys, with self-represented filers to get the option later. If you file without a lawyer you file on paper, by mail, commercial carrier or personal delivery, and the clerk must accept, docket and scan it. Filing runs through the Belmont County Courts portal, which requires a 2-inch top margin on the first page. Because the rule defines the clerk as the clerk of the Juvenile Division, call (740) 699-2144 to confirm which estate filings the system currently takes.
How do I look up a Belmont County probate case online?
Use the Belmont County Courts public portal, a CourtView docket search shared by the Common Pleas, Probate, Juvenile and Belmont County Court divisions. Its own instructions give the probate case-number format: two digits of year, two characters for the case type, then a four-digit case number, as in 22CV0000. The public search is behind a reCAPTCHA check, so open it in a normal browser. For copies or for anything the docket does not show, contact the probate court's office in Room 204 at (740) 699-2144.
How much does it cost to file probate in Belmont County?
The court publishes its own deposits in Loc.R. 28.1, amended January 22, 2026, echoed on its Deposits and Court Costs page and in its route instructions: $200.00 for a full estate administration, $150.00 for a release from administration with a will, $125.00 for a release without a will, $100.00 for an application for summary release from administration and $61.00 to probate a will only. Court costs are added on top, including $10.00 for the computer fund, $10.00 for special projects, $10.00 for mediation, $3.00 for computerized legal research and $1.00 per copy, and the schedule carries a $500.00 publication fee for estates. Underneath all of that Ohio fixes the fee items by statute, including $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary and $15.00 to probate a will (R.C. 2101.16(A)), and caps a local-rule advance deposit at $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)). Call (740) 699-2144 and ask what the total will be, and note that paying by card adds a surcharge the court states as 3 per cent on one instruction page and 4 per cent on another.
When are probate hearings held in Belmont County, and how long is the wait?
The court publishes its calendars a year ahead, and everything is at 10:00 a.m. Inventory hearings are held twice a month and accounting hearings once a month, each paired with the docket window it covers and a deadline for service compliance or exceptions. Inventories docketed January 1 to January 15, 2026 were heard February 2, 2026, with a compliance deadline of January 27, 2026; accounts docketed during January 2026 were heard March 2, 2026, with a deadline of February 24, 2026. Separately, if you apply for a full administration without an attorney, the court's own instructions say your appointment hearing takes place within 4 to 6 weeks of filing and you are notified of the date by mail.
Can I attend a Belmont County probate hearing by phone or video?
Sometimes, at the court's discretion. Loc.R. 7 is a court technology plan that defines in-person, video, telephone and hybrid appearances, and says video hearings are conducted using Zoom. Its hearing management plan lists probate pre-trial conferences, and other probate matters on a party's request, as available in person, by video, by telephone or hybrid. Evidentiary proceedings held remotely must be recorded and reported as if everyone had appeared in person, and the court can require a personal appearance at any point, including part way through a remote hearing. Ask the court at (740) 699-2144 whether your hearing can be handled remotely before you assume it can.
What forms do I need for probate in Belmont County?
The statewide Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio, plus this court's own supplemental forms. For a full administration the court's instructions list Form 1.0 (Surviving Spouse, Children, Next of Kin, Legatees, and Devisees), Form 4.0 (Application for Authority to Administer Estate), Form 2.0 (Application to Probate Will) where there is a will, and the 4-series waivers and notices, alongside the county's own Form ES.1 (Order Dispensing With Appraisal), Form ES.21 (Non-Public Record Information) and Form MISC.02 (Self-Representation Acknowledgment). For a release from administration it is Forms 5.0, 5.1, 5.2 and 5.6 with Forms 7.0 and 7.0(A), and for a summary release Forms 5.10 and 5.11. The court also posts a Report of Distribution, an Application for Transfer of a Motor Vehicle and other local forms on its probate forms page.
Do I have to travel to St. Clairsville to settle an estate in Belmont County?
Not usually just to file. Papers can be mailed to the probate court at 101 West Main Street, St. Clairsville, OH 43950, payments can be mailed or made online through the county portal, and the online docket lets you check what has been entered from anywhere. Plan on St. Clairsville for hearings, and for a full administration filed without an attorney plan on the appointment hearing within 4 to 6 weeks of filing. Certified copies of the letter of authority, which banks and title companies ask for, cost $1.00 per page (R.C. 2101.16(A)), so pick up enough while you are there. Ask the court at (740) 699-2144 whether a particular hearing can be handled remotely under Loc.R. 7.
Is the probate court the same as the juvenile court in Belmont County?
It is the same court and the same judge, in two divisions. One elected judge presides over both the Probate Division and the Juvenile Division of the Belmont County Court of Common Pleas, the court brands itself the Belmont County Probate and Juvenile Courts, and its local rules cover both divisions with a shared first section of general rules. The probate line is (740) 699-2144 and the juvenile line is (740) 699-2141, and both reach the same office in Room 204. That arrangement is common in Ohio's smaller counties. It does not change the law that applies to your estate, but it does explain why the court's website, its local rules and the county case portal all cover several dockets at once.
What are the hours and the phone number for the Belmont County Probate Court?
The court is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., the hours of operation published on its contact page and its court hours and holiday schedule page. Its Make Payments page states that in-person payments are taken between the same hours, and Rule 2 of its local rules, amended January 22, 2026, sets the regular times for holding sessions of court at 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Do not arrive at closing time, because the court asks people coming in for some in-person business to arrive by 4:15 p.m. The number to call is (740) 699-2144, the line the court publishes under the word Probate. Two published half-days are worth noting: the office closes at 12:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 3, 2026, and at 12:00 p.m. on December 22, 2026.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.