Back to Ohio
Coshocton County, OH Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | Coshocton County Probate Court, the probate division of the Coshocton County Court of Common Pleas under the Ohio Revised Code (R.C. 2101.01). The Supreme Court of Ohio's trial-court directory lists it as the Coshocton County Court of Common Pleas, Probate and Juvenile Divisions; the court's own masthead reads Coshocton County Court of Common Pleas, Probate and Juvenile Division. One elected probate judge presides over both divisions, which is common in Ohio's smaller counties. The court opened 159 new estate cases and closed 195 in 2025 (the court's 2025 Annual Report) |
| Filing office | The probate court's own office at 426 Main Street. The elected probate judge is also the clerk of the probate court (R.C. 2101.11(A)(1)(a)), and the court's own certifications style the judge clerk of the Court of Common Pleas, Juvenile/Probate Division, so estates, wills and guardianships are filed with the probate court directly. The Coshocton County Clerk of Courts, at 318 Main Street, 2nd Floor, (740) 622-1456, serves the general and domestic relations divisions and does not open estates |
| Courthouse | 426 Main Street, Coshocton, OH 43812, the court's own building, not the Coshocton County Courthouse. The court moved out of the courthouse to 426 Main Street in 2002 (the court's 2025 Annual Report), into what the court's history page identifies as the former Peoples Bank building. No room, floor or suite is published, and the building houses the court's Probate and Juvenile Divisions |
| Mailing address | The court publishes no separate post office box, so mail filings go to 426 Main Street, Coshocton, OH 43812. Call (740) 622-1837 before mailing an original will or another original document |
| Phone | (740) 622-1837 for the Probate Court, the number the court labels as its probate line on its own contact block and the number Local Rule 57.9(B) tells filers to call about a filing deadline (verified July 2026). The court also publishes a direct line for the probate deputy clerk whose listed duties are estates, trusts and wrongful death, (740) 295-7418. Three other numbers at this court are not the estate line: Juvenile Court (740) 622-8969, the Resource Center (740) 295-7315, and the Court Administrator (740) 295-7407 |
| Fax | None, and this is a rule rather than an omission. The court's contact block prints a fax label with no number, and Local Rule 57.9(A) states that effective January 1, 2023 the court will no longer accept facsimile filing and will accept filings only by mail, in person or by electronic filing submission. Do not plan to fax anything to this court |
| [email protected]. This is more than a contact address: Local Rule 57.9(A) designates it as the court's filing address and the court's own page says e-mailing documents is preferred. It is also the address on the court's Records Request form. It cannot be used for the application that opens an estate, because Local Rule 57.9(B) limits e-mail filing to papers filed after the original complaint that do not require a security deposit | |
| Office hours | Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Saturdays, Sundays and all legal holidays including the day after Thanksgiving, published both on the court's contact block and in Local Rule 53.1 (verified July 2026). Three separate cutoffs apply and they differ: the counter warns that filings and applications may not be accepted after 3:45 p.m. if they are incomplete or involve monetary transactions; an e-mailed filing received after 3:30 p.m. on a business day, or at any time on a weekend or holiday, counts as filed the next business day (Local Rule 57.9(B)); and an e-filing through the court's system must be completed by 4 p.m. to be timely that day (Local Rule 57.16(D)). Arrive well before 3:30 p.m. with anything that involves paying money |
| Filing fee | Ohio sets most probate fee items by statute: $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary and $15.00 to probate a will (R.C. 2101.16(A)), $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. On top of those items each probate court sets its own charges and deposit by local rule, and the Revised Code caps an advance deposit for costs taken when the application is made at $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)), with computerization and dispute-resolution charges allowed as well (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163). Coshocton County publishes its own dollar figures in two places that agree line for line: its Schedule of Costs and Fees effective January 2023 and Local Rule 58.1 in local rules effective January 1, 2024. A full administration is $250.00, a release from administration is $200.00, a summary release is $110.00, and a summary release with real estate is $115.00. Both sources state that the costs may be changed by the court without amending the local rules or as required by statute, so confirm the current figures at (740) 622-1837 before you file |
| Local forms | Yes, a substantial library, and some are required in an estate. The court publishes its own Probate Forms page alongside the statewide Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio. The estate-relevant local items include Applicant Information and a Consent and Release, both required with an estate application under Local Rule 57.15 unless the applicant is named in a will or trust, a Fiduciary Acceptance for estates, a Summary Release Packet, Certificate of Transfer Filing Information, Newly Discovered Assets, Application to Reopen Estate, Application for Transfer Motor Vehicle, Application to Admit Foreign Records, Application to Extend Time, Certificate of Service of Notice, Release of Financial Information and Report, Report of Distribution for a release, Will Filed for Record Only Application, Wrongful Death Annual Status Report, Records Request and Request for Service by Email |
| E-filing | Available, but not for estates. The court runs an e-filing system through Henschen and Associates at efile.henschen.com under Local Rule 57.16, with a user agreement, an assigned identification code, credit-card payment and a 4 p.m. daily deadline. The court publishes the complete list of probate documents it accepts electronically, and Local Rule 58.1 prints the same list with fees, and every item on it is a guardianship, minor-settlement, structured-settlement or guardian ad litem document. No decedent's estate filing appears on the list. So an estate is opened on paper at the counter at 426 Main Street or by mail, and later papers in that case that do not require a deposit may be e-mailed to [email protected] under Local Rule 57.9 |
| Case search | Yes. The court links a Probate Records Search from its own site to a CaseLook docket search branded to the Coshocton County Probate Court and developed by Henschen and Associates. It sits behind a legal disclaimer you have to accept and a CAPTCHA. The disclaimer publishes two practical limits: the posting of a filing can lag it by at least twenty-four hours, and if you need verified information about the court's records you must send a request to the court or visit during business hours. Copies of public records cost 25 cents per page (Local Rule 55.2), a certified copy adds $1.00 per page (R.C. 2101.16(A)), the court publishes a Records Request form to be sent to [email protected], and Local Rule 55.1(B) prohibits removing files from the court |
| Remote appearance | Nothing is published for estate hearings. The court's local rules contain no telephone or video appearance provision for a probate matter; the only remote-participation rule is Local Rule 78.9(A), which requires a party excused in advance from a pre-trial conference to be available by telephone. Ask the court at (740) 622-1837 whether a particular hearing can be handled remotely |
| Website | https://www.coshoctoncounty.net/probate/probate-court/ (the court's own Probate Court page, with the address, the probate and juvenile lines, the filing e-mail, the hours and the counter cutoff) and https://www.coshoctoncounty.net/probate/court-rules/ (the probate local rules and the cost schedule). The Supreme Court of Ohio's trial-court directory points at this same site, so the county source and the state directory agree here |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Coshocton 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, in this county, different deposits: the court's own schedule charges $250.00 for a full administration, $200.00 for a release from administration and $110.00 for a summary release (Schedule of Costs and Fees effective January 2023, and Local Rule 58.1 effective January 1, 2024). Those routes and their dollar ceilings are statewide and are explained on the Ohio state page. Getting the route right before your first trip matters here because the application that opens the estate cannot be e-mailed, faxed or e-filed in Coshocton County, so a wrong or incomplete opening filing means another trip to 426 Main Street or another round of mail.
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. 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 transfer on death designation affidavit recorded with the Coshocton County Recorder before death (R.C. 5302.22) go directly to the survivor or beneficiary and never reach the probate court. Values matter twice over in this county, because Local Rule 61.3 lets the court accept the market value in the Coshocton County Auditor's property records as the readily ascertainable value of real property with no further appraisal, and Local Rule 61.4 does the same for a vehicle using the NADA guide's average retail figure or the current Kelley Blue Book, so those published figures are usually the numbers that land on your inventory. 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 Coshocton lists the estate accurately the first time.
Which court handles jurisdiction
Coshocton County Probate Court in Coshocton is the single probate filing office for the whole county. Everything is at one address, 426 Main Street, and there is no branch, satellite or district office. The court serves every part of the county, including the city of Coshocton, the county seat, the villages of Baltic, Conesville, Nellie, Plainfield, Warsaw and West Lafayette, the communities of Canal Lewisville and Fresno, and the county's twenty-two townships: Adams, Bedford, Bethlehem, Clark, Crawford, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Keene, Lafayette, Linton, Mill Creek, Monroe, Newcastle, Oxford, Perry, Pike, Tiverton, Tuscarawas, Virginia, Washington and White Eyes. The county covers 564.1 square miles and is bordered by Holmes, Tuscarawas, Guernsey, Muskingum, Licking and Knox counties, so a filer at the county's edge can be a fair drive from Coshocton. Because papers can be mailed to the court, and because later papers in an open case can be e-mailed under Local Rule 57.9, most of an uncontested estate can be handled without repeated trips.
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 Coshocton County, file in Coshocton County Probate Court, even if they died in a hospital in Newark, Zanesville, New Philadelphia 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. One Coshocton County village makes this worth checking rather than assuming: Baltic lies partly in Coshocton County, partly in Holmes County and partly in Tuscarawas County, so a Baltic address does not by itself settle which county's probate court is the right one. 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 Coshocton County's sits in the city of Coshocton.
Four Coshocton County offices matter to an estate and they are at four different addresses, all on Main Street, which trips people up. Coshocton County Probate Court, 426 Main Street, (740) 622-1837, is where wills, estates, guardianships and name changes are filed; the same elected judge also runs the Juvenile Division on (740) 622-8969, so the office handles both dockets. The Coshocton County Clerk of Courts Legal Office, 318 Main Street, 2nd Floor, (740) 622-1456, serves the general and domestic relations divisions and does not open estates. The Coshocton County Recorder, 349 Main Street, (740) 622-2817, is where a certificate of transfer or a transfer on death designation affidavit is recorded, with recording hours ending at 3:30 p.m. and at 3:15 p.m. on the last day of the month. The Coshocton County Auditor, also at 349 Main Street, has to review and approve a certificate of transfer before it is filed with the court where the real estate is in Coshocton County, because Local Rule 75.9(A) sends the certificate to the Auditor of the county in which the real estate is located, and the Auditor's property records supply the real-estate values the court will accept (Local Rule 61.3).
The jurisdiction process
- Gather the documents. Collect the original signed will if there is one, a certified copy of the death certificate, the applicant's contact details and identification, the names and addresses of the surviving spouse, children, next of kin, legatees and devisees, and a list of the assets and debts with values. Local Rule 57.1 requires reasonable diligence to obtain the complete addresses of the surviving spouse, next of kin, legatees and devisees, requires a street address for the fiduciary that is the fiduciary's legal residence where the fiduciary is not an attorney, and requires a telephone number on every executed court document. Local Rule 57.8 requires you to exhibit a copy of the decedent's death certificate on the initial filing. 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.
- Get both sets of forms. Ohio uses one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio in every county, and Coshocton County adds a library of its own. For a full administration the statewide items are Form 1.0 (Surviving Spouse, Children, Next of Kin, Legatees, and Devisees), Form 2.0 (Application to Probate Will) where there is a will, and Form 4.0 (Application for Authority to Administer Estate). 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). Local Rule 51.1 requires the standard forms where applicable, Local Rule 52.1 requires computer-generated forms to reproduce the exact wording and blank lines of the uniform forms, and Local Rules 52.2 and 57.4 require legible filings on eight and one-half by eleven inch paper in ten to twelve point type. Local Rule 57.2 puts the case number on every page including attachments, and Local Rules 57.3 and 57.10 require original signatures, with the attorney barred from signing for the fiduciary.
- Complete the local background-check paperwork. This step surprises people and it is genuinely local. Under Local Rule 57.15 an applicant for an estate must complete an application for a criminal and/or civil record check acceptable to the court unless the applicant is named in an instrument such as a will or trust, and the court's own Applicant Information form and a signed Consent and Release must accompany the application. Both are on the court's Probate Forms page and in the Appendix to the local rules. The rule provides that no cost for conducting the record checks is included in the case costs.
- Add the surviving-spouse citation where there is a spouse. Local Rule 60.2 requires a Citation to Surviving Spouse to Exercise Elective Rights together with a Summary of General Rights to Surviving Spouse to be filed with the original estate documents in every estate with a surviving spouse, including estates with no will, unless waived, and the court then issues the citation to the spouse. The court will accept a surviving spouse's waiver of service of the citation to elect, but it has to arrive with the original estate documents. The statewide forms for these are 8.0, 8.3 and 8.6.
- File on paper at 426 Main Street or by mail. The application that opens an estate cannot be e-mailed, faxed or e-filed in Coshocton County: Local Rule 57.9(A) ended fax filing on January 1, 2023, Local Rule 57.9(B) limits e-mail filing to papers filed after the original complaint that do not require a security deposit, and no decedent's estate filing appears on the court's published list of documents accepted through its e-filing system. So take the completed forms to the counter at 426 Main Street, Coshocton, OH 43812 between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, or mail them to the same address. Get there well before 3:45 p.m.: the court warns that filings and applications may not be accepted after that time if they are incomplete or involve monetary transactions. Local Rule 57.4 provides that the court will accept for filing only pleadings that are complete, and Local Rule 57.9(F) lets the court review a filing for sufficiency before the clerk accepts it, with 14 days to retrieve a filing found insufficient before it is mailed back.
- Pay the deposit. Coshocton County publishes what to bring: $250.00 for a full administration, $200.00 for a release from administration, $110.00 for a summary release and $115.00 for a summary release with real estate, in its Schedule of Costs and Fees effective January 2023 and again in Local Rule 58.1 in local rules effective January 1, 2024. Those figures sit on top of the statutory items, including $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary and $15.00 to probate a will (R.C. 2101.16(A)), and alongside the court's own line items for a computer fund, computerized legal research and a special project fee. Local Rule 58.1 says the court's business is conducted on a cash, check, credit card or money order basis; the court's own notice says credit and debit card payments must be made by phone or in person during business hours and carry a processing fee of $2.00 per transaction or 3 per cent, whichever is greater, charged by the card processor. Local Rule 58.2 provides that a filing may not be accepted if the deposit is inadequate, and lets the court require more.
- Take the appointment and collect the letters. 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. Local Rule 60.1 requires every executor and administrator to personally sign and file the Fiduciary's Acceptance before the letters of authority issue, and the court publishes its own Fiduciary Acceptance form for estates. Certified copies cost $1.00 per page (R.C. 2101.16(A)), so ask for enough copies for every institution the estate deals with while you are at the counter. A non-resident applicant must comply with R.C. 2109.21 and, where represented, use an Ohio-licensed attorney of record (Local Rule 60.3).
- Serve the notice of probate of the will within two weeks. Where a will was admitted, Local Rule 75.1(A) requires notice of the admission within two weeks of admission, with a copy of the will included in the notice to the legatees and devisees named in it, and Local Rule 75.1(C) requires notice to the surviving spouse, to the legatees and devisees, and to everyone who would have inherited had the testator died without a will. Certified mail service is the method the court prefers. The certificate of service goes in on Form 2.4 not later than two months after the fiduciary's appointment, or two months after the will was admitted where no fiduciary was appointed, with waivers or the original certified mail return receipt cards as proof (Local Rule 59.1). The fiduciary or the attorney must provide proof of service (Local Rule 75.1(E)).
- Send the Medicaid estate recovery notice within 30 days if 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 that program not later than thirty days after letters are granted or an application for release or summary release is filed (R.C. 2117.061(B)). Compliance is certified to the court on Form 7.0. It applies to a release from administration too, which surprises people.
- File the inventory within three months. 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). Two local rules shape it. Local Rule 61.3 lets the Coshocton County Auditor's market value stand as the readily ascertainable value of real property with no further appraisal, with a copy of the valuation attached, and Local Rule 61.4 does the same for a vehicle from the NADA guide's average retail figure or the current Kelley Blue Book; any interested party can still ask for a real appraisal up to five days before the inventory hearing (Local Rule 61.5). Where an appraiser is used, the fiduciary appoints one suitable or disinterested appraiser with court approval (Local Rule 61.1). File the Confidential Disclosure of Personal Identifiers form with the inventory, and redact financial account numbers yourself (Local Rules 57.6 and 57.7). Where an attorney is acting, the dated written fee agreement with the fiduciary is filed with the court at the same time (Local Rule 71.1).
- 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 exception the Revised Code makes for the Medicaid estate recovery program (R.C. 2117.06, R.C. 2117.061(D)). Ohio requires no newspaper advertisement of the grant of letters. A claim filed with the Coshocton County court itself is not processed unless the $20.00 filing fee is paid (Local Rule 62.1(B)), and where the estate is insolvent the fiduciary applies for a hearing on both the determination of insolvency and the order sought (Local Rule 75.7).
- Account, then close. The fiduciary must render a final and distributive account within six months after appointment unless one of the statutory exceptions applies (R.C. 2109.301), on Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account); Local Rule 64.5(A) allows an application to extend that to thirteen months for the statutory reasons, with any later accounts filed annually. A certificate of service of the account to the heirs or beneficiaries, Form 13.9, must accompany the account (Local Rule 75.2(A)). Local Rule 64.3 requires all assets to be exhibited when a partial account is filed, with cash balances verified by a bank certificate signed by a bank officer, while Local Rule 64.6(B) provides that vouchers are not required on estates. All court costs must be paid before a final and distributive account is approved (Local Rule 64.4). Where the sole beneficiary or heir is also the sole fiduciary, no partial or final accounting is required and a certificate of termination is filed within thirty days after the administration is complete (Local Rule 64.7, R.C. 2109.301(B)(2)).
- Transfer any Ohio real estate. Where real property passes through the estate, the fiduciary applies for a certificate of transfer after the inventory is filed and before the final account, on Form 12.0 with Form 12.1 (R.C. 2113.61(A)(1)), and the court must issue the certificate within five days after a complying application (R.C. 2113.61(C)). Coshocton County adds three steps: the Auditor of the county in which the real estate is located, which for Coshocton County property is the Coshocton County Auditor at 349 Main Street, must review and approve the certificate before it is filed with the court, and the court may order the transfer if the Auditor disapproves (Local Rule 75.9(A)); the certificate must state what share of the decedent's interest each beneficiary receives (Local Rule 75.9(B)); and for any estate containing real estate a certificate of title complying with the Marketable Title Act must be filed at the time of the inventory, with no certificate of transfer approved until it is filed and approved, except where the property goes to a surviving spouse entitled to the decedent's share (Local Rule 60.4). Record the issued certificate with the Coshocton County Recorder at 349 Main Street.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Coshocton County
You file two sets of forms in Coshocton County. Ohio uses one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio and used in all 88 counties, and Local Rule 51.1 requires those forms where applicable. On top of them the Coshocton County Probate Court publishes its own Probate Forms page, and unlike most small Ohio counties several of its local forms are required rather than optional. Check both lists before you go to the counter.
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), Form 2.4 (Certificate of Service of Notice of Probate of Will), Form 4.0 (Application for Authority to Administer Estate), Form 4.5 (Entry Appointing Fiduciary; Letter of Authority), Form 5.0 (Application to Relieve Estate From Administration) with Form 5.1 (Assets and Liabilities of Estate to be Relieved from Administration), Form 5.10 (Summary Release From Administration), Form 6.0 (Inventory and Appraisal), Form 7.0 (Certification of Notice to Administrator of Medicaid Estate Recovery Program), Forms 8.0, 8.3 and 8.6 for the citation to a surviving spouse and its waiver, Form 12.0 with Form 12.1 (Application for Certificate of Transfer and the certificate itself), and Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account) with Form 13.9 (Certificate of Service of Account to Heirs or Beneficiaries). Local Rule 75.1(F) requires Form 1.0 to accompany any will submitted to the court, with an amended Form 1.0 if further next of kin come to light. Confirm the current version on the Supreme Court of Ohio forms page before you file.
The local forms that matter in a Coshocton County estate are the Applicant Information form and the Consent and Release, both required with an estate application under Local Rule 57.15 unless the applicant is named in a will or trust; the Fiduciary Acceptance for estates, which Local Rule 60.1 requires to be personally signed and filed before letters of authority issue; the Certificate of Transfer Filing Information form, which Local Rule 75.9(D) ties to a certificate of transfer with no administration; and the court's Summary Release Packet, which bundles Local Rule 75.5, the court costs and Forms 5.10 and 1.0 with the entry. The page also carries Newly Discovered Assets, Application to Reopen Estate, Application for Transfer Motor Vehicle, Application to Admit Foreign Records, Application to Extend Time, Certificate of Service of Notice, Release of Financial Information and Report, Report of Distribution for a release, Will Filed for Record Only Application, Wrongful Death Annual Status Report, a Records Request and a Request for Service by Email, which under Local Rule 57.12(B) is how an attorney or a self-represented party asks to be served court documents electronically.
Presentation rules are enforced here. Local Rules 52.2 and 57.4 require legible filings on eight and one-half by eleven inch paper in ten to twelve point type, and provide that illegible filings may be refused or stricken and that the court will accept for filing only pleadings that are complete. Local Rule 52.1 requires a computer-generated form to carry the exact wording and blank lines of the uniform form, with the signature of the applicant or attorney certifying that it does. Local Rule 57.2 requires the case number on every page including attachments, and Local Rules 57.3 and 57.10 require original signatures throughout, with the attorney barred from signing for the fiduciary and a non-attorney barred from signing for an attorney. If you cannot read or write, Local Rule 75.19 lets a court clerk write your words on a form verbatim, read them back, and sign the form with a note that it was dictated by the court user.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide forms you file in Coshocton County, including Forms 1.0, 2.0, 2.4, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.1, 5.10, 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 8.3, 8.6, 12.0, 12.1, 13.0 and 13.9, with the numbered variants and waivers |
| Coshocton County Probate Court, Probate Forms (coshoctoncounty.net) | The court's own local forms, including Applicant Information, the Consent and Release, the Fiduciary Acceptance for estates, the Summary Release Packet, Certificate of Transfer Filing Information, Newly Discovered Assets, Application to Reopen Estate and the Records Request |
| Coshocton County probate local rules, effective January 1, 2024 (coshoctoncounty.net) | The court's own rules: hours (53.1), records and copy costs (55.1 to 55.3), filing format and process (57.1 to 57.16), deposits (58.1 and 58.2), notice on a will (59.1 and 75.1), fiduciary acceptance and the spousal citation (60.1 and 60.2), certificate of title (60.4), appraisers and readily ascertainable values (61.1 to 61.6), claims (62.1), accounts (64.1 to 64.7), relief from administration (75.4), summary release (75.5) and certificates of transfer (75.9) |
| Coshocton County probate Schedule of Costs and Fees, effective January 2023 (coshoctoncounty.net) | The court's dated dollar schedule for every case type, which is the figure to bring to the counter |
| Coshocton County Summary Release Packet (coshoctoncounty.net) | The court's own packet for the smallest route: Local Rule 75.5, the $110.00 and $115.00 court costs, Form 5.10, Form 1.0 and the entry granting summary release, with the court's note that its staff can explain procedure and rules but cannot help complete the paperwork |
Fees
Ohio splits probate costs in two. Most fee items are fixed statewide by statute in R.C. 2101.16(A), but the number a family actually hands over when it opens an estate is what the local probate court sets by its own rule, plus any computerization and dispute-resolution charges the court adds (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163). R.C. 2101.16(E) caps an advance deposit for costs taken at the time application is made for appointment as executor or administrator, or at the time a will is presented for probate, at $125.00.
Coshocton County publishes its own dollar figures in two places that agree line for line: its Schedule of Costs and Fees, effective January 2023 and linked from the court's Court Rules page, and Local Rule 58.1, Deposits, inside local rules effective January 1, 2024 (both read July 2026). The court's schedule does not break its estate figures down into statutory items, local charges and deposit, so treat each figure below as the amount the court says to bring, and note that both sources carry the same warning: these court costs may be changed by the court without amending the local rules or as required by statute. Confirm the current figures at (740) 622-1837 before you file.
| Item | Amount | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Estate, full administration | $250.00 | The court's published figure to open a full administration with or without a will (Schedule of Costs and Fees effective January 2023, Local Rule 58.1). The statutory items that sit underneath it include $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary and $15.00 to probate a will (R.C. 2101.16(A)) |
| Estate, release from administration | $200.00 | The court's published figure to apply to relieve an estate from administration (R.C. 2113.03), filed on Forms 5.0 and 5.1. The statutory component is the $60.00 fee for relieving an estate from administration or granting a summary release (R.C. 2101.16(A)), of which $20.00 goes to the county's indigent guardianship fund |
| Estate, summary release from administration | $110.00, or $115.00 with real estate | The court's published figures for a summary release (R.C. 2113.031), filed on Form 5.10, and for one that also transfers real estate. Confirmed a third time inside the court's own Summary Release Packet. The controlling eligibility ceilings are statutory and are set out on the Ohio state page |
| Probate of a will only | $87.50 | Where a will is admitted to probate without an administration (Local Rule 58.1). The statutory component is the $15.00 fee to probate a will (R.C. 2101.16(A)) |
| File a will only, not probate | $70.00 | Where a will is filed with the court for record without being admitted to probate, which Local Rule 75.1(G) allows where there are no assets and Local Rule 75.4(A) allows in some estates being relieved from administration. The court publishes a Will Filed for Record Only Application for this |
| Claim against an estate | $20.00 | Local Rule 58.1, and Local Rule 62.1(B) adds that no claim will be processed unless the $20.00 filing fee is received |
| Will contest or any complaint filed | $175.00 | Local Rule 58.1. A will contest must be brought within three months after the certificate of notice of probate of the will is filed (Local Rule 75.1(D)) |
| Determination of heirs | $140.00 | Local Rule 58.1 |
| Foreign will | $82.50 plus 25 cents per page | Local Rule 58.1. The court publishes an Application to Admit Foreign Records for this |
| Wrongful death with an estate | $37.50 | Local Rule 58.1. The court also publishes a Wrongful Death Annual Status Report form, and Local Rule 70.2 requires a separate wrongful-death trust case for each beneficiary |
| Certified copies | $1.00 per page | Local Rule 58.1 lists certified copies at $1.00, and the statutory certified-copy item is $1.00 per page with a $1.00 minimum (R.C. 2101.16(A)). These are the copies of the letter of authority that banks and title companies ask for |
| Copies of public records | 25 cents per page | Local Rule 55.2, and the court's Records Request form, which adds $1.00 to certify a copy and charges postage where copies are mailed. Mailed copies are sent only if the copying, postage and mailing costs are prepaid |
| Computer fund | $10.00 | The court's own line item (Schedule of Costs and Fees effective January 2023, Local Rule 58.1), of the kind R.C. 2101.162 allows a probate court to charge |
| Computerized legal research | $3.00 | The court's own line item (Local Rule 58.1) |
| Special project fee | $50.00 | The court's own line item (Local Rule 58.1). The schedule does not say whether it is inside the case figures above or added to them, so ask when you call |
| E-filing convenience fee | $2.00 per case minimum, or 3 per cent of the filing cost | Local Rule 58.1, for filings made through the court's e-filing system. That system accepts no decedent's estate filing, so this applies to guardianship and settlement documents rather than to an estate |
| Card processing fee | $2.00 per transaction or 3 per cent, whichever is greater | Charged by the court's card processor, not by the court, and payable on credit and debit card payments, which the court's own notice says must be made by phone or in person during business hours. Local Rule 58.1 says the court's business is conducted on a cash, check, credit card or money order basis |
| Certificate of title on real estate | $300.00 | Local Rule 60.4 requires a certificate of title complying with the Marketable Title Act in every estate containing real estate, and sets the fee at $300.00 for one chain of title or $300.00 per tract where the deed contains multiple separate tracts. The rule does not say whether this is a court cost or the cost of obtaining the certificate, so ask the court |
| Appointed counsel | $75.00 per hour, capped at $1,000.00 per case | Local Rule 8.1(D), for counsel the court appoints in a probate case. The court may approve additional fees where a case involves additional litigation |
Two more local rules affect what you pay. Local Rule 58.2 provides that if the costs deposit is inadequate to cover the costs or fee of any filing, the filing may not be accepted without payment, and lets the court require an additional deposit in any matter. Local Rule 64.4 provides that a final and distributive account is not approved until all court costs are paid, so any shortfall has to be cleared before the estate closes. Attorney fees are separate from court costs: Local Rule 71.1 requires counsel in a decedent's estate to enter a dated written fee agreement with the fiduciary, containing an estimate of the total fee, and to file it with the court when the inventory is filed, and it publishes a guide schedule of 4.5 per cent on the first $100,000 of personal property subject to administration, 3.5 per cent above that up to $400,000 and 2.5 per cent above $400,000, with 2 per cent on real property that is not sold. With court approval an attorney may charge up to $250.00 per hour unless a different agreement approved by the fiduciary and all beneficiaries is filed, and an itemized fee statement signed off by the fiduciary is required at the end of the estate. Local Rule 71.3 provides that attorney fees are not paid or advanced from any source until the final account or the final closing documents are prepared, unless the court approves an application for early payment.
Timeline
- Notice of the admission of a will to probate: within two weeks. Local Rule 75.1(A) requires notice of the admission of a will within two weeks of admission, and requires a copy of the will to be included in the notice to the legatees and devisees named in it. Certified mail is the service method the court prefers, and where publication is used it runs for three consecutive weeks with proof filed (Local Rule 75.1(B)).
- Certificate of service of that notice: within two months. Form 2.4 must be filed not later than two months after the fiduciary's appointment, or two months after the will was admitted if no fiduciary was appointed, with waivers or the original certified mail return receipt cards as proof (Local Rule 59.1).
- A will contest: within three months after the certificate of notice is filed (Local Rule 75.1(D)).
- A release from administration where there is no surviving spouse: the hearing is set not less than three weeks after filing. Local Rule 75.4(A) provides that where there is no surviving spouse the court shall set the application for hearing not less than three weeks from the date of filing and shall require publication. Local Rule 75.4(B) requires at least five days written notice of the hearing to the surviving spouse, heirs at law and creditors unless notices are waived or found unnecessary. Local Rule 75.4(D) lets the court waive the publication requirement on a motion filed and approved once six months have passed since the death, the period in which creditors may present claims.
- Medicaid estate recovery notice, where it applies: within thirty days of letters being granted or of an application for release or summary release being filed (R.C. 2117.061(B)).
- Inventory: within three months after appointment (R.C. 2115.02), on Form 6.0. Where the inventory goes in without all the waivers, the court assigns a non-oral hearing date and the waivers, return receipt cards and a certificate of service must be filed before it, or a motion to continue filed; otherwise a notice of failure to approve the inventory issues to the attorney and to the executor or administrator (Local Rule 75.3(A)).
- A request for a full appraisal instead of a readily ascertainable value: not later than five days before the inventory hearing. Any administrator, executor, fiduciary, beneficiary or creditor may file that written request (Local Rule 61.5).
- Creditor claims: six months after the date of death (R.C. 2117.06), which is a date-of-death deadline and not a publication deadline, subject to the Medicaid estate recovery exception (R.C. 2117.061(D)).
- Final and distributive account: within six months after appointment unless a statutory exception applies (R.C. 2109.301), on Form 13.0, and Local Rule 64.5(A) allows an application to extend that to thirteen months for the statutory reasons, with any later accounts filed annually. On the filing of an account the court assigns a non-oral hearing date, and before it the return receipt cards or waivers must be filed (Local Rule 75.2(B)).
- A late inventory or account: notice, then seven days, then thirty days, then a citation. Local Rule 75.11 provides that notice goes first to the attorney of record, that failure to respond in writing within seven days sends the notice to the fiduciary, and that if the filing is still not made within thirty days after the notice a citation issues requiring the fiduciary and the attorney to appear before the judge and show cause. Local Rule 64.2(A) adds that no expenditure, sale, distribution or fee is approved while a fiduciary is delinquent on an account.
- A certificate of transfer of real estate: five days after a complying application. The court must issue the certificate within five days following the filing of an application that complies with the statute (R.C. 2113.61(C)), but in Coshocton County the Auditor has to review and approve the certificate before it is filed with the court (Local Rule 75.9(A)) and the certificate of title required by Local Rule 60.4 has to be filed and approved first, so build in time for both.
- A certificate of transfer with no administration: six months after the date of death. Local Rule 75.9(D) provides that an application for a certificate of transfer may be approved under R.C. 2113.61(D), without a full estate or a release from administration, six months after the date of death if the decedent's sole probate asset is real estate and the decedent was not subject to Medicaid estate recovery, using the court's own Certificate of Transfer Filing Information form.
- A certificate of termination where the sole heir is the sole fiduciary: within thirty days after the administration is complete (Local Rule 64.7, R.C. 2109.301(B)(2)).
- A land sale still open after a year: a pre-trial conference. Local Rule 78.2 requires any land sale not concluded within one year of filing to be set for a pre-trial conference within ten days after that year, with the attorney of record and the fiduciary attending and a written status report filed at least seven days beforehand addressing the efforts to sell and when the case will close.
Local nuance
Coshocton County-specific considerations
The probate court is not in the courthouse, and neither are the other offices you need. This is the local fact most likely to send a family to the wrong building. The Coshocton County Probate Court sits in its own building at 426 Main Street, which the court's history page identifies as the former Peoples Bank building and which the court's 2025 Annual Report says it moved into from the Coshocton County Courthouse in 2002. Three other Main Street addresses matter to an estate: the Clerk of Courts Legal Office at 318 Main Street, 2nd Floor, which serves the general and domestic relations divisions and does not open estates; and the Recorder and the Auditor, both at 349 Main Street, one to record a certificate of transfer and the other to approve it first and to supply the property values the court will accept. Go to 426 Main Street for anything to do with the estate itself.
Three filing channels, three sets of limits, and none of them opens an estate except paper. Coshocton County is neither a paper-only county nor an e-filing county, and the distinctions are published. Fax filing ended on January 1, 2023: Local Rule 57.9(A) states that the court will no longer accept facsimile filing and will accept filings only by mail, in person or by electronic filing submission. E-mail filing to [email protected] is the court's stated preference, but Local Rule 57.9(B) confines it to pleadings and papers filed after the original complaint that do not require a security deposit, which leaves out the application that opens an estate. And the court's e-filing system through Henschen and Associates, governed by Local Rule 57.16, publishes a closed list of the probate documents it accepts: guardianship inventories, accounts and reports, applications to release or expend funds, minor and structured settlement papers and guardian ad litem reports. No decedent's estate filing is on it. So the opening application goes across the counter or in the mail, and after that later papers that carry no deposit can be e-mailed.
If you do e-mail a filing, the rule is specific. Local Rule 57.9 requires PDF format, the case number and caption in the subject line, and a cover page carrying the forwarding party's or attorney's name and address, the attorney's Ohio Supreme Court registration number, a telephone number, an e-mail address, the date and time of transmission, the number of pages and the personal identifiers. The court's own page adds that a document requiring a signature must carry a written signature, not just a typed one. The e-mailed document counts as the effective original filing and you do not have to send the paper afterwards, but you must keep the signed source document and produce it if the court asks. Two timing traps: the filing date is the Clerk's date stamp and not your transmission time, and anything received after 3:30 p.m. on a business day, or at any time on a weekend or holiday, is filed on the next business day.
The court's own record search exists, and so does a printed warning about relying on it. The court links a Probate Records Search to a CaseLook docket branded to the Coshocton County Probate Court and built by the same vendor as its e-filing system, gated by a legal disclaimer and a CAPTCHA. That disclaimer publishes two limits worth knowing before you rely on the screen: there is a delay between a filing and its posting that could be at least twenty-four hours and may be longer, and if you need verified information about the court's records you have to send a request to the court or visit during business hours. The court publishes a Records Request form for that, to be sent to [email protected], and prices copies at 25 cents per page with $1.00 to certify. Local Rule 55.1(A) opens the general records to public inspection during office hours, Local Rule 55.1(B) prohibits removing files, and Local Rule 55.3 keeps adoption and mental illness files confidential.
An estate applicant gets a background check unless a will named them. Local Rule 57.15 requires an applicant for an estate, alongside applicants for a guardianship, trust, name change or settlement, to complete an application for a criminal and/or civil record check acceptable to the court, unless the applicant is named in an instrument such as a will or trust. The court's Applicant Information form and a signed Consent and Release, which authorizes the court to obtain information from the Ohio Courts Network and the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, must accompany the application. The rule provides that no cost for conducting the record checks is included in the case costs, and the release notes that what comes back may become part of the public case record after notice and an opportunity for a hearing.
Where there is a surviving spouse, the elective-rights paperwork goes in at the start. Local Rule 60.2 requires a Citation to Surviving Spouse to Exercise Elective Rights together with a Summary of General Rights to Surviving Spouse to be filed with the original estate documents in every estate with a surviving spouse, expressly including estates with no will, unless waived, and the court then issues the citation. The court will accept a spouse's waiver of service of the citation to elect, but the waiver has to accompany the original estate documents rather than follow later.
Real estate carries two extra local requirements. Local Rule 60.4 requires a certificate of title complying with the Marketable Title Act to be filed at the time of the inventory in every estate containing real estate, or with a request for a certificate of transfer with no administration, and provides that no certificate of transfer will be approved until the certificate of title is filed and approved; a certificate of title dated within ten years of the due date qualifies if brought current, and the requirement drops away where the property is being transferred to a surviving spouse entitled to the decedent's share. Local Rule 75.9(A) then requires the Auditor of the county where the real estate sits to review and approve the certificate of transfer before it is filed with the court, with the court able to order the transfer if the Auditor disapproves. In the other direction the county makes valuation easier: Local Rule 61.3 lets the Coshocton County Auditor's market value stand as the readily ascertainable value with no further appraisal.
Court staff will explain procedure but will not fill in your forms. The court states this in its own Summary Release Packet: staff cannot provide legal advice because they are not attorneys, they can answer questions about court procedure and rules, and they may not assist in the completion of paperwork. Local Rule 75.13(A) confirms that self-represented filers are welcome, providing that the requirement of Ohio co-counsel for an out-of-state attorney does not preclude pro se appearances. The court runs a Family Law Clinic and a legal self-help site, but both cover custody, visitation, child support, divorce and dissolution on the general and juvenile domestic dockets, not estates, so they are not probate help.
Recent updates
| Change | What it means for a Coshocton County estate |
|---|---|
| Fax filing ended and e-mail filing replaced it, effective January 1, 2023 (Local Rule 57.9(A), listed in the local rules Appendix as a January 1, 2023 update) | The court will no longer accept a facsimile filing and accepts filings only by mail, in person or by electronic filing submission, and its contact block prints a fax label with no number. Records and reports that used to be faxed now go to [email protected], in PDF, with the case number and caption in the subject line, but only for papers filed after the original complaint that do not require a security deposit |
| Current probate local rules effective January 1, 2024 | The court's rulebook was reissued with an effective date of January 1, 2024, and the Appendix dates its last amendments to January 1, 2023, covering the filing process (57.9), the deposits (58.1), attorney fees (71.1) and name changes (75.14). Local Rule 58.1's deposit list matches the separately published Schedule of Costs and Fees effective January 2023 line for line, so both are current |
| Coronavirus masking and related orders rescinded, May 5, 2023 | The judge's journal entry rescinded the court's 2020 and 2021 orders, so no facial covering is required to enter the Probate and Juvenile Divisions at 426 Main Street, while the court reserves the right to enforce the building admission standards in its local rules |
Two statewide changes are worth knowing but are not Coshocton County specific and are covered on the Ohio state page: the Revised Code now requires every Ohio probate court to put its general docket for cases filed on or after September 30, 2025 online for public access (R.C. 2101.11(A)(1)(b)), and Ohio has no estate tax and no inheritance tax for current deaths. Coshocton County already runs its own online record search, and its own Local Rule 75.3(E) states that no estate tax return is required for any decedent who died on or after January 1, 2013.
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Coshocton County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Coshocton-area home was held jointly with right of survivorship, or was covered by a transfer on death designation affidavit recorded with the Coshocton County Recorder at 349 Main Street 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 at 426 Main Street: 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. Either way the Citation to Surviving Spouse to Exercise Elective Rights and the Summary of General Rights have to go in with the original estate documents unless waived (Local Rule 60.2). Where the spouse inherits everything, the estate may qualify to be released from administration rather than fully administered (R.C. 2113.03), which is a shorter filing on Forms 5.0 and 5.1 at $200.00 rather than $250.00 on the court's schedule. | Asset discovery to confirm how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to reach the court. Packet generation for the Coshocton County filing, whether a full administration or a release, including the local Applicant Information and Fiduciary Acceptance forms. 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). Coshocton County charges $200.00 for that route on its published schedule, and where there is no surviving spouse Local Rule 75.4(A) has the court set the hearing not less than three weeks out and require publication, though Local Rule 75.4(D) lets the court waive publication on motion once six months have passed since the death. A release still requires the Medicaid estate recovery notice within thirty days where it applies (R.C. 2117.061(B)) and does not shorten the six-month creditor window (R.C. 2117.06). Because the opening application cannot be e-mailed or e-filed, an out-of-state child files by mail to 426 Main Street, Coshocton, OH 43812 and calls (740) 622-1837 to confirm what the office needs, rather than flying in. | 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 Coshocton and accepted the first time. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Because real property has to be sold, this goes through a full administration at $250.00 on the court's schedule: with no will the parent files Form 4.0, is appointed administrator, and receives letters of administration; with a will the parent probates it on Form 2.0 and receives letters testamentary. The Fiduciary Acceptance is signed and filed before the letters issue (Local Rule 60.1), and an applicant not named in a will completes the court's record-check paperwork (Local Rule 57.15). The inventory follows within three months (R.C. 2115.02) on Form 6.0, and the Coshocton County Auditor's market value can serve as the value of the house with no further appraisal (Local Rule 61.3). A certificate of title complying with the Marketable Title Act goes in with the inventory (Local Rule 60.4). If the property is transferred to heirs rather than sold, the route is a certificate of transfer on Forms 12.0 and 12.1, approved by the Auditor first (Local Rule 75.9(A)) and recorded with the Recorder. If it is sold in a land sale action, Local Rule 65.1 requires evidence of title before an order of sale and confirmation of sale before the case closes. Any hearing is at 426 Main Street. | Asset discovery for the child's accounts, insurance and real property. Packet generation for the administration and the inventory. Attorney referral where the sale, a mortgage payoff or a dispute among heirs makes counsel worthwhile. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Coshocton County Probate Court (coshoctoncounty.net), (740) 622-1837 | The filing office for estates at 426 Main Street: the address, the probate and juvenile lines, the filing and records e-mail, the 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours and the counter cutoff. The court also publishes a direct line for the probate deputy clerk handling estates, trusts and wrongful death, (740) 295-7418. Staff can explain court procedure and rules but cannot give legal advice or help complete paperwork |
| Coshocton County probate local rules, effective January 1, 2024 (coshoctoncounty.net) | The court's own 74-page rulebook, which is where the hours, the copy costs, the filing format, the deposits, the notice deadlines, the appraisal shortcuts, the certificate-of-title requirement and the account rules actually live |
| Coshocton County probate Schedule of Costs and Fees, effective January 2023 (coshoctoncounty.net) | The court's dated dollar schedule: $250.00 for a full administration, $200.00 for a release from administration, $110.00 for a summary release and $115.00 for a summary release with real estate, plus every other case type |
| Coshocton County Probate Court, Probate Forms (coshoctoncounty.net) | The court's own local forms, several of which are required in an estate, including Applicant Information, the Consent and Release, the Fiduciary Acceptance, the Summary Release Packet and the Records Request |
| Coshocton County Probate Court record search (probate.coshoctoncounty.net) | The court's online docket search, behind a disclaimer and a CAPTCHA. Its own notice warns that posting can lag a filing by at least twenty-four hours and that verified information must be requested from the court or obtained in person |
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide forms used in every Ohio county, including Coshocton, with the numbered variants and waivers |
| Supreme Court of Ohio local rules of court (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide index that links each county's probate-division local rules, useful if an estate touches Holmes, Tuscarawas, Guernsey, Muskingum, Licking or Knox County as well |
| Ohio Legal Help (ohiolegalhelp.org) | Plain-language Ohio probate guides, including release from administration and summary release, from a statewide non-profit that the court itself links. Not a government site, so confirm court contact details with the court |
| Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio, New Philadelphia office (lasco.org), 330-339-3998 or 800-686-3670 | Free civil legal help for eligible low-income residents. Its New Philadelphia office at 255 2nd Street NE, Suite D covers Carroll, Coshocton, Guernsey, Holmes and Tuscarawas counties, so this is the legal-aid program for Coshocton County, and the court publishes the same number on its own pages. 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 |
| Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral (ohiobar.org) | Referrals to Ohio probate attorneys, useful in a county with a small local bar |
| Coshocton County Auditor, real estate search (coshoctoncounty.net) | The property records whose market value Local Rule 61.3 lets the court accept as the value of real estate on an inventory, and the office that must approve a certificate of transfer before it is filed |
| Coshocton County Recorder (coshoctoncounty.net), (740) 622-2817 | 349 Main Street, where a certificate of transfer is recorded and where a transfer on death designation affidavit had to be recorded before death to keep land out of probate (R.C. 5302.22). Recording hours end at 3:30 p.m., and at 3:15 p.m. on the last day of the month |
When to hire an attorney
Many Coshocton County estates are uncontested and can be handled without an attorney, particularly where a surviving spouse inherits everything and the estate qualifies to be relieved from administration rather than fully administered. Consider counsel when a will is contested, and note that a contest has to be brought within three months after the certificate of notice of probate of the will is filed (Local Rule 75.1(D)); when real property has to be sold or divided, because Local Rule 60.4 requires a certificate of title complying with the Marketable Title Act and Local Rule 65.1 requires evidence of title before an order of sale; when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing a claim inside the six-month window (R.C. 2117.06, Local Rule 75.7); when a wrongful-death or injury claim is part of the estate; when the estate includes a business, farm ground or out-of-state property; or when a guardianship has to run alongside the estate. Several of this court's local rules assume an attorney of record and put the notice and voucher work on that attorney, and Local Rule 71.1 requires counsel to file a dated written fee agreement with the court when the inventory is filed, which makes the cost visible up front. Court staff can explain procedure and rules but cannot give legal advice or help complete the paperwork, in the court's own words. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Ohio probate attorney serving Coshocton County and the surrounding east-central 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, Coshocton County real estate and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and which Ohio route fits during estate settlement before you go to 426 Main Street.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route, whether a full administration or an application to relieve the estate from administration, on the statewide Standard Probate Forms together with the local forms Coshocton County requires, ready to file on paper with the Coshocton County Probate Court at the counter 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 Coshocton 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 Coshocton County?
With the Coshocton County Probate Court at 426 Main Street, Coshocton, OH 43812. Note that this is not the Coshocton County Courthouse: the court has its own building, which it moved into from the courthouse in 2002. It is the probate division of the Coshocton 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, not with the Coshocton County Clerk of Courts at 318 Main Street. File in Coshocton County if the person was a resident of the county at the time of death (R.C. 2113.01).
Is there e-filing for probate in Coshocton County?
There is an e-filing system, but it does not accept estate filings. The court runs e-filing through Henschen and Associates under Local Rule 57.16, and it publishes the complete list of probate documents the system accepts: guardianship inventories, accounts and reports, applications to release or expend funds, minor and structured settlement papers and guardian ad litem reports. No decedent's estate filing is on that list. Separately, Local Rule 57.9 makes e-mail filing to [email protected] the court's preferred method for pleadings and papers filed after the original complaint that do not require a security deposit, which excludes the application that opens an estate. So the opening filing goes in on paper at the counter or by mail.
Can I fax a probate filing to the Coshocton County Probate Court?
No. Local Rule 57.9(A) states that effective January 1, 2023 the court will no longer accept facsimile filing and will accept filings only by mail, in person or by electronic filing submission. The court's contact block prints a fax label with no number after it. Use the counter, the mail, or e-mail to [email protected] for a later filing that carries no deposit.
Can I file probate papers by mail in Coshocton County?
Yes. The court publishes no separate post office box, so mail filings go to 426 Main Street, Coshocton, OH 43812. Call (740) 622-1837 first if you are sending an original will or another original document. Local Rules 52.2 and 57.4 require legible papers on eight and one-half by eleven inch stock in ten to twelve point type and provide that the court will accept for filing only pleadings that are complete, Local Rule 57.2 requires the case number on every page including attachments, and Local Rules 57.3 and 57.10 require original signatures, with the attorney barred from signing for the fiduciary.
How much does it cost to file probate in Coshocton County?
The court publishes its own figures, in a Schedule of Costs and Fees effective January 2023 and again in Local Rule 58.1 of local rules effective January 1, 2024, which agree line for line: $250.00 for a full administration, $200.00 for a release from administration, $110.00 for a summary release, $115.00 for a summary release with real estate, $87.50 to probate a will only and $70.00 to file a will without probating it. Underneath those sit the statutory items, including $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary and $15.00 to probate a will (R.C. 2101.16(A)), and the Revised Code caps an advance deposit taken at the time the appointment application is made at $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)). The court also lists a $10.00 computer fund charge, $3.00 for computerized legal research and a $50.00 special project fee. Both sources say the costs may change without amending the local rules, so call (740) 622-1837 and ask what to bring.
How do I look up a Coshocton County probate case online?
The court runs its own record search, linked from its site as Probate Records Search and hosted at probate.coshoctoncounty.net. You have to accept a legal disclaimer and clear a CAPTCHA to reach the search. Two warnings come from the court's own disclaimer: the posting of a filing can lag it by at least twenty-four hours and may be longer, and if you need verified information about the court's records you must send a request to the court or visit during business hours. The court publishes a Records Request form for that, sent to [email protected], and charges 25 cents per page for copies of public records (Local Rule 55.2) with $1.00 to certify a copy. Adoption and mental illness files are confidential (Local Rule 55.3), and files cannot be removed from the court (Local Rule 55.1(B)).
What forms do I need for probate in Coshocton County?
Both the statewide forms and this court's local ones. The statewide Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio carry the core of a full administration: Form 1.0 (Surviving Spouse, Children, Next of Kin, Legatees, and Devisees), Form 2.0 (Application to Probate Will) if there is a will, Form 4.0 (Application for Authority to Administer Estate), Form 6.0 (Inventory and Appraisal) and Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account); for a smaller estate, Forms 5.0 and 5.1 to be relieved from administration or Form 5.10 for a summary release. On top of those, Coshocton County requires its own Applicant Information form and Consent and Release with an estate application unless the applicant is named in a will or trust (Local Rule 57.15), its own Fiduciary Acceptance before letters of authority issue (Local Rule 60.1), and the Citation to Surviving Spouse to Exercise Elective Rights with the Summary of General Rights wherever there is a surviving spouse (Local Rule 60.2). The court publishes a Summary Release Packet that bundles the rule, the cost and the forms for the smallest route.
What are the hours and the filing cutoff at the Coshocton County Probate Court?
The court is open Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is closed Saturdays, Sundays and all legal holidays including the day after Thanksgiving, per its own contact block and Local Rule 53.1 (verified July 2026). Three cutoffs apply and they are not the same. The counter warns that filings and applications may not be accepted after 3:45 p.m. if they are incomplete or involve monetary transactions, which covers opening an estate. An e-mailed filing received after 3:30 p.m. on a business day, or at any time on a weekend or holiday, is treated as filed the next business day (Local Rule 57.9(B)). And a filing through the court's e-filing system must be completed by 4 p.m. to be timely that day (Local Rule 57.16(D)).
Do I have to travel to Coshocton to settle an estate there?
Not usually just to file. The opening application has to arrive on paper, but it can be mailed to 426 Main Street, Coshocton, OH 43812, and once the case is open Local Rule 57.9 lets later papers that carry no deposit be e-mailed to [email protected], so a filer at the county's edge or living out of state can run an uncontested estate largely by mail, e-mail and phone. Plan on Coshocton for a hearing and for picking up certified copies of the letter of authority, which cost $1.00 per page (R.C. 2101.16(A)) and are what banks and title companies ask for. Nothing is published about telephone or video appearances in a probate matter, so ask the court at (740) 622-1837 whether a particular hearing can be handled remotely.
Is probate court the same as the juvenile court in Coshocton County?
It is the same court and the same judge, in two divisions in one building. One elected judge presides over both the Probate Division and the Juvenile Division of the Coshocton County Court of Common Pleas, and the Supreme Court of Ohio's directory lists the office as the Coshocton County Court of Common Pleas, Probate and Juvenile Divisions. That arrangement is common in Ohio's smaller counties. Estates, wills, guardianships and name changes are probate matters and go to 426 Main Street on (740) 622-1837; the juvenile line is (740) 622-8969. It does not change the law that applies to your estate, but it does mean the court's Family Law Clinic and its legal self-help site, which cover custody, visitation and child support, are not probate help.
How long does an estate take in Coshocton County?
The statutory frame is the same as everywhere in Ohio: the inventory is due within three months after appointment (R.C. 2115.02), creditors have six months from the date of death (R.C. 2117.06), and the final and distributive account is due within six months after appointment unless a statutory exception applies (R.C. 2109.301). Coshocton County adds its own dates. Local Rule 64.5(A) lets you apply to extend the final account to thirteen months for the statutory reasons. Notice of the admission of a will goes out within two weeks and its certificate of service on Form 2.4 within two months (Local Rules 75.1(A) and 59.1). On a release from administration with no surviving spouse the hearing is set not less than three weeks out with publication required (Local Rule 75.4(A)). Inventories and accounts get non-oral hearing dates once the waivers and return receipts are in (Local Rules 75.3(A) and 75.2(B)). Miss a filing and Local Rule 75.11 runs a notice, then seven days, then thirty days, then a citation to appear before the judge. The court publishes no typical filing-to-hearing wait, so ask when you file.
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.