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Franklin County, OH Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | Franklin County Probate Court, the probate division of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas under the Ohio Revised Code (R.C.) (R.C. 2101.01). Its formal name, used in the Supreme Court of Ohio's listings and in the court's own orders and site footer, is the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division. Franklin is one of the Ohio counties with a stand-alone probate division: a single elected probate judge presides over probate alone, and juvenile cases are heard by a different division of the same Court of Common Pleas |
| Filing office | The probate court's own clerk's office. In Ohio the elected probate judge is the clerk of the probate court, and this court's e-filing order names the probate judge as ex-officio clerk under R.C. 2101.11, so estates, wills, guardianships and trusts are filed with the Probate Court directly and not with the Franklin County Clerk of Courts, which serves other divisions |
| Courthouse | 373 South High Street, 22nd Floor, Columbus, OH 43215. The estate, guardianship, trust and civil counters are on the 22nd floor; the court's marriage division is on the 23rd floor of the same building |
| Mailing address | The court publishes no separate post office box, so mail goes to 373 South High Street, 22nd Floor, Columbus, OH 43215. Because e-filing is mandatory, mail is used mainly for the narrow categories excepted from e-filing, above all an original will, and the court recommends that any will submitted to it be sent by traceable means such as certified mail (the court's E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025) |
| Phone | (614) 525-3894, the Franklin County Probate Court's main line, with TTY (614) 525-7591 (verified July 2026). The court's Resource Center for small estates has its own line, (614) 525-7251 |
| Fax | (614) 525-7422. The fax line is for court correspondence, not a filing channel, because filings go through the e-filing system |
| [email protected], published on the court's own contact and court-costs pages. The court also takes email requests at that address for images of e-filed documents | |
| Office hours | Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed on weekends and legal holidays, with no lunch closure published (court hours page and Loc.R. 53.1(A), the court's local rules effective January 1, 2024, verified July 2026). Two cutoffs matter: the cashiers close at 4:30 p.m. and the court asks you to arrive by 4:00 p.m. for any business requiring payment, and any paper filing that requires a new case number or the payment of court costs must be filed by 4:30 p.m. under Loc.R. 53.1(A). The marriage division on the 23rd floor runs 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and issues no license after 4:00 p.m. |
| 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 Ohio probate court sets its own advance deposit for costs by local rule, up to $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)), and may add computerization and dispute-resolution charges (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163). Franklin County Probate Court publishes its own schedule and fixes the deposits in Loc.R. 58.1(B): the minimum deposit for an application to appoint an estate fiduciary is $125.00, although the court recommends a deposit of $250.00, and the court's schedule states that the minimum deposit does not cover the cost of letters of authority. A release from administration runs $105.00 to $115.00 and a summary administration $105.00 (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026). The schedule carries no effective date, so confirm the current figures with the court before you file |
| Local forms | Yes, an extensive set, in addition to the statewide forms. Ohio uses one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio in all 88 counties, and Franklin County Probate Court publishes its own local forms, numbered onto that scheme with PC- and ePC- prefixes, on its website; forms for use in the court are available at the court and on its site (Loc.R. 51.1). Take both sets from the court's forms page, and note that many applications have a paired court-drafted proposed entry that is e-filed in Word or an editable PDF |
| E-filing | Mandatory, through the court's eFlex system at efiling.franklincountyohio.gov. The court's own e-filing page states that e-filing is mandatory for all Probate Court case types, and the court's E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025 provides that e-filing is mandatory for all kinds of cases before the court except marriages, that all persons filing documents in the court must be registered users of the e-filing system, and that documents submitted in paper where no exception applies are not accepted and are returned unfiled. A filer without internet or computer access may use a public access computer station at the court to register and to e-file. The order's exceptions are narrow: validated copies that cannot be scanned without casting their validity into doubt, original wills, exhibits that cannot practicably be e-filed, documents presented without being filed, and written special permission for good cause, which includes an assistive-technology accommodation allowing participants who are blind or visually impaired to submit paper. Register through the court's e-filing page before you prepare a filing |
| Case search | Yes. The court publishes a Record Search with a General Case Search covering estate, trust, guardianship, civil and miscellaneous probate cases, searchable by case name, case number, case type, attorney or fiduciary, plus a separate marriage license search covering records from January 3, 1995 forward. Records shown are current as of the previous day, and statutorily confidential case types, such as adoptions, are restricted from public access. It is a case and docket search rather than a public document library: under the court's E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025 registered e-filers see links to images of filings, and anyone else emails [email protected] for images, asks for multiple images on a CD-ROM at $1.00 per CD, or prints from the court's public access computer station at $0.10 per page |
| Remote appearance | Partly. The court's local rules govern conduct in remote hearings, under which participants may be required to appear so the judicial officer can see and hear them and testimony must be given orally rather than typed in a chat box (Loc.R. 54.6), but the rules do not grant a right to appear remotely or say which matters are heard remotely, so confirm the format with the court when a hearing is set. The court does publish an e-Hearing Locator, a self-service tool for choosing your own hearing date before you e-file a proposed entry setting hearing |
| Website | https://probate.franklincountyohio.gov |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Franklin County, know exactly what is in the estate and how each asset is titled. Which Ohio route fits depends on whether there is a will, on who inherits, and on the value of the assets that actually pass through the estate, because a full administration, a release from administration and a summary release are three different filings with different forms, different notice steps and different court costs. Those routes and their dollar ceilings are statewide and are explained on the Ohio state page. Getting the route right before your first filing matters more here than in a paper county, because Franklin County Probate Court requires electronic filing: the application is submitted through the court's e-filing system as a set of separately uploaded documents, most of them paired with a court-drafted proposed entry, and paper submitted where no exception applies is returned unfiled.
Identify every bank and credit-union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life-insurance policy, vehicle, business interest and parcel of Franklin County real estate, along with every debt, before you file. Titling decides whether an asset reaches the court at all: property held jointly with right of survivorship, accounts with a named beneficiary, and Columbus-area land covered by a transfer on death designation affidavit recorded with the Franklin County Recorder before death (R.C. 5302.22) pass 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 the application you upload describes the estate accurately the first time.
Which court handles jurisdiction
Franklin County Probate Court in downtown Columbus is the single probate filing office for the whole county. There is no branch, satellite or district office: everything is filed with the one court, electronically, and the physical counters sit on the 22nd floor of 373 South High Street, with the marriage division one floor up on the 23rd. The court serves every community in the county, including Columbus, the county seat and Ohio's capital, and the suburban cities and villages of Dublin, Westerville, Upper Arlington, Worthington, Hilliard, Gahanna, Grove City, Reynoldsburg, Whitehall, Bexley, New Albany, Canal Winchester, Groveport, Grandview Heights, Obetz, Marble Cliff, Minerva Park, Riverlea, Urbancrest, Valleyview, Lockbourne, Brice and Harrisburg, together with the county's townships, among them Blendon, Brown, Clinton, Franklin, Hamilton, Jackson, Jefferson, Madison, Mifflin, Norwich, Perry, Plain, Prairie, Pleasant, Sharon, Truro and Washington.
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 anywhere in Franklin County, the estate is opened in Franklin County Probate Court, whichever municipality or township within the county that was, and even if the death occurred in a hospital in another county. Ohio's statute says resident, not domiciled, and the probate court in which a will is admitted to probate is the court that grants letters. Ohio has no probate district, circuit or regional overlay: each of the 88 counties has its own probate court seated at the county seat (R.C. 2101.01(A)).
The Columbus metropolitan area spills across county lines, and several Franklin County suburbs are partly in a neighboring county. Parts of Dublin, Westerville and New Albany reach into Delaware or Licking County, parts of Reynoldsburg and Canal Winchester reach into Licking and Fairfield County, and Pickerington is largely in Fairfield County. Because venue follows residence rather than a mailing address, confirm which county the decedent's home actually sat in before filing; a Columbus mailing address does not by itself put the estate in Franklin County. Note too that the Franklin County Probate Court is not the Franklin County Clerk of Courts: in Ohio the elected probate judge is the clerk of the probate court (R.C. 2101.11(A)(1)(a)), and this court's e-filing order names the probate judge as its ex-officio clerk, so estates are opened with the Probate Court itself.
The jurisdiction process
- Confirm venue and the right court. Franklin County is the right county if the decedent was a resident of the county at the time of death (R.C. 2113.01). File with Franklin County Probate Court, the probate division of the Court of Common Pleas, at 373 South High Street, 22nd Floor, Columbus, OH 43215, (614) 525-3894. Do not go to the Franklin County Clerk of Courts: the probate judge is the clerk of the probate court (R.C. 2101.11(A)(1)(a)).
- Gather the documents. Collect the original signed will if there is one, a certified copy of the death certificate, the applicant's identification and contact details, 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. 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.
- Download both layers of forms. Ohio uses one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio in every county, and for a full administration the load-bearing 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). Franklin County Probate Court publishes its own local versions and additions on its forms page, numbered with a PC- or ePC- prefix (Loc.R. 51.1, Loc.R. 52.1), including ePC-E-4.0 for the application to administer, PC-E-1.0 for the next-of-kin form and ePC-E-4.0B, the application for authority to administer an estate without assistance of an attorney (Loc.R. 60.5). Computer-generated forms must match the wording of the uniform forms or the court's own forms (Loc.R. 52.1), and the body of every form filed in the court is set in twelve-point type (Loc.R. 52.2).
- Register as a user of the court's eFlex e-filing system, because e-filing is mandatory. Under the court's E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025 e-filing is mandatory for all kinds of cases before the court except marriages, all persons filing documents in the court must be registered users of the e-filing system, and documents submitted in paper where no exception applies are not accepted and are returned unfiled. Register through the court's e-filing page before you are ready to file, because registration is a separate step from submitting a case. If you have no internet or computer access you may use a public access computer station at the court to register and to e-file.
- File the application to open the estate electronically. Upload the completed forms as a new case: Form 4.0 with Form 1.0, adding Form 2.0 where a will is being admitted, or Forms 5.0 (Application to Relieve Estate From Administration) and 5.1 where the estate qualifies to be relieved from administration instead. 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). Prepare each document separately, and prepare the paired proposed entry in Word or an editable PDF, which is what the order requires for a proposed entry or order.
- Get the original will to the court under the order's exception. Electronic filing does not replace the original will: the order provides that when a will is being submitted the court must be provided the original will itself, and that the original be filed no later than fourteen days after the case is opened. The court recommends sending it by traceable means such as certified mail. Exhibits that cannot practicably be e-filed are also excepted and must be presented before the day of the hearing. Call (614) 525-3894 if you are unsure how a particular document should reach the court.
- Pay the deposit for costs. Loc.R. 58.1(B) provides that an application for appointment of an estate fiduciary is accepted only with a minimum deposit of $125.00, although the court recommends a deposit of $250.00, and the court's schedule notes that the minimum deposit does not cover the cost of letters of authority. A release from administration runs $105.00 to $115.00 and a summary administration $105.00. Those totals are built from statutory items such as the $35.00 fiduciary appointment fee, the $15.00 fee to probate a will and the $60.00 release or summary-release fee (R.C. 2101.16(A)), and the $125.00 minimum is the ceiling the Revised Code puts on a local-rule advance deposit (R.C. 2101.16(E)). Loc.R. 58.1(C) requires the fiduciary to keep a positive balance in the deposit account, so later filings can be refused until the account is topped up (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026).
- Get appointed and take your letters of authority. On an admitted will the court issues letters testamentary to the executor named in the will (R.C. 2113.05); with no will it issues letters of administration to the administrator. Either way the appointment is recorded on Form 4.5 (Entry Appointing Fiduciary; Letter of Authority), and the letter of authority is the document banks and transfer agents ask to see. Under the court's E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025 the court produces and mails three certified copies when letters of authority issue; order more if the estate has more institutions to deal with, remembering that certified copies cost $1.00 per page and are not covered by the minimum deposit.
- File the Medicaid estate recovery notice 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 properly completed Medicaid estate recovery notice form to the administrator of the program no later than thirty days after letters are granted or after an application for release or summary release from administration is filed (R.C. 2117.061). Compliance is certified to the court on Form 7.0, and Franklin publishes its own local notice form, PC-E-7.0A. This duty is not universal: it attaches only where the recovery program was in play.
- File the inventory within three months. File an inventory of the decedent's Ohio real property and the tangible and intangible personal property to be administered within three months after the date of appointment, unless the court grants an extension of time for good cause shown (R.C. 2115.02), on Form 6.0 (Inventory and Appraisal), which in Franklin County is e-filed as ePC-E-6.0 with a schedule of assets.
- Track the creditor window, which runs from the date of death. All claims must be presented within six months after the decedent's death, whether or not the estate is released from administration or a fiduciary is appointed in that period, and a claim not presented in that window is forever barred (R.C. 2117.06). Ohio requires no newspaper advertisement of the grant of letters, so the clock does not depend on publication. The one statutory exception is the Medicaid estate recovery administrator, which may present its claim up to ninety days after receiving the recovery notice form or one year after death, whichever is later (R.C. 2117.061(D)).
- Set any hearing you need through the e-Hearing Locator. Before e-filing a proposed entry setting hearing, for which Franklin publishes local form ePC-EGT-1.E, the court's e-Hearing Locator is used to choose your own hearing date from the available slots. If the hearing is held remotely, Loc.R. 54.6 provides that you may be required to appear so the judicial officer can see and hear you and that testimony must be given orally rather than typed into a chat box; confirm the format with the court, because the rules do not themselves grant a right to appear remotely.
- Deal with Franklin County real estate. Where a Columbus-area parcel has to pass through the estate, the fiduciary applies for a Certificate of Transfer on Form 12.0, e-filed in Franklin County as the ePC-E-12.0 set, and records the certificate with the Franklin County Recorder. Where the property is instead sold, the sale runs through the estate under the fiduciary's authority and any contested step is heard by the probate judge.
- Account and close. Render a final and distributive account within six months after appointment unless one of the statutory exceptions applies, such as a will contest, a spousal election against the will, an insolvent estate, or the fiduciary being a party in a civil action (R.C. 2109.301). The account is filed on Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account), e-filed here as ePC-E-13.0, and Franklin publishes a local certificate of service of the account on the heirs or beneficiaries, PC-E-13.9. Where the sole heir or beneficiary is also the fiduciary, no partial accounts are required and a certificate of termination may be filed instead (R.C. 2109.301(B)(2)). Once the court approves the account and the distributions are made, the estate is closed.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Franklin County
Franklin County uses two layers of forms, and you need both. The first layer is the statewide set: Ohio has one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio and used in all 88 counties, published on the Supreme Court's decedent's estate forms page. The Supreme Court's own page says these forms should be filed in the local county court and that the local court may have additional forms that must be filed. Franklin County is the clearest example of that in Ohio: the court publishes an extensive library of its own forms, and its local rules provide that forms for use in the court are available at the court and on its website (Loc.R. 51.1), that a computer-generated form must match the wording of the uniform forms or the court's own forms (Loc.R. 52.1), and that the body of every form filed in the court is set in twelve-point type (Loc.R. 52.2).
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 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) with Form 5.11 (Entry Granting Summary Release From Administration), Form 6.0 (Inventory and Appraisal), Form 7.0 (Certification of Notice to Administrator of Medicaid Estate Recovery Program), Form 12.0 (Application for Certificate of Transfer) and Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account). Note that the summary-release form is Form 5.10 and the application to relieve an estate from administration is Form 5.0. 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.
Franklin's local forms are numbered onto that same scheme, with PC- and ePC- prefixes, and many applications are paired with a court-drafted proposed entry. The estate set is published under the court's large-estate and small-estate form categories and includes ePC-E-4.0 (Application for Authority to Administer Estate), ePC-E-4.0B (Application for Authority to Administer Estate Without Assistance of an Attorney), PC-E-4.0A (Fiduciary's Acceptance), ePC-E-4.0w (Waiver of Right to Administer), ePC-E-4.5 (Proposed Entry Appointing Fiduciary; Letters of Authority), PC-E-1.0 (Surviving Spouse, Children, Next of Kin, Legatees and Devisees), PC-E-1.V (Waiver of Fiduciary Bond), PC-E-1.CC (Consent to Attorney Fees), ePC-EGT-1.E (Proposed Entry Setting Hearing, used with the e-Hearing Locator), PC-E-7.0A (Notice to Administrator of Medicaid Estate Recovery Program), PC-E-2.4 (Certificate of Service of Notice of Probate of Will), ePC-E-6.0 (Inventory and Appraisal) with PC-E-6.1 (Schedule of Assets), the ePC-E-12.0 certificate of transfer set, ePC-E-13.0 (Fiduciary's Account) with PC-E-13.9 (Certificate of Service of Account to Heirs or Beneficiaries) and PC-E-13.11 (Presentation of Claim Against Decedent's Estate). ePC-E-4.0B is worth knowing about by name: it is the court's own application for a family member administering an estate without a lawyer, required by Loc.R. 60.5 for anyone seeking authority to administer an estate without an attorney, and the same rule rebuttably presumes that a fiduciary serving without counsel must be bonded.
How the forms are submitted is the Franklin County difference. Since the court's E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025 took effect, the completed forms are uploaded through the court's e-filing system rather than handed across a counter, for every case type except marriage and for self-represented filers as well as attorneys, and paper submitted where no exception applies is returned unfiled. Prepare each form as a separate document so it can be uploaded and indexed correctly; documents go up as PDFs, except a proposed entry or order, which the order requires in Word or an editable PDF. The narrow exceptions, above all the original will, are the only route by which paper reaches the file.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov/forms/all-forms/decedents-estate/8) | The statewide forms used in Franklin County, including Forms 1.0, 2.0, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.1, 5.10, 5.11, 6.0, 7.0, 12.0 and 13.0, with the numbered variants, waivers and entries |
| Franklin County Probate Court forms (probate.franklincountyohio.gov/Forms) | The court's own library, organized by category, including the large estate and small estate sets of PC- and ePC- forms and the paired proposed entries the court requires |
| Franklin County Probate Court e-filing (probate.franklincountyohio.gov/About/e-Filing) | Registration, the E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025, the exception list, per-case-type filing guides including estates, and a training site. Registration is required before you can file |
| Franklin County Probate Court local rules and administrative orders (probate.franklincountyohio.gov/About/Administrative-Orders) | The local rules effective January 1, 2024, including Loc.R. 51.1, 52.1 and 52.2 on forms, Loc.R. 53.1 on hours and filing cutoffs, Loc.R. 54.6 on remote hearings and Loc.R. 58.1 on deposits, plus the court's administrative orders |
Fees
Ohio splits probate costs in two. Most fee items are set statewide by statute in R.C. 2101.16(A), but the number a family actually pays when it opens an estate is the advance deposit for costs that each probate court sets by its own local rule, which the statute caps at $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)), plus the optional computerization and dispute-resolution charges a court may add (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163). Franklin County Probate Court publishes its own court costs schedule and fixes its deposits in Loc.R. 58.1(B), so the figures below are the county's own rather than a statewide estimate. The published schedule carries no effective date, so confirm the current figures with the court before you file; each figure below carries its source.
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full administration, minimum deposit | $125.00 | The court's published minimum deposit to open a full administration, also fixed by Loc.R. 58.1(B) for an application for appointment of an estate fiduciary, and the ceiling the Revised Code puts on a local-rule advance deposit for costs (R.C. 2101.16(E)). The schedule states that the minimum deposit does not cover the cost of letters of authority (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
| Full administration, recommended deposit | $250.00 | The deposit the court recommends, in both the schedule and Loc.R. 58.1(B), so the account covers the filings and the letters of authority rather than only the minimum (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
| Release from administration | $105.00 to $115.00 | The county's total court cost 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 (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
| Summary administration | $105.00 | The schedule's line for a summary release from administration (R.C. 2113.031), filed on Form 5.10 (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
| Ancillary administration deposit | $125.00 | For an out-of-state decedent's Ohio property, administered under R.C. Chapter 2129 on Form 4.1 (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
| Wrongful death deposit | $175.00 | Where a wrongful-death claim is administered through the estate (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
| Probate only, or a will for record only | $75.00 probate only, $65.00 will for record only | Where a will is admitted or recorded without a fiduciary being appointed; probate only with real estate is $82.00 (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
| Real estate transfer only | $67.00 | The schedule's real-estate line, $68.00 with tax. The schedule has no separate certificate-of-transfer item, so confirm with the court what a Form 12.0 filing will cost in your case (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
| Appointment of a fiduciary, probating a will | $35.00 appointment, $15.00 will | Statutory items, the same in every Ohio county (R.C. 2101.16(A)), drawn against the deposit rather than charged on top of it |
| Inventory and account | $10.00 inventory with appraisement, $12.00 account | Statutory items (R.C. 2101.16(A)); an inventory without appraisement is $7.00. These are drawn against the deposit as the estate progresses |
| Copies | $1.00 per page certified, $0.10 per page plain, $1.00 per CD-ROM | Certified copies are what the letter of authority costs, and are the charge the minimum deposit does not cover. Plain copies printed at the court's public access computer station are $0.10 per page and a set of document images on CD-ROM is $1.00 (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
| Card payment surcharge | 2.5% in person, minimum $2.00, and 3% on e-filing payments | Non-refundable convenience charges on card payments (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026) |
Local nuance
Franklin County-specific considerations
E-filing is mandatory, not optional, and it applies to families as well as lawyers. This is the single most important local fact and it is unusual in Ohio. The court's e-filing page states that e-filing is mandatory for all Probate Court case types, and its E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025 provides that e-filing is mandatory for all kinds of cases before the court except marriages, that all persons filing documents in the court must be registered users of the e-filing system, and that paper submitted where no exception applies is not accepted and is returned unfiled. Most Ohio probate courts either have no e-filing at all or make it optional, so guidance written for another county, or for Ohio generally, will wrongly tell you to take your forms to a counter.
There is a public access computer station, and a short list of exceptions. A filer who does not have internet or computer access may use a public access computer station at the court to register for the e-filing system and to e-file, and a filer who turns up with paper is directed to it. The order's exceptions are narrow: validated copies that cannot be scanned without casting their validity into doubt, original wills, exhibits that cannot practicably be e-filed, documents presented without being filed such as account vouchers and bank statements, and written special permission for good cause, which expressly includes an assistive-technology accommodation letting participants who are blind or visually impaired file on paper.
The original will still has to arrive as an original, within fourteen days. Uploading a scan of the will does not satisfy the court. The order provides that when a will is being submitted the court must be provided the original will itself, and that the original be filed no later than fourteen days after the case is opened, and it recommends sending it by traceable means such as certified mail. This is the one step in a Franklin County estate that a filer in another state cannot do online, so plan for it when you open the case.
Hours run to 5:00 p.m., but money stops earlier. The court is open Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with no lunch closure published, and Loc.R. 53.1(A) states the same hours. The cutoffs are the practical part: the cashiers close at 4:30 p.m., the court asks you to arrive by 4:00 p.m. for any business requiring payment, and Loc.R. 53.1(A) requires any paper filing needing a new case number or the payment of court costs to be filed by 4:30 p.m. The last half hour of the day is for information, not transactions.
Keep a positive balance on deposit. Loc.R. 58.1(B) fixes the minimum deposit for an application to appoint an estate fiduciary at $125.00 with $250.00 recommended, and Loc.R. 58.1(C) requires the fiduciary to maintain a positive balance in the deposit account: where filings are presented in a case with insufficient funds on deposit, the filer must pay the cost of the filing or tender an additional deposit before the filings are accepted. Combined with the schedule's note that the minimum deposit does not cover the cost of letters of authority, the recommended $250.00 is the realistic figure to budget.
The Resource Center gives free one-on-one legal help by phone. The court runs a Resource Center created to provide limited legal assistance to people handling simple estate matters who cannot afford a lawyer, and a qualifying family gets free one-on-one legal assistance from a lawyer. You call (614) 525-7251 and leave a message, a Resource Center attorney returns the call within three business days, and consultations are completed by phone. Court staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice, so this is the practical route to an actual legal answer before you file. Court costs still apply.
You pick your own hearing date. The court publishes an e-Hearing Locator, a self-service tool for choosing a hearing date from the available slots before you e-file a proposed entry setting hearing, for which the court publishes local form ePC-EGT-1.E. Loc.R. 54.6 governs conduct in a remote hearing: participants may be required to appear so the judicial officer can see and hear them, and testimony must be given orally rather than typed into a chat box. It does not grant a right to appear remotely, so confirm the format for your matter.
The case search shows the docket; images take an extra step. The court's Record Search includes a General Case Search covering estate, trust, guardianship, civil and miscellaneous probate cases and a separate marriage license search back to January 3, 1995. Records shown are current as of the previous day, and statutorily confidential case types, such as adoptions, are restricted from public access. Getting the documents is separate: a registered e-filer sees links to images of filings, and anyone else emails [email protected] for images, asks for a set on CD-ROM at $1.00 per CD, or prints from the court's public access computer station at $0.10 per page.
A stand-alone probate judge, on the 22nd floor. In roughly a third of Ohio counties one elected judge presides over both the probate and juvenile divisions and the estate counter shares staff with juvenile work. Franklin is not one of them: it has a stand-alone probate division with its own elected probate judge, its own staff and its own local rules, which is part of why its published local practice is the deepest of any Ohio probate court. The court occupies the 22nd floor of 373 South High Street, with the marriage division on the 23rd, so a visitor who stops at a general courthouse counter or at the Franklin County Clerk of Courts is in the wrong place for an estate.
Recent updates
| Date | Change |
|---|---|
| July 2, 2025 | Electronic filing became mandatory at Franklin County Probate Court. The court's E-Filing Administrative Order, filed July 2, 2025 and superseding all prior conflicting administrative orders and local rules on e-filing, provides that e-filing is mandatory for all kinds of cases before the court except marriages, that all persons filing documents in the court must be registered users of the e-filing system, and that paper submitted where no exception applies is not accepted and is returned unfiled. The order sets out the exceptions, including original wills, exhibits that cannot practicably be e-filed and an assistive-technology accommodation, and provides a public access computer station at the court (source: Franklin County Probate Court e-filing page and the order, verified July 2026). |
| December 18, 2025 | The court issued an administrative order on notice by publication, listed on its local rules and administrative orders page. Publication notice matters mainly in a release from administration, so check the current order and the court's published publication rates before you file (source: Franklin County Probate Court local rules and administrative orders page, verified July 2026). |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Franklin County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Columbus-area home was held jointly with right of survivorship, or was covered by a transfer on death designation affidavit recorded with the Franklin 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. Where other assets stood in the decedent's sole name, the spouse e-files: Form 2.0 with Form 4.0 and the next-of-kin form where there is a will, leading to letters testamentary, or Form 4.0 with the next-of-kin form where there is none, leading to letters of administration. Where the spouse inherits everything, the estate may instead qualify to be relieved from administration on Forms 5.0 and 5.1 (R.C. 2113.03), which the court's schedule prices at $105.00 to $115.00 rather than a full-administration deposit. A spouse doing this without a lawyer can use the court's own ePC-E-4.0B application and call the Resource Center at (614) 525-7251. | Asset discovery to establish how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to reach the court. Packet generation for the Franklin County filing, whether a full administration or a release, prepared as separate documents with the paired proposed entries the court's e-filing system expects. A vetted attorney referral if title or a creditor 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). A release does not shorten the six-month creditor window measured from the date of death (R.C. 2117.06), and where the decedent or the decedent's spouse was subject to the Medicaid estate recovery program the thirty-day notice still applies (R.C. 2117.061). Franklin County is one of the easiest Ohio counties to handle from out of state, because mandatory e-filing means the filing itself is done online rather than at the 22nd-floor counter. The one thing that cannot be done online is an original will, which must reach the court as an original within fourteen days of opening the case, so send it by certified mail as the court recommends. | 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 for electronic filing so a child in another state does not have to travel to Columbus. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Because real property has to be sold, this is a full administration. With no will the parent e-files Form 4.0 with the next-of-kin form, is appointed administrator and receives letters of authority on Form 4.5, of which the court produces and mails three certified copies; with a will the parent probates it on Form 2.0 and receives letters testamentary (R.C. 2113.05). The inventory is due within three months of appointment on Form 6.0 (R.C. 2115.02), the account within six months on Form 13.0 (R.C. 2109.301), and title to the Franklin County parcel is moved by a Certificate of Transfer applied for on Form 12.0 and recorded with the county recorder, or the parcel is sold through the estate. Budget the court's recommended $250.00 deposit rather than the $125.00 minimum, because the minimum does not cover the cost of letters of authority, and keep the deposit account in positive balance (Loc.R. 58.1(C)). | Asset discovery for the child's accounts, policies and Franklin County property, including anything the parent did not know about. Packet generation for the administration application, the inventory, the account and the certificate of transfer. A vetted Franklin County probate attorney to run the sale and any contested step. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Franklin County Probate Court (probate.franklincountyohio.gov), (614) 525-3894, [email protected] | The filing office for estates: the court's own pages for hours, directions to the 22nd floor of 373 South High Street, the court costs schedule, the forms library, the local rules and administrative orders, the e-filing system and the Record Search. Court staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice |
| Franklin County Probate Court Resource Center for small estates, (614) 525-7251 | Free one-on-one legal assistance from a lawyer for people handling simple estate matters who cannot afford counsel. Leave a message and a Resource Center attorney returns the call within three business days; consultations are completed by phone. Court costs still apply |
| Franklin County Probate Court e-filing (probate.franklincountyohio.gov/About/e-Filing) | Registration and filing for the mandatory e-filing system, the E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025 with its exception list, per-case-type guides including estates, and a training site. A public access computer station is available at the court for filers without internet or computer access |
| Franklin County Probate Court Record Search (probate.franklincountyohio.gov/Record-Search) | The General Case Search for estate, trust, guardianship, civil and miscellaneous probate cases, current as of the previous day, plus a marriage license search back to January 3, 1995. Document images are requested from the court by email, on CD-ROM, or printed at the public access computer station |
| Franklin County Probate Court local rules and administrative orders (probate.franklincountyohio.gov/About/Administrative-Orders) | The local rules effective January 1, 2024 and the court's administrative orders, including the deposits in Loc.R. 58.1, the hours and cutoffs in Loc.R. 53.1, the forms rules in Loc.R. 51.1 and 52.1, and remote-hearing conduct in Loc.R. 54.6 |
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov/forms/all-forms/decedents-estate/8) | The statewide forms used in every Ohio county, including Franklin, with the numbered variants and waivers. The Supreme Court's page notes that the local court may require additional forms, which Franklin does |
| Ohio Legal Help (ohiolegalhelp.org) | Plain-language Ohio probate guides from a statewide non-profit, including release from administration and summary release, form assistants, and resource pages for the Franklin County Probate Court and its Resource Center. Not a government site, so confirm court details with the court |
| Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio (lasco.org), intake (888) 246-4420, general inquiries (614) 221-7201 | The legal-aid law firm whose service area covers Franklin County; its Columbus office handles cases in Franklin and Madison counties. Its published practice areas are consumer, housing, family, health care, public benefits, seniors, tax, veterans and similar civil matters and do not include estate administration, so use the court's Resource Center for probate help and confirm scope before applying |
| Columbus Bar Association lawyer directory (columbuslawyers.com) | The Columbus Bar Association's public directory of its member attorneys, searchable by practice area, including probate, and by location, for finding a central Ohio probate attorney |
| Ohio State Bar Association lawyer referral (ohiobar.org/public-resources/lawyer-referral/) and the Supreme Court's certified referral services list (supremecourt.ohio.gov/attorneys/referral-services/) | Attorney referrals statewide, plus the official list of certified referral services, which is where to confirm a local referral service before using it |
When to hire an attorney
Ohio does not require an attorney to open an estate, and Franklin County publishes its own form for going it alone: ePC-E-4.0B, the application for authority to administer an estate without the assistance of an attorney. Many uncontested estates here are handled by a family member, particularly where a surviving spouse inherits everything and the estate qualifies to be relieved from administration rather than fully administered. Counsel makes sense when a will is contested or a dispute among heirs is likely; when a surviving spouse is electing against the will; when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing a claim inside the six-month window measured from death (R.C. 2117.06); when Franklin County real estate has to be sold and the terms are disputed; when the estate holds a business interest, out-of-state property, or a wrongful-death or injury claim; when a guardianship or a trust has to run alongside the estate; or when the final account cannot be filed within six months because the fiduciary is a party in a civil action (R.C. 2109.301). The practical local factor cuts the other way from most Ohio counties: because filing is electronic and mandatory, a self-represented filer here works through a portal, a set of paired proposed entries and a review queue rather than a clerk at a counter, which is why the court's Resource Center and its free attorney consultations exist. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Franklin County probate attorney when the situation calls for counsel.
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, Franklin County real estate, business interests and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and which Ohio estate settlement route fits before you open a filing.
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, prepared as separate documents ready to upload to the Franklin County Probate Court's e-filing system.
Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested, involves a property sale, or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Ohio probate attorney serving Franklin County and the Columbus area.
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 Franklin County, Ohio?
With the Franklin County Probate Court, the probate division of the Franklin County Court of Common Pleas (R.C. 2101.01), on the 22nd floor of 373 South High Street, Columbus, OH 43215, (614) 525-3894. Because e-filing is mandatory, the filing itself is submitted through the court's e-filing system rather than at the counter. File in Franklin County if the decedent was a resident of the county at the time of death (R.C. 2113.01). Do not go to the Franklin County Clerk of Courts: in Ohio the elected probate judge is the clerk of the probate court (R.C. 2101.11(A)(1)(a)).
Is e-filing required for probate in Franklin County?
Yes, through the court's eFlex system at efiling.franklincountyohio.gov. The court's e-filing page states that e-filing is mandatory for all Probate Court case types, and its E-Filing Administrative Order filed July 2, 2025 provides that e-filing is mandatory for all kinds of cases before the court except marriages, that all persons filing documents in the court must be registered users of the e-filing system, and that documents submitted in paper where no exception applies are not accepted and are returned unfiled. That covers self-represented filers as well as attorneys. This is unusual in Ohio, where most probate courts are paper or make e-filing optional, so do not rely on general Ohio advice that tells you to take your forms to a counter.
What if I do not have a computer or internet access?
The court provides a public access computer station at the courthouse that a filer without internet or computer access may use to register for the e-filing system and to e-file, and a filer who arrives with paper is directed to it. The e-filing order also allows written special permission for good cause, including an assistive-technology accommodation under which participants who are blind or visually impaired may be permitted to submit paper. Call (614) 525-3894 to confirm what applies to your filing before you travel downtown, and note the station is available during office hours.
How much does it cost to open an estate in Franklin County?
Franklin County Probate Court's published court costs schedule and Loc.R. 58.1(B) set the minimum deposit for an application to appoint an estate fiduciary at $125.00, which is also the ceiling the Revised Code puts on a local-rule advance deposit for costs (R.C. 2101.16(E)), and the court recommends a deposit of $250.00. The schedule states that the minimum deposit does not cover the cost of letters of authority, so the recommended figure is the realistic one. A release from administration runs $105.00 to $115.00 and a summary administration $105.00. Those totals are built from statutory items including the $35.00 fiduciary appointment fee, the $15.00 fee to probate a will and the $60.00 release or summary-release fee (R.C. 2101.16(A)), plus the court's computerization and dispute-resolution charges (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163) (Franklin County Probate Court court costs schedule, probate.franklincountyohio.gov, verified July 2026). The schedule carries no effective date, so confirm the current figures with the court.
What are the Franklin County Probate Court hours?
Monday to Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed on weekends and legal holidays, with no lunch closure published, per the court's hours page and Loc.R. 53.1(A) of the local rules effective January 1, 2024. The cashiers close at 4:30 p.m. and the court asks you to arrive by 4:00 p.m. for any business requiring payment, and Loc.R. 53.1(A) requires a paper filing that needs a new case number or the payment of court costs to be filed by 4:30 p.m. The estate counters are on the 22nd floor of 373 South High Street and the marriage division, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., is on the 23rd.
How do I look up a Franklin County probate case online?
Use the court's Record Search. Its General Case Search covers estate, trust, guardianship, civil and miscellaneous probate cases and is searchable by case name, case number, case type, attorney or fiduciary, and a separate search covers marriage licenses from January 3, 1995 forward. Records are current as of the previous day, and statutorily confidential case types, such as adoptions, are restricted from public access. Getting the documents is a separate step: a registered e-filer sees links to images of filings, and anyone else emails [email protected] for images, requests a set on CD-ROM at $1.00 per CD, or prints from the court's public access computer station at $0.10 per page.
What forms do I need for a Franklin County estate?
Both layers. The statewide Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio are the core: Form 1.0 (Surviving Spouse, Children, Next of Kin, Legatees, and Devisees), Form 2.0 (Application to Probate 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, 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), Form 12.0 (Application for Certificate of Transfer) and Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account). Franklin County Probate Court then publishes its own local versions and additions with PC- and ePC- prefixes, including ePC-E-4.0, PC-E-1.0, ePC-E-4.5, ePC-E-6.0, ePC-E-13.0, PC-E-7.0A and ePC-E-4.0B, the application to administer an estate without the assistance of an attorney. Take both sets from the court's forms page.
Do I have to travel to Columbus to settle an estate here?
Usually not for the filings. Mandatory e-filing means the application, the inventory and the account are submitted online, which makes Franklin County one of the easier Ohio counties to handle from out of town. The exception is the original will: the court's e-filing order provides that the court must be provided the original will itself, filed no later than fourteen days after the case is opened, and recommends sending it by traceable means such as certified mail. A hearing may also require an appearance; the court's local rules govern conduct in remote hearings (Loc.R. 54.6) but do not grant a right to appear remotely, so confirm the format at (614) 525-3894.
How long do creditors have to make a claim against a Franklin County estate?
Six months after the decedent's death, not six months after the estate is opened. All claims must be presented within six months after death, whether or not the estate is released from administration or a fiduciary is appointed in that period, and a claim not presented in that window is forever barred (R.C. 2117.06). Ohio requires no newspaper advertisement of the grant of letters, so nothing about the clock depends on publication. The one statutory exception is the Medicaid estate recovery administrator, which may present its claim up to ninety days after receiving the recovery notice form or one year after death, whichever is later (R.C. 2117.061(D)). Franklin County publishes a local form for presenting a claim, PC-E-13.11.
Does the Franklin County court help families without a lawyer?
Yes, more than most. The court runs a Resource Center created to provide limited legal assistance to people handling simple estate matters who cannot afford a lawyer: a qualifying family gets free one-on-one legal assistance from a lawyer, and you reach it by calling (614) 525-7251 and leaving a message, with a return call within three business days and the consultation completed by phone. The court also publishes ePC-E-4.0B, its own application to administer an estate without the assistance of an attorney, and provides a public access computer station for filers who need one to meet the mandatory e-filing requirement. Court staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice, and court costs still apply.
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.