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Henry County, OH Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | Henry County Probate Court, the probate division of the Henry 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 Henry County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division. One elected judge presides over both the Probate Division and the General Division; a second elected judge presides over the Domestic Relations and Juvenile Divisions, which the county brands the Henry County Family Court. The county's own page records that the split took effect January 1, 2005, when a single judge stopped overseeing all four divisions. The court's own description of its probate docket covers estates, trusts, guardianships, mental competence, adoptions, marriage licenses, wrongful death and the settlement of minor claims |
| Filing office | The probate court's own office in Suite 203 on the second floor of the courthouse. The elected probate judge is also the clerk of the probate court (R.C. 2101.11(A)(1)(a)), so an estate is opened at the probate counter. Four separate offices sit in the one courthouse and only one takes estates: the Probate Division, Suite 203, second floor, (419) 592-7771; the Common Pleas Judge's General and Probate Divisions office, Suite 301, third floor, (419) 592-5926; the Henry County Clerk of Courts, Suite 302, (419) 592-5886, which serves the General and Domestic Relations Divisions and does not open estates; and the Domestic Relations and Juvenile Divisions, Suite 401, fourth floor, (419) 599-5951 |
| Courthouse | Henry County Courthouse, 660 N. Perry Street, Suite 203, 2nd Floor, Napoleon, OH 43545. The present courthouse was completed in 1882 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, per the county's own courthouse history |
| Mailing address | The probate court publishes no separate post office box, so mail filings go to 660 N. Perry Street, Suite 203, Napoleon, OH 43545. Local Rule 57.2 allows filings by U.S. Mail or another delivery service, accepts a fee-bearing filing only if the correct fee is enclosed or already paid, requires any filing that must be set for hearing to be accompanied by the entry setting it, and tells you to enclose a copy and a self-addressed prepaid envelope if you want a file-stamped copy back |
| Phone | (419) 592-7771, the number the Henry County Probate Court publishes in its own contact block and on the cover sheet of its own local rules (verified July 2026). It is the probate court's own line and not the Clerk of Courts number. Note that the Supreme Court of Ohio's trial-court directory links the county's parent Probate and General Divisions page, whose contact block is the judge's Suite 301 chambers at (419) 592-5926, so use (419) 592-7771 for a filing question |
| Fax | (419) 592-7000, published on the cover sheet of the court's own local rules effective December 1, 2023 (verified July 2026). This is a filing channel, not just a document line: Local Rule 57.3(D) designates the number published on the cover sheet as the machine that receives facsimile filings, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and provides that transmissions sent anywhere else are not permitted under the rule. The court's own web page publishes no fax number at all, and (419) 599-0803, which some directories carry, is the fax of the judge's Suite 301 office rather than the probate counter, so confirm the number at (419) 592-7771 before you fax a filing |
| [email protected], the address behind the Email Probate Division link on the court's own page. Use it for questions. Nothing in the local rules authorizes filing a document by e-mail: Rule 57.3 covers facsimile transmission only. Older directories carry the same mailbox on the county's retired henrycountyohio.com domain | |
| Office hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, published in the court's own contact block and in Local Rule 53.1 (verified July 2026). The rule adds two cutoffs the web page does not: no court costs and no accounts of fiduciaries are accepted after 4:15 p.m., and marriage license applications are not accepted after 4:00 p.m. Call (419) 592-7771 before making a late-afternoon trip |
| 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 advance deposit for costs by local rule, capped at $125.00 at the time application is made (R.C. 2101.16(E)), and may add computerization and dispute-resolution charges (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163). Henry County publishes no dollar deposit or cost schedule for probate: Local Rule 58.1(A) says only that deposits ordinarily shall be required on the initial filing, that the deposit is applied as filings occur, that additional deposits may be required, and that the court maintains and makes available a current list of costs, and that list is not on the web. The dollar schedule the county does publish, Security Costs for Henry County Common Pleas Court, revised July 11, 2025, belongs to the Clerk of Courts and covers civil, foreclosure, domestic relations, criminal and appeal filings with no estate line at all. Call (419) 592-7771 and ask what to bring before you file. Local Rule 58.1(B) limits payment to cash, money orders, checks with leave of court and major credit cards with leave of court |
| Local forms | Yes, sixteen of them, in the local rules rather than on the website. Appendix A to the four-county Probate Division local rules is headed Local Forms and runs A-I to A-XVI, and Appendices B and C add the counsel-fee forms B-I to B-III and the fiduciary-fee forms C-I to C-IV. Four matter in a decedent's estate: Form A-IV, the Fiduciary's Acceptance under R.C. 2109.02, which must be executed and filed before letters of appointment issue (Rule 60.1(D)); Form A-V, Appointment of Appraiser and Entry Approving, filed in lieu of Standard Probate Form 3.0 where the assets have a readily ascertainable value and no appraisal is needed (Rule 61.1(G)); Form A-IX, Application to Extend Time (Rule 78.1); and Form A-XVI, Application to File Will for Record Only (Rule 59.1(F)). Form A-III is the fax filing cover sheet. Rule 51.1 requires the applicable Standard Probate Forms for all filings, and Rule 52.1 allows computer-generated forms only if they match the format of the court's forms |
| E-filing | None for probate, but fax filing is allowed for some documents. The four-county Probate Division local rules contain no electronic-filing rule: Rule 57.3 is headed Electronic Transmission Filings and its entire text is a facsimile-filing rule. The county does run a CourtView eServices portal that advertises attorney e-filing, but its own notice states that its case information is generated from records maintained by the Henry County Common Pleas Clerk and routes questions to the Clerk at (419) 592-5886, and the Clerk of Courts does not open estates. Under Rule 57.3 a fax filing may not include anything that commences a proceeding for which the court must collect an initial case deposit or effect service of summons, estate tax returns, adoption or involuntary commitment filings, applications for certificates of transfer, or original wills and codicils; it must carry the Form A-III cover page or it may be treated as a nullity; it may cover only one case number and may not exceed twenty pages excluding the cover page; and a fax received outside normal business hours is filed as of the next date the court is in session. So the application that opens an estate goes in on paper, in person or by mail, and later documents in the open case can go by fax |
| Case search | None for probate. The Henry County Probate Court states it on its own page: office records are not online. There is no CaseLook or other probate records portal for Henry County, unlike neighboring Defiance and Fulton counties. The county's eServices public access portal is the Clerk of Courts system, is gated behind a CAPTCHA, and its own notice says court records before 1995 are not available online and that images of documents filed after March 31, 2024 are available online for civil and criminal cases. Records in a Henry County estate are requested from the probate court's office in Suite 203, in person, by mail or by calling (419) 592-7771. The office's own holdings run deep: estates from 1847 to the present, marriages from 1847, naturalizations from 1853, and births and deaths from 1867 to 1908 |
| Remote appearance | Little is published. The only remote provisions in the local rules are Rule 78.2(B), under which parties may participate in the scheduling conference in a civil action by telephone with prior approval of the court, and Rule 65.1(B), under which the fiduciary at a land sale status conference shall be present or available by telephone. Nothing is published about telephone or video appearances at an estate hearing, so ask the court at (419) 592-7771. Rule 11.1 notes that the court records all hearings electronically and that the audio-electronic recording is the official record |
| Website | https://www.henrycountyohio.gov/261/Probate-Division (the Probate Division's own page, with the Suite 203 address, the probate phone line, the e-mail link, the hours and the records note). https://www.henrycountyohio.gov/258/Probate-General-Divisions is the parent page that explains the two-judge split and is the URL the Supreme Court of Ohio's trial-court directory links, but its contact block is the judge's Suite 301 chambers rather than the probate counter. The court's local rules are at https://www.fultoncountyoh.com/DocumentCenter/View/125 |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Henry 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 and different notice steps. Those routes and their dollar ceilings are statewide and are explained on the Ohio state page. Getting the value right before your first trip matters locally too, because Henry County's own rules let you skip a formal appraisal in several situations, and the answer turns on what the assets are worth and what kind of asset they are.
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 recorded transfer on death designation affidavit (R.C. 5302.22) go directly to the survivor or beneficiary and never reach the probate court. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step, so that the application you hand across the counter in Suite 203 lists the estate accurately the first time. It matters more here than in a metro county, because Henry County has no probate e-filing and no online docket, so a wrong or incomplete filing means another trip to Napoleon or another round of mail.
Which court handles jurisdiction
Henry County Probate Court in Napoleon is the single probate filing office for the whole county. Everything is at one address, 660 N. Perry Street, Suite 203, and there is no branch or satellite office. The court serves every part of the county: the city of Napoleon, the county seat, the eight villages of Deshler, Florida, Hamler, Holgate, Liberty Center, Malinta, McClure and New Bavaria, the thirteen townships of Bartlow, Damascus, Flatrock, Freedom, Harrison, Liberty, Marion, Monroe, Napoleon, Pleasant, Richfield, Ridgeville and Washington, and unincorporated communities the county names including Ridgeville Corners, Gerald, Colton, Texas, Okolona, Grelton, Elery, Westhope, Standley and Pleasant Bend. Distances are short by Ohio standards on a flat road grid, but Deshler and New Bavaria sit in the far south of the county and Liberty Center in the northeast, so a filer at the county's edge has a real drive. Because papers can be mailed to the court under Local Rule 57.2 and later documents in an open case can be faxed under Local Rule 57.3, 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 Henry County, file in Henry County Probate Court, even if they died in a hospital in Toledo, Findlay, Defiance or Lima. Ohio's statute says resident, not domiciled, and the probate court in which the will is admitted is the court that grants letters. Ohio has no probate district, circuit or regional overlay: all 88 counties have their own probate court, seated at the county seat (R.C. 2101.01(A)), and Henry County's sits in Napoleon.
Four separate offices share the Henry County Courthouse and only one of them opens an estate. The Probate Division is in Suite 203 on the second floor, (419) 592-7771, and is where wills, estates, trusts, guardianships, adoptions, name changes and marriage licenses are filed. The Common Pleas Judge's General and Probate Divisions office is in Suite 301 on the third floor, (419) 592-5926, and is the judge's chambers rather than the probate counter. The Henry County Clerk of Courts is in Suite 302, (419) 592-5886, and serves the General and Domestic Relations Divisions; it does not open estates. The Domestic Relations and Juvenile Divisions, which the county brands the Henry County Family Court, are in Suite 401 on the fourth floor, (419) 599-5951, and keep different hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Use the number the probate court publishes on its own page.
One structural point matters if an estate touches a neighboring county. The Probate Divisions of Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties have adopted ONE shared set of local rules, signed by all four probate judges and effective December 1, 2023, so the local procedure a Henry County filer learns will look familiar in Defiance, Wauseon or Bryan, and the same rule numbers apply there. What is not shared is money: each of the four counties sets its own deposits and costs, and while Defiance County publishes a dollar schedule, Henry County does not, so do not borrow a Defiance County figure for a Henry County filing.
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. 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. Local Rule 60.1(C) provides that an applicant who is not represented by an attorney may be required to display photographic identification, so bring an ID.
- Check the court's index of wills first. Local Rules 59.1(A) and 60.1(B) require the applicant or the applicant's attorney to examine the court's index of wills before filing an application to admit a will to probate, to appoint an estate fiduciary or to relieve an estate from administration, to confirm the decedent did not deposit an earlier will with the court for safekeeping. A prior deposited will is filed in the estate proceedings for record purposes. The rules put that examination on the applicant or the applicant's attorney, so ask the office in Suite 203 how to search the index.
- Get the statewide forms and the local ones. Ohio uses one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio in every county, and Local Rule 51.1 requires the applicable Standard Probate Forms for all filings in this court. 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). 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). Henry County does not publish a form library on its website, and the Probate Forms link on the court's page opens the Supreme Court's general probate index rather than the decedent's estate set, so use the decedent's estate link in the forms section below. The county's own forms are Appendix A to the local rules, Forms A-I to A-XVI.
- Prepare the notices. Local Rule 60.1(A) requires anyone filing an Application for Authority to Administer Estate to give notice to the decedent's surviving spouse and to all next of kin unless notice is waived, and excuses that requirement only for an applicant named in the decedent's will or an applicant who is the surviving spouse. The notice must state the date, time and place of the hearing and be served under Civil Rule 73 at least seven days before it. All applications are set for hearing unless every waiver of notice has been obtained, which is how an uncontested estate with cooperative heirs avoids a hearing date. On a will, Rule 59.1(D) requires notice of probate of the will by certified mail to everyone listed on Form 1.0 whose address is known, with notice by publication where an identity or address is unknown.
- File on paper in Suite 203 or by mail. There is no probate e-filing in Henry County, and Local Rule 57.3(B)(1) bars filing by fax anything that commences a proceeding for which the court must collect an initial case deposit, so the opening application goes in on paper. Take it to the probate court in Suite 203 on the second floor at 660 N. Perry Street, Napoleon, OH 43545, between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday, or mail it to the same address under Rule 57.2. Court costs are not accepted after 4:15 p.m. (Rule 53.1). Filings must be correctly captioned and either typed or written legibly in ink, attorneys' filings must be typed, self-represented applicants are encouraged to type, every paper must carry a signature followed by the printed name of the signer, and the court reserves the right to reject or strike a non-conforming filing (Rule 57.1(E)).
- Pay the deposit. Ohio fixes the fee items by statute, including $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary and $15.00 to probate a will (R.C. 2101.16(A)), and each probate court sets its own advance deposit by local rule, which cannot exceed $125.00 at the time application is made (R.C. 2101.16(E)). Henry County publishes no dollar figure: Local Rule 58.1(A) requires a deposit on the initial filing, applies it as filings occur, allows the court to require more, and says the court maintains and makes available a current list of costs, which is not published on the web. Call (419) 592-7771 and ask what to bring. Rule 58.1(B) accepts only cash, money orders, checks with leave of court and major credit cards with leave of court, so do not count on paying a probate deposit online.
- 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. Two local points: the fiduciary must execute and file a written acceptance of fiduciary duties under R.C. 2109.02 before letters issue, on Local Form A-IV (Rule 60.1(D)), and Rule 75.1(E)(2) provides that no certified copies of entries or letters of authority will be issued unless all required filings have been made or the court approves. Certified copies cost $1.00 per page (R.C. 2101.16(A)), so ask for enough for every institution the estate deals with while you are at the counter.
- File the certificate of service on the will within two months. Where a will was admitted, Local Rule 78.1(A) requires Standard Probate Form 2.4, the Certificate of Service of Notice of Probate of Will, to be filed no later than two months after the appointment of the fiduciary unless the court grants an extension, applied for on Local Form A-IX. This is a Henry County deadline that has no statewide twin, and it is the one most often missed.
- Send the Medicaid estate recovery notice where it applies, within 30 days. Ohio requires the person responsible for the estate of a decedent who was subject to the Medicaid estate recovery program, or whose spouse was, to submit a completed medicaid estate recovery notice form to the administrator of the medicaid estate recovery program not later than thirty days after letters are granted or an application for release or summary release is filed (R.C. 2117.061(B)). Compliance is certified to the court on Form 7.0. Local Rule 62.1(D) adds the court's own directive, framed in the rule's words rather than the statute's: whenever a decedent was fifty-five years of age or older at death and had been a recipient of Medicaid, Form 7.0 shall be filed with the court and a copy sent by certified mail by the fiduciary to the Administrator of the Estate Recovery Program. This applies to a release from administration too, which surprises people.
- File the inventory within three months, and notify the heirs. 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). Henry County adds four steps. Counsel must examine record title to the decedent's real estate before filing, for the sole purpose of confirming the ownership interest (Rule 61.2(A)). The fiduciary must serve notice of the inventory hearing on the next of kin and every beneficiary listed on Form 1.0, and must also send them a copy of the inventory itself (Rule 61.2(B) and (C)). Where an interested party's name or address is unknown and no prior publication has been made, notice of the hearing is published once each week for three consecutive weeks (Rule 61.2(D)). And Rule 61.1 sets out when no formal appraisal is required, in which case Local Form A-V is filed instead of Standard Probate Form 3.0.
- 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 (R.C. 2117.06), subject to the Medicaid estate recovery exception in R.C. 2117.061(D). Ohio requires no newspaper advertisement of the grant of letters. Locally, Rule 62.1(A) provides that no estate is closed until all claims filed with the court have been resolved and requires a copy of any rejection of a claim, with the proof of service, to be filed with the court. Where the estate appears insolvent, Rule 62.1(C) requires a Report of Insolvency, a Schedule of Claims and a Proposal for Payment of Debts, with notice to creditors; where the estate is being relieved from administration instead, the applicant serves notice of the insolvency on the creditors.
- Account, then close. The fiduciary must render a final and distributive account within six months after appointment unless one of the statutory exceptions applies, and where the sole heir or beneficiary is also the fiduciary a certificate of termination may be filed instead (R.C. 2109.301). The account goes in on Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account). Local Rule 64.1 requires a deputy clerk of the probate court to examine every account and sets out what it must contain: itemized receipts, itemized disbursements and distributions referenced by number or letter and date, an itemized statement of the assets on hand at the end of the period, a copy of the closing statement where real estate was sold, and the fiduciary's signature, backed by vouchers or other proofs. A copy of the account goes to each heir or beneficiary at the time of filing, and on a final account notice of the hearing goes to all heirs in an intestate estate or the residuary beneficiaries in a testate estate (Rule 64.1(G)). Accounts are not accepted after 4:15 p.m. (Rule 53.1). Where Ohio real estate passes through the estate, apply for a Certificate of Transfer on Form 12.0 and record the certificate with the Henry County Recorder; note that an application for a certificate of transfer cannot be faxed (Rule 57.3(B)(4)).
Executor duties
The statewide duties of an Ohio executor or administrator, the inventory within three months (R.C. 2115.02), the final account within six months (R.C. 2109.301) and the six-month creditor window running from the date of death (R.C. 2117.06), are covered on the Ohio state page. What follows are the additions the Henry County Probate Court's own local rules put on a fiduciary, which are the ones a self-represented filer here tends to miss.
| Local duty | What the rule requires |
|---|---|
| Accept the appointment in writing first | Before letters of appointment are issued, the fiduciary must execute and file a written acceptance of fiduciary duties in accordance with R.C. 2109.02, on Local Form A-IV (Local Rule 60.1(D)) |
| Check the index of wills before applying | The applicant or the applicant's attorney, not court staff, must examine the court's index of wills to see whether the decedent deposited an earlier will for safekeeping, before filing an application to admit a will, to appoint an estate fiduciary or to relieve an estate from administration (Local Rules 59.1(A) and 60.1(B)) |
| Show a living trust named in the will | Where the will names a living trust as a beneficiary, a copy of the trust must be displayed to the court, though the trust agreement need not be filed, and except for good cause the requirement must be met before the inventory or the entry relieving the estate from administration is filed (Local Rule 59.1(E)) |
| File Form 2.4 within two months | The Certificate of Service of Notice of Probate of Will must be filed no later than two months after the fiduciary's appointment unless the court extends the time on Local Form A-IX (Local Rule 78.1(A)) |
| Check record title before the inventory | Counsel must examine record title to the decedent's real estate before the inventory is filed, for the sole purpose of confirming the decedent's ownership interest (Local Rule 61.2(A)) |
| Send the inventory itself, not just the notice | On filing the inventory the fiduciary must serve notice of the hearing on the next of kin and every beneficiary listed on Form 1.0 and their attorneys of record unless waived, AND send those same people a copy of the Inventory and Appraisal, with service documented by an Affidavit of Service (Local Rule 61.2(B), (C) and (D)) |
| Report new assets and correct errors | A newly discovered probate asset goes in on a Report of Newly Discovered Assets, which is not set for hearing and needs no notice unless the court orders otherwise; any other inventory error requires an Amended Inventory (Local Rule 61.2(E) and (F)) |
| File the rejection of a claim | Where a claim has been rejected, a copy of the rejection and the proof of service must be filed with the court, and no estate is closed until every claim filed with the court has been resolved (Local Rule 62.1(A)) |
| Treat bond premiums as expenses | Bond premiums are administrative expenses and are paid when due; no application for authority to pay them is needed (Local Rule 62.1(B)) |
| Send the Medicaid form where the rule's test is met | Whenever the decedent was fifty-five years of age or older at death and had been a recipient of Medicaid, Form 7.0 must be filed with the court and a copy sent by certified mail by the fiduciary to the Administrator of the Estate Recovery Program (Local Rule 62.1(D)). The statutory duty is framed differently, applying to a decedent who was subject to the recovery program or whose spouse was (R.C. 2117.061(B)) |
| Back the account with vouchers and copies | Every account is examined by a deputy clerk of the probate court and must carry itemized receipts, itemized disbursements referenced by number or letter and date, an itemized statement of assets on hand, a closing statement where real estate was sold and the fiduciary's signature, supported by vouchers such as signed receipts, invoices marked paid, cancelled checks, check substitutes or account statements; a copy of the account goes to each heir or beneficiary at the time of filing (Local Rule 64.1(A), (D) and (G)) |
| Guard a minor's share | Where an heir or beneficiary is a minor, a guardianship must be established before any distribution unless the will provides otherwise or the distribution is $25,000.00 or less, in which case it may be made to a custodian under a Uniform Transfers to Minors Act account (Local Rule 64.1(G)(5)) |
| Sign your own applications | The fiduciary, not just counsel, must sign all applications, including a continuance to extend the time for filing an inventory, an account or a Guardian's Report (Local Rule 78.1(D)) |
| Keep the assets in the county if you live away | Whenever a fiduciary resides outside Henry County, all estate assets shall remain in the county, and the court may dispense with that requirement only for good cause shown (Local Rule 75.1(A)(1)(a)) |
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Henry County
Henry County uses the statewide forms and adds sixteen numbered local ones, but you will not find them on the county website. Ohio has 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 the applicable Standard Probate Forms for all filings in this court. Henry County publishes no probate form library of its own, and the Probate Forms quick link on the court's page opens the Supreme Court's general probate forms index rather than the decedent's estate set, so use the decedent's estate link below. The county's own forms live in the local rules: Appendix A, headed Local Forms, runs A-I to A-XVI, and Appendices B and C add the counsel-fee forms B-I to B-III and the fiduciary-fee forms C-I to C-IV. Local Rule 51.2 is the authority for them: the court may adopt such additional forms as it deems necessary.
The statewide items that carry 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), Form 12.0 (Application for Certificate of Transfer) and Form 13.0 (Fiduciary's Account). An out-of-state decedent's Ohio property runs through ancillary administration under R.C. Chapter 2129 on Form 4.1. 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.
Four Henry County forms are mandatory in an estate rather than optional. Local Form A-IV is the Fiduciary's Acceptance under R.C. 2109.02, which Rule 60.1(D) requires to be executed and filed before letters of appointment issue. Local Form A-V, Appointment of Appraiser and Entry Approving, is filed in lieu of Standard Probate Form 3.0 where the fiduciary determines an appraisal is not necessary because the assets have a readily ascertainable value (Rule 61.1(G)). Local Form A-IX is the Application to Extend Time and Entry Extending Time used for an extension under Rule 78.1. And Local Form A-XVI, Application to File Will for Record Only, must accompany a will filed for record where no application to probate is anticipated (Rule 59.1(F)). Form A-III is the fax filing cover sheet required by Rule 57.3(C), Forms A-XI and A-XII reopen a closed estate and appoint a fiduciary (Rule 60.1(E)), and Forms A-I and A-II order a transcript or an audio copy of a hearing (Rule 11.1).
Two warnings about which rules you are reading. First, three editions of the four-county Probate Division local rules are live on the web at once: the current one is Effective December 1, 2023, 63 pages, signed by all four probate judges and hosted by Fulton County; a Revised Effective July 1, 2018 edition of 62 pages and an Effective August 1, 2011 edition of 51 pages are both still served from the Defiance County court's site, and the Supreme Court of Ohio's local-rules index still links the 2011 file under Henry County. Only the December 1, 2023 edition contains Rule 80. Second, Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties also share a completely separate General and Domestic Relations Division rule set, effective July 1, 2026, which is linked from the county's eServices portal and applies to civil, criminal and domestic relations cases, not to probate. Its newer date does not mean the probate rules were revised.
Format rules apply to all of it. Local Rule 52.1 lets you use computer-generated forms only if they comply with the Rules of Superintendence and match the format of the forms the court provides, and the court may reject or strike forms that deviate. Local Rule 75.1(D) puts redaction on you: personal identifiers as defined in Superintendence Rule 44 must be omitted from a case document, the last four digits of a Social Security number and the last three digits of a financial account number may be included, and the court is not required to review your filing for compliance.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide forms you file in Henry County, including Forms 1.0, 2.0, 2.4, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.1, 5.10, 6.0, 7.0, 12.0 and 13.0, with the numbered variants and waivers |
| Probate Division local rules for Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties, effective December 1, 2023 (fultoncountyoh.com) | Henry County's own probate rules: hours and cutoffs (Rule 53.1), mail filings (57.2), fax filings (57.3), court costs (58.1), wills (59.1), the application to administer (60.1), appraisals and inventory (61.1 and 61.2), claims and insolvency (62.1), accounts (64.1), land sales (65.1), the fee guidelines (71.1 to 74.2), the special provisions (75.1), case management (78.1), the artificial-intelligence disclosure (80) and the local forms (Appendix A) |
| Henry County Probate Court (henrycountyohio.gov) | The court's own page: the Suite 203 address, the probate phone line, the e-mail link, the hours, the marriage license requirements and the note that office records are not online |
| Henry County Probate and General Divisions (henrycountyohio.gov) | The parent page that sets out the two-judge structure and what each division hears. Its contact block is the judge's Suite 301 chambers, not the probate counter |
Timeline
- Notice before the appointment hearing: at least seven days. Local Rule 60.1(A)(1) requires the notice to the surviving spouse and next of kin to state the date, time and place of the hearing and to be served in accordance with Civil Rule 73 at least seven days before it. Rule 60.1(A)(2) lets the court permit ordinary mail for good cause, documented by an Affidavit of Service, and Rule 60.1(A)(3) provides that all applications are set for hearing unless all waivers of notice have been obtained.
- Certificate of service on the will: within two months of appointment. Local Rule 78.1(A) requires Standard Probate Form 2.4 to be filed no later than two months after the appointment of the fiduciary unless the court grants an extension of that time, applied for on Local Form A-IX.
- Medicaid estate recovery notice: within 30 days, where it applies. The statutory duty runs from the grant of letters or the filing of an application for release or summary release (R.C. 2117.061(B)), and Local Rule 62.1(D) directs that Form 7.0 be filed and a copy sent by certified mail whenever the decedent was fifty-five or older at death and had been a Medicaid recipient.
- Inventory: within three months of appointment (R.C. 2115.02), with the hearing notice and a copy of the inventory served on the next of kin and the beneficiaries listed on Form 1.0 (Local Rule 61.2(B) and (C)). Where a party's name or address is unknown and no prior publication has been made, notice runs once each week for three consecutive weeks (Rule 61.2(D)). Consents to Power to Sell Real Estate may not be filed before the inventory (Rule 61.2(G)).
- Creditor claims: six months after the date of death (R.C. 2117.06), subject to the Medicaid estate recovery exception in R.C. 2117.061(D). No Henry County estate is closed until every claim filed with the court has been resolved (Local Rule 62.1(A)).
- Partial account periods: an accounting period that ends not more than six months before the account is presented and approved, numbered with an ordinal such as Third Partial Account (Local Rule 64.1(B)). Final and distributive account: within six months after appointment unless a statutory exception applies (R.C. 2109.301).
- Land sale in the estate: a status conference for any land sale not concluded within six months from the date of filing, at which the attorney of record appears and the fiduciary is present or available by telephone, with a written status report if the court requires one (Local Rule 65.1(B)).
- Wrongful death settled through the estate: the report of distribution is due within thirty days after the court approves the settlement or distribution, unless the court orders otherwise, and the applicant must appear at the approval hearing (Local Rule 70.1(E)).
- Late filings draw a citation, not a reminder. Local Rule 64.1(K) provides that where an account is not timely filed and no extension has been arranged, a Citation to Appear is issued compelling the attendance of both the attorney and the fiduciary, and that failure to appear may result in a body attachment and writ of arrest. Rule 64.2 requires the fiduciary and the attorney cited for a show cause hearing to appear personally, and Rule 78.1(E) lets the court bar a delinquent fiduciary's attorney from opening new cases until the delinquent filings are made.
Local nuance
Henry County-specific considerations
| Local practice | What it means for your filing |
|---|---|
| Probate is paired with the general division, not juvenile | Henry County runs the reverse of the common small-county Ohio pattern. One elected judge presides over the Probate Division and the General Division; a second presides over Domestic Relations and Juvenile as the Henry County Family Court. The county's own page records that a single judge oversaw all four divisions until the split took effect January 1, 2005. Practically: the estate counter is not the juvenile counter, and a reader used to Defiance, Fulton or Vinton County should not expect a Probate and Juvenile office here |
| Four offices, one courthouse | Probate Division, Suite 203, second floor, (419) 592-7771, opens estates. The judge's General and Probate Divisions office is Suite 301 on the third floor, (419) 592-5926. The Clerk of Courts is Suite 302, (419) 592-5886, and does not open estates. Domestic Relations and Juvenile are Suite 401 on the fourth floor, (419) 599-5951, on 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours. The Supreme Court of Ohio's trial-court directory links the Suite 301 page for the Probate Division, so a reader who follows the judiciary link gets the chambers number |
| One set of rules for four counties | The Probate Divisions of Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties adopted a single set of local rules, signed by all four probate judges, effective December 1, 2023. Rule numbering tracks the Rules of Superintendence, so Rule 57.3 is fax filing and Rule 78.1 is estate case management in all four counties. Deposits and costs are not shared: each county sets its own, and Henry County publishes none |
| Rule 80 requires an artificial-intelligence disclosure | The December 1, 2023 edition added Rule 80, Use of Technology, which is unusual for a rural Ohio probate court. It provides that the use of artificial intelligence by attorneys or parties in information exchanged or presented to the court, in exhibits and in pleadings filed with the court, or as information provided to parties in a pending case, shall include a NOTICE disclosure stating how artificial intelligence was used and the process used to check the accuracy of the information provided. If you draft an estate filing with an AI tool, the rule expects you to say so |
| Fax filing is real, and the number is in the rules | Later documents in an open estate may be filed by fax to the number on the cover sheet of the local rules, (419) 592-7000, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week (Rule 57.3(D)), with the Form A-III cover page, a single case number and a twenty-page cap. Anything that opens a case, an original will or codicil, and an application for a certificate of transfer cannot be faxed (Rule 57.3(B)). The court's own web page publishes no fax number, so confirm it at (419) 592-7771 first |
| Appraisals can often be skipped | Rule 61.1 lets the fiduciary avoid a formal appraisal in the common cases: assets whose value is readily ascertainable need not be appraised; real estate may be carried at the fair market value the County Auditor sets for real estate tax purposes, documented by written evidence attached to the inventory; motor vehicles may use a nationally recognized valuation guide; and household goods and other tangible personal property need no formal appraisal unless the total estimated value exceeds five thousand dollars. Where no appraisal is needed, Local Form A-V is filed in place of Standard Probate Form 3.0 (Rule 61.1(G)). Where an appraisal is required, it must be in writing with the appraiser's original signature, by a licensed real estate broker, licensed real estate appraiser, licensed auctioneer, credentialed personal property appraiser or comparably qualified person, and relatives of the decedent, beneficiaries and people connected to the estate's attorney or fiduciary are disqualified without leave of court (Rule 61.1(C) and (D)) |
| Assets stay in Henry County when the fiduciary does not | Rule 75.1(A)(1)(a) provides that whenever a fiduciary resides outside the county, all estate assets shall remain in the county unless the court dispenses with the requirement for good cause. An out-of-state executor should raise this with the court early, because it shapes where the estate account is opened. Rule 72.1(A) is the companion: extraordinary fiduciary commissions will not be awarded for travel expenses that would not have been incurred but for the fiduciary living outside the county |
| Attorney fees follow a published guideline, and a summary release is capped | Appendix B to the local rules guides counsel fees in an ordinary estate on total probate assets per the final account, and states in terms that it is neither a minimum nor a maximum schedule. Two hard local points sit alongside it: attorney fees for a summary release from administration shall not exceed $350.00 (Appendix B), and estate attorney fees ordinarily are not paid earlier than two weeks before the final account or certificate of termination is filed unless the court approves a partial payment (Rule 71.1(B) and (C)). Where the fiduciary is also the attorney, or the attorney is in the fiduciary's firm, reasonable fees are rebuttably presumed to be one half of the guideline (Rule 71.1(F)) |
| Court staff cannot help you choose or complete a form | Rule 75.1(E)(5) provides that court personnel shall not provide oral or written legal advice to any party or other individual before the court. Staff can explain procedure; they cannot tell you which route your estate qualifies for, and the rules put the pre-filing examination of the index of wills on the applicant or the applicant's attorney (Rules 59.1(A) and 60.1(B)) |
| Files stay in the building, and hearings are recorded | No probate court file may be removed from the courthouse without the prior written consent of the court (Rule 55.1). Every hearing is recorded electronically and the audio-electronic recording is the official record; a transcript is ordered on Local Form A-I at the requester's expense and an audio copy on Local Form A-II (Rule 11.1) |
| Write to the court the right way | An improper ex parte written communication is returned to the sender with the court's standard response, Local Form A-X, or destroyed with a notation in the file if it cannot be returned (Rule 57.2(E)). Put anything you want considered into a properly captioned filing |
Recent updates
| Change | What it means |
|---|---|
| New edition of the four-county probate local rules, effective December 1, 2023 | The Probate Divisions of Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties adopted a fresh 63-page edition of their shared local rules, signed by all four probate judges. Its one substantive addition is Rule 80, Use of Technology, which requires a NOTICE disclosure of how artificial intelligence was used in anything exchanged with or filed in the court, and how its accuracy was checked. The Supreme Court of Ohio's local-rules index still links the superseded August 1, 2011 edition under Henry County, and a Revised Effective July 1, 2018 edition is still served from the Defiance County court's site, so check the cover date before relying on a rule |
| Clerk of Courts document images and attorney e-filing, from March 31, 2024 | The county's eServices public access portal now carries images of documents filed after March 31, 2024 for civil and criminal cases, and advertises attorney e-filing, per its own notice. This is the Henry County Common Pleas Clerk of Courts system, not the probate court: probate filings are still made on paper or by fax, and the probate court's own page states that its office records are not online |
| New General and Domestic Relations Division rules, effective July 1, 2026 | Defiance, Fulton, Henry and Williams counties also share a separate 313-page General and Domestic Relations Division rule set, reissued effective July 1, 2026 and linked from the Clerk's portal. It governs civil, criminal and domestic relations cases and does not apply to a probate filing, so its newer date should not be read as a revision of the probate rules |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Henry County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Napoleon-area home was held jointly with right of survivorship, or was covered by a transfer on death designation affidavit recorded with the Henry County Recorder before death (R.C. 5302.22), it passes to the survivor outside probate and the court is not involved in the house itself. If other assets stood in the decedent's sole name, the spouse files in Henry County Probate Court: Form 2.0 and Form 4.0 with a will, leading to letters testamentary, or Form 4.0 alone with no will, leading to letters of administration. A surviving spouse who applies is excused from the notice requirement in Local Rule 60.1(A), which often removes the hearing date. Where the spouse inherits everything the estate may qualify to be released from administration rather than fully administered (R.C. 2113.03), a shorter filing on Forms 5.0 and 5.1. Papers go across the counter in Suite 203 or in the mail. | Asset discovery to confirm how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to reach the court. Packet generation for the Henry County filing, whether a full administration or a release. A vetted attorney referral if the title or a claim turns out to be contested. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | Where the whole estate is worth $35,000 or less, or $100,000 or less where a surviving spouse inherits everything, an interested party can apply to relieve the estate from administration on Forms 5.0 and 5.1 instead of running a full administration (R.C. 2113.03). A release still requires the Medicaid estate recovery notice within thirty days where the decedent was subject to the program (R.C. 2117.061) and does not shorten the six-month creditor window (R.C. 2117.06). Because Henry County has no probate e-filing, an out-of-state child files on paper by mail to 660 N. Perry Street, Suite 203, Napoleon, OH 43545 under Local Rule 57.2, and calls (419) 592-7771 to confirm the deposit, rather than flying in to file. Two local rules matter to a non-resident: Rule 75.1(A)(1)(a) keeps estate assets in the county while the fiduciary lives elsewhere unless the court dispenses with it, and Rule 72.1(A) will not pay an extraordinary commission for travel caused only by living out of county. | 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 Napoleon 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: with no will the parent files Form 4.0 in Henry County Probate Court, is appointed administrator and receives letters of administration; with a will the parent probates it on Form 2.0 and receives letters testamentary, then files Form 2.4 within two months of appointment (Local Rule 78.1(A)). Counsel examines record title before the inventory (Rule 61.2(A)), the inventory follows within three months (R.C. 2115.02) on Form 6.0, and the County Auditor's fair market value may stand in for a formal real estate appraisal if it is documented in writing and attached (Rule 61.1(A)(2)). Where the sale runs as a land sale proceeding, the court appoints a suitable disinterested appraiser and sets a status conference if the sale is not concluded within six months of filing, with the fiduciary present or available by telephone (Rule 65.1). Where the property is transferred to heirs rather than sold, the route is a Certificate of Transfer on Form 12.0, recorded with the Henry County Recorder. Any hearing is held at the courthouse in Napoleon. | 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 |
|---|---|
| Henry County Probate Court (henrycountyohio.gov), (419) 592-7771 | The filing office for estates: the Suite 203 address, the probate phone line, the e-mail link, the hours and the court's own note that office records are not online. Court staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice (Local Rule 75.1(E)(5)) |
| Probate Division local rules, effective December 1, 2023 (fultoncountyoh.com) | Henry County's own probate rules, shared with Defiance, Fulton and Williams counties and signed by all four probate judges: hours and cutoffs (Rule 53.1), mail and fax filing (57.2 and 57.3), court costs (58.1), wills (59.1), the application to administer (60.1), appraisals and inventory (61.1 and 61.2), claims and insolvency (62.1), accounts (64.1), land sales (65.1), fee guidelines (71.1 to 74.2), special provisions including assets and redaction (75.1), estate case management (78.1), the artificial-intelligence disclosure (80) and the sixteen local forms in Appendix A |
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide forms used in every Ohio county, including Henry, with the numbered variants and waivers. Use this set rather than the general probate index the court's own quick link opens |
| Henry County Probate and General Divisions (henrycountyohio.gov) | The county's explanation of its two-judge structure and what the Probate Division hears. Useful for working out which office to call, but its contact block is the judge's Suite 301 chambers |
| Supreme Court of Ohio Ohio trial courts directory (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The official court name for every Ohio county's common pleas divisions. For Henry County it lists the Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division and links the county's parent divisions page |
| 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 more than one county. Note that its Henry County probate link still points at the superseded 2011 edition of the four-county rules |
| Henry County eServices public access portal (eservices.henrycountyohio.gov) | The Henry County Common Pleas Clerk of Courts case system, with attorney e-filing and the Clerk's own cost schedule. It is not the probate court and does not open estates; its notice limits document images to civil and criminal cases filed after March 31, 2024 |
| Ohio Legal Help (ohiolegalhelp.org) | Plain-language Ohio probate guides, including release from administration and summary release, from a statewide non-profit. Not a government site, so confirm court contact details with the court itself |
| Legal Aid of Western Ohio (lawolaw.org), intake (888) 534-1432 | Free civil legal help for eligible low-income residents. LAWO serves 32 northwest and west central Ohio counties and names Henry County in the intake list for its toll-free line outside Lucas County; its nearest office is in Defiance. 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 |
| Supreme Court of Ohio certified lawyer referral services (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The Supreme Court's list of certified referral services, for finding counsel in northwest Ohio |
When to hire an attorney
Many Henry 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 or a dispute among heirs is likely, when farm ground, a grain operation or other real property has to be sold or divided, when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing a claim inside the six-month window (R.C. 2117.06), when a wrongful-death or injury claim is part of the estate, when the estate includes a business or out-of-state property, or when a guardianship for a minor or an incompetent adult has to run alongside the estate. The practical local factors are that Henry County publishes no probate form library, no cost schedule and no online docket, that its local rules put notice preparation, title examination and service of the inventory on the filer, that Local Rule 75.1(E)(5) bars court staff from giving legal advice or helping you pick a form, and that a late account draws a citation compelling both fiduciary and attorney to appear rather than a reminder (Rule 64.1(K)). Appendix B to the local rules publishes a counsel-fee guideline so you can sanity-check a quote, and it caps attorney fees for a summary release at $350.00. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Ohio probate attorney serving Henry County and the surrounding northwest Ohio counties.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit-union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Henry County real estate and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and which Ohio route fits before you drive to Napoleon.
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your estate settlement route, whether a full administration or an application to relieve the estate from administration, on the statewide Standard Probate Forms, ready to file on paper with the Henry County Probate Court in Suite 203 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 Henry 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 Henry County?
With the Henry County Probate Court at the Henry County Courthouse, 660 N. Perry Street, Suite 203, 2nd Floor, Napoleon, OH 43545. It is the probate division of the Henry 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 Henry County Clerk of Courts in Suite 302. File in Henry County if the person was a resident of the county at the time of death (R.C. 2113.01).
Is the Henry County probate court the same office as the juvenile court?
No, and this is where Henry County differs from many small Ohio counties. Here one elected judge presides over the Probate Division and the General Division of the Court of Common Pleas, while a second elected judge takes Domestic Relations and Juvenile, which the county brands the Henry County Family Court. The county's own page records that one judge oversaw all four divisions until the split took effect January 1, 2005. Estates, wills, trusts, guardianships, adoptions, name changes and marriage licenses are probate business and go to Suite 203 on the second floor at (419) 592-7771. The Domestic Relations and Juvenile Divisions are in Suite 401 on the fourth floor at (419) 599-5951.
Is there e-filing for probate in Henry County?
No. The Probate Division local rules that Henry County shares with Defiance, Fulton and Williams counties contain no electronic-filing rule: Rule 57.3 is headed Electronic Transmission Filings and its entire text is a facsimile-filing rule. The county's eServices portal does advertise attorney e-filing, but its own notice says its records are maintained by the Henry County Common Pleas Clerk and it routes questions to the Clerk at (419) 592-5886, and the Clerk of Courts does not open estates. Ohio has no statewide probate e-filing system: the large metro counties run their own and most rural counties, including Henry, are paper.
Can I fax a probate filing to the Henry County Probate Court?
Some documents, yes, once the case is open. Local Rule 57.3 permits facsimile filing to the number published on the cover sheet of the local rules, (419) 592-7000, which is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and it provides that transmissions sent anywhere else are not permitted. You cannot fax anything that commences a proceeding for which the court must collect an initial case deposit or effect service of summons, estate tax returns, adoption or involuntary commitment filings, an application for a certificate of transfer, or an original will or codicil. A fax must carry the Form A-III cover page or it may be treated as a nullity, may cover only one case number, and may not exceed twenty pages excluding the cover page; a fax received outside office hours is filed as of the next date the court is in session. The court's own web page publishes no fax number, so call (419) 592-7771 to confirm before you send.
Can I file probate papers by mail in Henry County?
Yes. The probate court publishes no separate post office box, so mail filings go to 660 N. Perry Street, Suite 203, Napoleon, OH 43545. Local Rule 57.2 allows filings by U.S. Mail or another delivery service, but a fee-bearing filing is accepted only if the correct fee is enclosed or has already been paid, anything that must be set for hearing has to be accompanied by the entry setting it, and if you want a file-stamped copy back you must enclose a copy and a self-addressed prepaid envelope. Call (419) 592-7771 first if you are sending an original will.
How do I look up a Henry County probate case online?
You cannot. The Henry County Probate Court states on its own page that its office records are not online, and there is no probate records portal for Henry County of the kind neighboring Defiance and Fulton counties run. The county's eServices public access portal belongs to the Clerk of Courts, sits behind a CAPTCHA, and its own notice says records before 1995 are not available online and that document images filed after March 31, 2024 are available for civil and criminal cases. To see what is on file in an estate, contact the probate court in Suite 203 at (419) 592-7771, or visit during office hours. The office's own holdings go back a long way: estates from 1847 to the present, marriages from 1847, naturalizations from 1853, and births and deaths from 1867 to 1908.
What forms do I need for probate in Henry County?
The statewide Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio, plus a handful of Henry County local forms. For a full administration the core statewide items are 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. The local forms are Appendix A to the four-county local rules, Forms A-I to A-XVI. Four of them matter in an estate: A-IV, the Fiduciary's Acceptance that must be filed before letters issue; A-V, filed in place of Form 3.0 where no appraisal is needed; A-IX, the application to extend time; and A-XVI, for a will filed for record only. Note that the Probate Forms link on the court's own page opens the Supreme Court's general probate index rather than the decedent's estate set.
How much does it cost to file probate in Henry County?
Ohio fixes most fee items by statute, including $35.00 to appoint a fiduciary, $15.00 to probate a will and $60.00 to relieve an estate from administration or grant a summary release (R.C. 2101.16(A)), and each probate court sets its own advance deposit for costs by local rule, which cannot exceed $125.00 at the time application is made (R.C. 2101.16(E)). Henry County publishes no dollar deposit or cost schedule for probate: Local Rule 58.1(A) says only that a deposit is ordinarily required on the initial filing, that it is applied as filings occur, that more may be required, and that the court maintains and makes available a current list of costs, which is not on the web. The Security Costs schedule the county publishes online, revised July 11, 2025, belongs to the Clerk of Courts and has no estate line. Call (419) 592-7771 and ask what to bring, and note that Rule 58.1(B) accepts only cash, money orders, checks with leave of court and major credit cards with leave of court.
What are the hours and the phone number for the Henry County Probate Court?
Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., closed Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, published both in the court's own contact block and in Local Rule 53.1 (verified July 2026). The rule adds two cutoffs the web page does not: no court costs and no accounts of fiduciaries are accepted after 4:15 p.m., and marriage license applications are not accepted after 4:00 p.m. The number is (419) 592-7771. Be careful with directories: the Supreme Court of Ohio's trial-court directory links the county's parent Probate and General Divisions page, whose contact block is the judge's Suite 301 chambers at (419) 592-5926, and (419) 592-5886 reaches the Clerk of Courts, which does not handle estates.
Do I have to travel to Napoleon to settle an estate in Henry County?
Not usually just to file. Papers can be mailed to the probate court at 660 N. Perry Street, Suite 203, Napoleon, OH 43545 under Local Rule 57.2, and once the case is open later documents can be faxed under Rule 57.3, so a filer at the county's edge or living out of state can run an uncontested estate largely by mail and phone. Plan on Napoleon 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. Ask the court at (419) 592-7771 whether a particular hearing can be handled by phone or video: the only remote provisions the local rules publish are for the scheduling conference in a civil action (Rule 78.2(B)) and a land sale status conference (Rule 65.1(B)).
Which local rules apply to a Henry County estate, and where do I find them?
One document: the Court of Common Pleas Probate Division Local Rules for Defiance County, Fulton County, Henry County and Williams County, effective December 1, 2023, signed by all four probate judges and hosted on Fulton County's site. Three cautions. The Supreme Court of Ohio's local-rules index still links a superseded 2011 edition of the same document under Henry County, and a middle 2018 revision is also still online from Defiance County; only the December 1, 2023 edition contains Rule 80, the artificial-intelligence disclosure rule. And the four counties separately share a General and Domestic Relations Division rule set effective July 1, 2026, which does not apply to probate despite its newer date. Check the effective date on the cover before you rely on a rule number.
Do I need an appraisal of the house or the household goods in a Henry County estate?
Often not. Local Rule 61.1 provides that assets whose value is readily ascertainable need not be appraised, that real estate may be carried at the fair market value the County Auditor sets for real estate tax purposes if that value is documented by written evidence attached to the inventory, that motor vehicles may use a nationally recognized valuation guide, and that household goods and other tangible personal property need no formal appraisal unless the total estimated value exceeds five thousand dollars. Where the fiduciary determines no appraisal is necessary, Local Form A-V is filed in place of Standard Probate Form 3.0 (Rule 61.1(G)). The court can still order a formal appraisal of any asset for good cause, on its own motion or at an interested party's request (Rule 61.1(B)).
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.