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Hocking County, OH Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | Hocking County Probate Court, the probate division of the Hocking County Court of Common Pleas under the Ohio Revised Code (R.C. 2101.01). Its formal name in the Supreme Court of Ohio's trial-court directory is the Hocking County Court of Common Pleas, Probate Division, and the court styles itself the Hocking County Juvenile and Probate Courts. One elected probate judge presides over both the Probate Division and the Juvenile Division, which is common in Ohio's smaller counties |
| Filing office | The probate court's own office on the second floor of the Hocking County Courthouse. The elected probate judge is also the clerk of the probate court (R.C. 2101.11(A)(1)(a)), so estates, wills and guardianships are filed with the probate court directly. The Hocking County Clerk of Courts, (740) 385-2616, serves the general and domestic relations divisions and does not open estates |
| Courthouse | Hocking County Courthouse, 1 East Main Street, Second Floor, Logan, OH 43138. The Common Pleas general and domestic relations divisions are on the third floor, and the Hocking County Municipal Court is in a separate building, the Hall of Justice at 105 West Hunter Street, so ask for the Probate Court by name when you arrive |
| Mailing address | The probate court publishes no separate post office box, so mail filings go to 1 East Main Street, Logan, OH 43138. Once letters of appointment have issued, Ohio law requires the court to accept filings by mail in an estate unless it notifies you in writing that a personal appearance is necessary or one is required by law (R.C. 2109.021). Call (740) 385-3022 before mailing an original will |
| Phone | (740) 385-3022 for the Probate Court, the number the court publishes on its own site and the number in the county's own phone directory (verified July 2026). The Juvenile Division of the same court is a different line, (740) 385-3615, and neither is the Clerk of Courts, (740) 385-2616 |
| Fax | None published. The court lists no fax number for the Probate Division, and its local rules contain no facsimile-filing provision for estates, so do not plan on faxing a filing. Published faxes for the general division, the Clerk of Courts and the Municipal Court belong to other offices |
| Office hours | Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., closed Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, per Local Rule 18.1 of the court's own probate local rules and the hours published on the court's site (verified July 2026). Note the Juvenile Division of the same court opens earlier, at 8 a.m. Marriage licenses are issued by appointment only. This is a small combined probate and juvenile court, so call (740) 385-3022 before driving to Logan |
| 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), effective September 30, 2025), $60.00 to relieve an estate from administration or grant a summary release, 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 (R.C. 2101.16(E)), and may add computerization and dispute-resolution charges (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163). Hocking County Probate Court publishes its own Probate Court Costs schedule, effective June 2021 and read July 2026, which states a $150.00 deposit for a full administration and tells filers to call the court for the cost of a release from administration or a summary release. Under Local Rule 25(B) estate costs are then paid when the inventory is filed and again on each account, after you call the court for the amount. Confirm the current figures at (740) 385-3022 before you file |
| Local forms | None for estates. The court's own Forms link goes straight to the Supreme Court of Ohio's probate forms, so there is no Hocking County form library and no local cover sheet: you file the statewide Standard Probate Forms. Three local worksheets sit inside the local rules, an Exhibit B computation of attorney fees for estates and two Exhibit C court-cost worksheets, one for the inventory and one for the account. Local Rule 24(A) requires filings other than wills on 8 and one-half by 11 inch microfilmable stock without backing and says a non-conforming form will be rejected |
| E-filing | None. Hocking County Probate Court has no electronic-filing system for estates, its local rules require paper filings, and the county's own court information page states that online payments are not available for the Juvenile and Probate Courts. You file on paper, in person on the second floor in Logan or by mail. The only thing the probate side takes online is a marriage license application |
| Case search | Yes. The court runs an online Record Search for Hocking County Probate Court cases, and estates are included: the case types you can search are Civil, Estate, Guardianship, Marriage, Miscellaneous and Trusteeship, by name, case number or filing date, with filing years going back to 1978 (verified July 2026). The search is protected by a CAPTCHA, and the court's own disclaimer warns the data is current only within the limits of the court's retrieval system, that the posting delay could be at least twenty-four hours and may be longer, and that verified information must be requested from the court. Confidential proceedings are excluded, and adoption and mental illness files are confidential under Local Rule 20(B). The court's office keeps the previous five years of estates on site; older archived estate files, 1820 through 1984, are at the county Records Repository per the court's genealogy page |
| Remote appearance | Nothing is published. The court's local rules and case management plan set notice, pre-trial and hearing requirements but say nothing about telephone or video appearances, so ask the court at (740) 385-3022 whether a given hearing can be handled remotely |
| Website | https://juvenile.hocking.us/ (the Hocking County Juvenile and Probate Courts site, which carries the probate court costs, the local rules, the approved-appraiser list, the genealogy page and the record search) and https://hocking.oh.gov/Court-Information (the county's own court information page, which gives the second-floor location and both phone lines) |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Hocking County, know exactly what is in the estate. Which Ohio route fits depends on whether there is a will, on who inherits, and on the value and titling of the assets, because a full administration, a release from administration and a summary release are different filings with different forms, different notice steps and different costs. 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 here for a specific local reason: the Hocking County cost schedule quotes a deposit for a full administration but tells you to call the court for the cost of a release, and Local Rule 49 bars an insolvent estate from being relieved from administration at all, so the route you pick has to match the numbers.
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 Logan lists the estate accurately the first time and the inventory that follows within three months matches it.
Which court handles jurisdiction
Hocking County Probate Court in Logan is the single probate filing office for the whole county. Everything is at one address, the second floor of the Hocking County Courthouse at 1 East Main Street, and there is no branch, satellite or district office. The court serves every part of the county, including the city of Logan, the county seat, the villages of Laurelville and Murray City, communities such as Rockbridge, South Bloomingville and Carbon Hill, and the eleven townships the county names on its own site: Benton, Falls, Good Hope, Green, Laurel, Marion, Perry, Salt Creek, Starr, Ward and Washington. Hocking County was founded on March 1, 1818 and had about 28,097 residents at the 2020 Census, per the county's own site. Much of the county is steep, wooded Hocking Hills country and the roads are rural, so a filer at the county's edge can be a long drive from Logan. Because Ohio law requires the court to accept filings by mail once letters of appointment have issued (R.C. 2109.021), 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 Hocking County, file in Hocking County Probate Court, even if they died in a hospital in Lancaster, Athens, Chillicothe or Columbus. Ohio's statute says resident, not domiciled, and the probate court in which the will is admitted is the court that grants letters. Ohio has no probate district, circuit or regional overlay: all 88 counties have their own probate court, seated at the county seat (R.C. 2101.01(A)), and Hocking County's sits in Logan.
Several courts and offices share the courthouse and the county's other buildings, and only one of them handles estates. Hocking County Probate Court, (740) 385-3022, is on the second floor and is where wills, estates, guardianships, name changes, minor and wrongful-death settlements and marriage licenses are handled; the same elected judge also runs the Juvenile Division, (740) 385-3615, so the office answers as the Juvenile and Probate Courts. The Common Pleas general and domestic relations divisions are on the third floor, (740) 385-4027. The Hocking County Clerk of Courts, (740) 385-2616, serves those divisions, and its online case inquiry covers domestic, civil, felony criminal, appellate and certificate of judgment filings, not probate. The Hocking County Municipal Court is a different court in a different building, the Hall of Justice at 105 West Hunter Street, (740) 385-2250, and some web directories wrongly give that Hunter Street address for the probate court. The Hocking County Recorder, (740) 385-2031, also in the courthouse, is where a certificate of transfer or a transfer on death designation affidavit is recorded.
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.
- Get the statewide forms. Ohio uses one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio in every county, and Hocking County publishes no local estate form or cover sheet of its own: the court's own Forms link points at the Supreme Court's forms site. 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). Local Rule 24(I) requires Form 1.0 to accompany the application to admit the will, the application for authority to administer, and later the inventory, so prepare three copies of it. Local Rule 25(D) sets a $10.00 charge for estate forms (Local Rule 25, revision filed February 19, 2020).
- Format the papers the way the local rules require. Local Rule 24(A) requires all filings except wills to be on 8 and one-half by 11 inch stock that can be microfilmed, without backing, and provides that a form that does not conform to the standard requirements will be rejected. Local Rule 24(C) requires every initial paper to carry the name, address and telephone number of the fiduciary or the person preparing the forms, and every later paper to carry the preparer's name in the lower left corner of the front side. Local Rule 24(J) requires a separate journal entry with every application, and Local Rule 24(D) requires pleadings to be typed.
- File on paper in Logan or by mail. There is no e-filing in Hocking County: take the completed forms to the probate court's office on the second floor of the Hocking County Courthouse, 1 East Main Street, Logan, OH 43138, between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Monday to Friday, or mail them to the same address. Once letters of appointment have issued the court must accept filings by mail in an estate unless it tells you in writing that you have to appear (R.C. 2109.021), and it must return an improper or incomplete filing, so send complete packets. Call (740) 385-3022 before mailing an original will.
- Pay the deposit and the costs as they fall due. 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 Hocking County Probate Court's own published cost schedule states a $150.00 deposit for a full administration and tells filers to call the court for the cost of a release from administration or a summary release (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read July 2026). Under Local Rule 25(B) the rest of the estate costs are paid when the inventory is filed and again on the filing of each account, and it is the filer's job to contact the court beforehand to find out the amount; the court supplies Exhibit C worksheets for exactly that call. Local Rule 25(C) adds a microfilming charge to estate costs.
- 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), the fiduciary's acceptance and oath are filed on the date of appointment under the court's case management plan, and the certified letter of authority is what banks, transfer agents and title companies rely on. Certified copies cost $1.00 per page (R.C. 2101.16(A)), so ask for enough copies for every institution the estate deals with while you are at the counter.
- Serve the notice of probate of the will within 60 days. Where a will was admitted, Local Rule 24A requires the fiduciary to file the Certificate of Service of Notice of Probate of Will, Form 2.4, within 60 days of appointment, to start the will-contest clock, and warns that a fiduciary who does not may face removal proceedings. The court's case management plan repeats the 60-day deadline.
- Send the Medicaid estate recovery notice within 30 days where it applies. Where the decedent or the decedent's spouse was subject to the Medicaid estate recovery program, the person responsible for the estate must submit a completed medicaid estate recovery notice form to the administrator of the medicaid estate recovery program not later than thirty days after letters are granted or an application for release or summary release is filed (R.C. 2117.061(B)). Compliance is certified to the court on Form 7.0. This applies to a release from administration too, which surprises people.
- Appoint an appraiser if one is needed, from the court's own list. Local Rule 28(A) provides for one suitable and disinterested appraiser where the law requires an appraisal, and the court publishes its own list of approved appraisers, mostly Logan-area realtors, auctioneers, bank officers and two jewelers, which also appears as Exhibit A to the local rules. To use someone who is not on the list, file standard probate Form 3.0 (Appointment of Appraiser) with a resume for the proposed appraiser. Local Rule 28(B) suggests a maximum appraiser fee of $150.00 without prior application to and approval by the court (Local Rule 28, revision filed February 19, 2020), and Local Rule 28(H) bars an approved appraiser from then being employed as the realtor selling the property.
- File the inventory within three months, with the notice paperwork. 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) with Form 1.0 attached (Local Rule 24(I)). Local Rule 24B then requires the executor or administrator to file a certification that notice of the hearing on the inventory has been served on all interested parties, or to file waivers, and warns that failure to do so may result in the inventory not being approved. Call the court for the costs due at this filing before you send it (Local Rule 25(B)).
- Handle creditor claims. In Ohio all claims against the estate must be presented within six months after the date of death, whether or not an executor or administrator was appointed in that period, and a claim presented later is forever barred, subject to the Medicaid estate recovery administrator's own window (R.C. 2117.06, R.C. 2117.061(D)). Ohio requires no newspaper advertisement of the grant of letters. In Hocking County, filing a schedule of claims is optional, but a rejected claim or an insolvency must be filed with the court together with the claimant's full name and address, the fiduciary must file a copy of any rejection of a claim, and no estate is closed until every claim filed with the court has been resolved (Local Rule 30).
- 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), supported by vouchers referenced to the account by number or letter and by month, day and year, with every check accounted for including voided ones and a recapitulation of receipts, disbursements and cash on hand (Local Rule 32(D)). Certify that notice of the hearing on the account was served, or file waivers (Local Rule 32(B)), and call the court for the costs due at that filing (Local Rule 25(B)). If you close the estate less than six months after the date of death, Local Rule 24C requires the fiduciary to certify one of three things: that all known claims have been satisfied, that every beneficiary receiving a distribution was told the distribution is conditional on claims arriving inside the six months, or that all known creditors had actual notice of the death at least three months before closing. Where Ohio real estate passes through the estate, apply for a certificate of transfer on Form 12.0 and record it with the Hocking County Recorder.
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 bar measured from the date of death (R.C. 2117.06), are covered on the Ohio state page. Hocking County adds a short list of local steps on top of them, all from the court's own local rules and case management plan, and each one is a real reason a filing gets held up here.
Serve and certify the notice of probate of the will within 60 days of appointment, on Form 2.4 (Local Rule 24A and the case management plan). This is the step that starts the will-contest clock, and the rule warns that a fiduciary who does not file the certificate may be subject to removal proceedings. File Form 1.0 three times, not once: with the application to admit the will, with the application for authority to administer, and again with the inventory and appraisal (Local Rule 24(I)). Certify service of the notice of hearing on the inventory, or file waivers, or the inventory may not be approved (Local Rule 24B), and do the same for each account (Local Rule 32(B)).
Call the court before you file the inventory and before you file each account, and bring the money. Local Rule 25(B) puts the burden on the filer: unless the court has asked for a deposit up front, costs are paid at the inventory and again at each account, and the filer must contact the court beforehand to learn the amount. The court's Exhibit C worksheets exist to make that call quick. Support the account with vouchers referenced to it by number or letter and by month, day and year, account for every check including voided ones, and end the account with a recapitulation of cash receipts, disbursements and bank deposits and a statement of non-cash personal property on hand (Local Rule 32(D)). If a distributive share is receipted by someone holding a power of attorney, the power of attorney has to be recorded in the Hocking County Recorder's office and a copy attached to the account (Local Rule 32(G)).
Watch the closing rules. If a rejected claim or an insolvency comes up, file it with the court with the claimant's full name and address, file a copy of any rejection, and expect the estate to stay open until every claim filed with the court is resolved (Local Rule 30). If you want to close in less than six months from the date of death, Local Rule 24C makes you certify one of three things: that all known claims are satisfied, that each beneficiary was told the distribution is conditional on claims arriving inside the six months, or that all known creditors had actual notice of the death at least three months before closing. Attorney fees are not paid until the final account is prepared for filing unless the court approves otherwise, and they require a written application with a computation, the fiduciary's consent and proof that a copy went to all primary beneficiaries (Local Rule 40). Fiduciary commissions are computed and submitted to the court (Local Rule 41), no commission is allowed for a release from administration without an application and approval, and, except for good cause shown, neither fees nor commissions are allowed while an account is delinquent (Local Rules 40(D) and 41(C)).
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Hocking County
Hocking County publishes no local estate forms. Ohio uses one set of Standard Probate Forms prescribed by the Supreme Court of Ohio and used in all 88 counties, and the Hocking County Probate Court does not run a form library of its own: the Forms item in the court's own navigation links straight out to the Supreme Court's probate forms site. There is no county cover sheet for a decedent's estate. So the answer for a family settling an estate here is simple: download the statewide forms, complete them, and file them on the second floor in Logan or by mail.
The load-bearing statewide items for a decedent's estate are Form 1.0 (Surviving Spouse, Children, Next of Kin, Legatees, and Devisees), Form 2.0 (Application to Probate Will), Form 2.4 (Certificate of Service of Notice of Probate of Will), Form 3.0 (Appointment of Appraiser), 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) with Forms 6.2 and 6.3 for the inventory hearing notice, 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). 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 local rules shape how those forms are prepared and presented in Hocking County, and they are the most common reason a packet comes back. Local Rule 24(A) requires every filing except a will to be on 8 and one-half by 11 inch stock that can be microfilmed, without backing, and provides that a non-conforming form will be rejected. Local Rule 24(I) requires Form 1.0 to accompany three separate filings: the application to admit the will to probate, the application for authority to administer the estate, and the inventory and appraisal. Local Rule 24(C) requires every initial paper to carry the name, address and telephone number of the fiduciary or of the person preparing the forms, and every later paper to carry the preparer's name in the lower left corner of the front side, which matters if you are filing without an attorney. Local Rule 24(J) requires a separate journal entry with every application, and Local Rule 24(K) requires a will filed for record to come in with an application and a journal entry to file the will for record.
Three local worksheets do exist, inside the local rules rather than as separate downloads. Exhibit B is a computation of attorney fees for estates, used with the application for fees that Local Rule 40 requires. Exhibit C appears twice, once for the inventory and once for the account, each headed "PLEASE FIGURE COURT COSTS FOR THE FOLLOWING" and listing the documents being filed so the court can quote the costs you have to bring, with additional pages charged at $1.00 each. Exhibit A is the court's suggested appraisal list, which the court also publishes as a standalone page.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide forms you file in Hocking County, including Forms 1.0, 2.0, 2.4, 3.0, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.1, 5.10, 6.0, 7.0, 12.0 and 13.0, with the numbered variants and waivers |
| Hocking County probate local rules and case management plan (juvenile.hocking.us) | The court's own 38-page rules: hours (Rule 18.1), records and copies (Rules 20 and 25(E)), notice (Rule 21), filing format and Form 1.0 (Rule 24), the 60-day will notice (Rule 24A), inventory notice (Rule 24B), early closing (Rule 24C), court costs (Rule 25), appraisers (Rule 28), claims (Rule 30), accounts (Rule 32), attorney fees (Rules 40 and 40.1), fiduciary commissions (Rule 41), release and summary release (Rule 49), and the Exhibit A, B and C worksheets |
| Hocking County probate court costs (juvenile.hocking.us) | The court's own cost schedule, effective June 2021, with the $150.00 full administration deposit and the instruction to call the court about a release from administration or a summary release |
| Hocking County approved probate appraisers (juvenile.hocking.us) | The court's own list of approved appraisers, mostly Logan-area realtors, auctioneers and bank officers, with a note that to use someone not listed you file Form 3.0 with a resume |
| Hocking County Juvenile and Probate Courts (juvenile.hocking.us) | The court's own site, with the Logan address, the probate and juvenile phone lines, the probate FAQ, the genealogy page and the record search |
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 is set locally: each probate court may require an advance deposit for costs by its own local rule, which the statute caps at $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)), and may add computerization and dispute-resolution charges (R.C. 2101.162, R.C. 2101.163). Hocking County Probate Court publishes its own Probate Court Costs schedule, headed effective as of June 2021 and read in July 2026, and that page is where the county figures below come from. It does not break its figures down between the statutory items and local charges, and its $150.00 full administration figure sits above the statutory cap on a local-rule advance deposit, so treat the county figures as the court's own published costs and ask what each one covers when you call (740) 385-3022.
Hocking County also does something most Ohio counties do not: it collects estate costs in stages rather than all at the opening. Under Local Rule 25(B), unless the court specifically asks for a deposit before filing, court costs are paid when the inventory is filed and again on the filing of each account, and it is the filer's responsibility to contact the court before each of those filings to find out the amount due. The local rules include two Exhibit C worksheets, one for the inventory and one for the account, headed "PLEASE FIGURE COURT COSTS FOR THE FOLLOWING", listing each document so the court can quote a figure, and noting that additional pages are charged at $1.00 each. Local Rule 25(C) adds a microfilming charge to the costs of a decedent's estate. Budget for the deposit, then for two more phone calls and two more payments. Note also that several line items on the cost page and Local Rule 48 relate to Ohio's repealed estate tax, which reaches only deaths before January 1, 2013 (R.C. 5731.02), so they are not something a current estate files.
| Item | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Full administration | $150.00 deposit | The court's published deposit to open a full administration, whether on an admitted will with letters testamentary or with no will and letters of administration (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read July 2026). Further costs are then paid at the inventory and at each account under Local Rule 25(B). Ask what the deposit covers, since the court does not publish a breakdown |
| Release from administration, summary release | Call the court | The court's cost page does not print a figure for either route: it says to call the court (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read July 2026). The statutory component is the $60.00 fee for relieving an estate from administration or granting a summary release (R.C. 2101.16(A), effective September 30, 2025), of which $20.00 goes to the county's indigent guardianship fund. Local Rule 49 requires the costs to be paid at the time of filing, to include admitting the will where applicable and microfilming, with publication costs charged on top |
| Ancillary administration | $150.00 deposit | For a decedent who lived outside Ohio but left Ohio property, filed on Form 4.1 under R.C. Chapter 2129 (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read July 2026) |
| Filing a will for record | $63.00 | For filing a will where no administration is being opened. Local Rule 24(K) requires the will to be filed with an application and a journal entry to file the will for record (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read July 2026) |
| Depositing a will with the court | $25.00 | For depositing a living person's will with the probate court for safe keeping (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read 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), effective September 30, 2025). The court does not publish how they sit inside its $150.00 deposit, so ask |
| Inventory, account, certified copies | $10.00 inventory with appraisement, $12.00 an account, $1.00 per page certified | Statutory items (R.C. 2101.16(A), effective September 30, 2025). In Hocking County the inventory and account costs are quoted by the court at the time of filing under Local Rule 25(B), and additional pages are charged at $1.00 each per the Exhibit C worksheets. Order extra certified copies of the letter of authority while you are at the counter |
| Appraiser's fee | Up to $150.00 without prior court approval | Local Rule 28(B) suggests a maximum appraiser fee of $150.00 without prior application to and approval by the court (Hocking County probate local rules, revision filed February 19, 2020). This is paid to the appraiser, not to the court. Local Rule 28(H) bars an approved appraiser from then acting as the realtor selling the property |
| Copies | $0.25 per page for open records | Local Rule 25(E), copies of any open records, subject to change (revision filed February 19, 2020). The cost page separately lists release authorized copies at $2.00 plus $0.10 per page and admitting foreign records in an estate or guardianship at $73.00 plus $1.00 per page (effective June 2021, read July 2026), so ask which applies to what you need |
| Change of name | $120.00 | Included because a name change is a probate filing families often handle alongside an estate (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read July 2026) |
| Guardianship | $250.00 for an incompetent adult, $110.00 for a minor | Relevant where a guardianship has to run alongside an estate, for example for a minor beneficiary (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read July 2026) |
| Minor settlement, civil action in probate court | $95.50 minor settlement, $125.00 civil action | For approval of a settlement of a minor's claim, and for a probate civil case such as a land sale or a concealment of assets action (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read July 2026) |
Timeline
- Date of appointment: the fiduciary's acceptance and oath are filed the same day, under section II of the court's case management plan (Hocking County Probate Rules of Court and Case Management Plan, revision filed February 19, 2020).
- Within 60 days of appointment: file the Certificate of Service of Notice of Probate of Will, Form 2.4, where a will was admitted (Local Rule 24A and the case management plan). A fiduciary who misses this may face removal proceedings.
- Within three months of appointment: file the inventory on Form 6.0 with Form 1.0 attached (R.C. 2115.02, Local Rule 24(I)), plus the certification of notice of hearing on the inventory or waivers (Local Rule 24B).
- No later than the filing of the inventory: file any application for apportionment of a family allowance. The court's case management plan sets that deadline and provides that the application will be heard within 45 days of filing.
- After the will is probated and the inventory and appraisal are filed: where a surviving spouse has not waived the right of election, the court issues a citation to elect under the will or under the statute of descent and distribution (case management plan, R.C. 2106.01).
- Six months after the date of death: the creditor-claim bar closes (R.C. 2117.06), subject to the Medicaid estate recovery administrator's window (R.C. 2117.061(D)). Closing earlier triggers the Local Rule 24C certification.
- Within six months after appointment: render the final and distributive account on Form 13.0 unless a statutory exception applies (R.C. 2109.301). Local Rule 32(A) says the statutory time for filing an account will be adhered to and that citations may be issued when filings are late, unless an application for more time is filed with a judgment entry leaving a blank for the court to insert the days granted.
- In a contested probate matter: the court sets and holds a pre-trial conference within 30 days after the answer date, gives attorneys of record at least 14 days mailed notice of it, sets the final hearing date at that first pre-trial conference, and grants a continuance only on written motion with all parties agreeing on a date certain (case management plan, section III).
Local nuance
Hocking County-specific considerations
One court, two divisions, two phone lines, two sets of hours. Hocking County runs its Probate Division and its Juvenile Division as a single court under one elected judge, branded the Hocking County Juvenile and Probate Courts, on the second floor of the Hocking County Courthouse at 1 East Main Street in Logan. Unlike some Ohio combined courts the two divisions share a building, but they do not share a phone line or a schedule: probate is (740) 385-3022 and opens at 8:30 a.m., juvenile is (740) 385-3615 and opens at 8 a.m., both closing at 4 p.m. Dial the probate line for an estate. The Common Pleas general and domestic relations divisions are one floor up on the third floor, (740) 385-4027, and the Hocking County Clerk of Courts, (740) 385-2616, which serves those divisions, does not open estates.
There is an online estate docket search, which is unusual for a county this size. The court runs a record search covering Hocking County Probate Court cases, and the searchable case types include Estate, Guardianship and Trusteeship alongside Civil, Marriage and Miscellaneous. You can search by name, by case number or by filing date, with filing years reaching back to 1978, and the search sits behind a CAPTCHA. Read the court's own caveats before relying on it: the disclaimer on the search page says the information is current only within the limits of the court's retrieval system, that the delay between a filing and its appearance could be at least twenty-four hours and may be longer, and that verified information about the court's records must be requested from the court. Confidential proceedings do not appear, and adoption and mental illness files are confidential (Local Rule 20(B)). Probate records cannot be removed from the court (Local Rule 20(A)).
No e-filing, and the online payment portal is not the probate court's. The court publishes no electronic-filing system for estates. Local Rule 24(A) requires paper filings on 8 and one-half by 11 inch microfilmable stock without backing and provides that a non-conforming form will be rejected, and the county's own court information page states that online payments are not available for the Juvenile and Probate Courts. The online payment program the site links to is the Juvenile Court's, for court-assigned IDs and ePayment passwords, not for probate filing fees. The one online intake on the probate side is the marriage license application, and even that has to be completed in person, by appointment, with both applicants present. What makes an out-of-town estate workable here is the statute rather than a portal: once letters of appointment have issued the court must accept filings by mail in an estate unless it notifies you in writing that a personal appearance is necessary, and it must return an improper or incomplete filing (R.C. 2109.021).
Costs are collected in stages, and the filer has to phone for the amount. Most Ohio probate courts take a deposit at the opening and draw the statutory items against it. Hocking County's cost page states a $150.00 deposit for a full administration (effective June 2021, read July 2026), and then Local Rule 25(B) has costs paid again when the inventory is filed and again on the filing of each account, with the filer responsible for contacting the court beforehand to find out the amount. The local rules supply Exhibit C worksheets, one for the inventory and one for the account, for exactly that purpose, and note that additional pages cost $1.00 each. Local Rule 25(C) adds a microfilming charge to estate costs and Local Rule 25(D) sets a $10.00 charge for estate forms (revision filed February 19, 2020). Also note that some line items on the cost page and Local Rule 48 relate to Ohio's repealed estate tax, which reaches only deaths before January 1, 2013 (R.C. 5731.02), so a current estate does not file them.
The court keeps its own approved-appraiser list, and it comes with two conditions. Where an appraisal is required the court appoints one suitable and disinterested appraiser (Local Rule 28(A)), and it publishes a list of the appraisers it has approved: two dozen Logan-area realtors, auctioneers, bank officers, a certified gemologist and a jeweler, with a handful in Lancaster, Circleville, Nelsonville and Columbus. The same list is Exhibit A to the local rules. To use someone who is not on it, file standard probate Form 3.0 with a resume for your proposed appraiser. Local Rule 28(B) suggests a maximum fee of $150.00 without prior application to and approval by the court, and Local Rule 28(H) bars an approved appraiser from being employed as the realtor who then sells the property, which matters when a house has to be sold.
Older estate records are in a different building. The probate court's office keeps the previous five years of estates on site, and the court's genealogy page sends older research to the Hocking County Records Repository, which the county lists at 105 West Hunter Street in Logan, (740) 380-2457, the same Hall of Justice building as the Municipal Court. Its published holdings, per the court's own genealogy page, are estates from 1820 through 1984, guardianships from 1831 through 1984, marriages from 1818 through 1990, births from 1867 through 1943 and deaths from 1867 through 1908, with births from 1944 and deaths from 1909 onward held by the Hocking County Health Department; for an estate file that falls between those ranges and the court's own five years, ask the probate court at (740) 385-3022 where it is held. One caution: the court's genealogy page prints the repository as 105 East Hunter Street while the county's own directory and address list say 105 West Hunter Street, so call (740) 380-2457 before you drive.
Court staff cannot help you fill in the forms, and the court says so in writing. The court's own site states that probate proceedings can be quite complex, that filings require knowledge of Ohio statutes, case law and rules, and that you are strongly encouraged to seek the advice of an attorney experienced in probate law. It then states plainly that the judge and the deputy clerks are prohibited by law from assisting you with any aspect of your case, including answering legal questions, determining what forms are required, and helping complete them. That is stricter language than most Ohio probate courts publish. Staff can tell you what the costs are and what is on file; everything else you bring with you.
Small-estate Alternatives
Ohio's smaller-estate routes, a release from administration under R.C. 2113.03 and a summary release under R.C. 2113.031, are statewide and their ceilings are set out on the Ohio state page. What is local is how Hocking County handles them, and there are four things worth knowing before you choose the route.
First, the cost is quoted rather than published. The court's own cost page prints a figure for a full administration but says to call the court for both a release from administration and a summary release (Probate Court Costs, effective June 2021, read July 2026), and Local Rule 49(B) requires those costs to be paid at the time of filing, to include the cost of admitting the will where a will is involved and of microfilming the record, with publication costs charged as an additional item. Second, publication is the default: Local Rule 49(C) requires every estate being relieved from administration to be published once in a newspaper of general circulation in the county unless notice is waived or the court finds it unnecessary.
Third, and this is the rule that decides the route, Local Rule 49(D) states that insolvent estates may not be relieved from administration at all. If the debts exceed the assets, a release is off the table in Hocking County and the estate goes through a full administration. Local Rule 49(E) reinforces the point: the entry relieving the estate must state that the known debts of the decedent have been paid or secured to be paid. Fourth, a summary release here must conform to the statutory route it is filed under (R.C. 2113.031(B)), must use the standard application form, and must have Form 1.0 attached and filed with the application, with costs paid at filing. Either route still requires the Medicaid estate recovery notice within thirty days where the program applies (R.C. 2117.061), and neither shortens the six-month creditor window measured from the date of death (R.C. 2117.06).
Recent updates
The Hocking County Probate Court's current local rules are the Hocking County Probate Rules of Court and Case Management Plan, whose cover page lists a revision filed February 19, 2020, published by the court as a 38-page PDF. The Supreme Court of Ohio's trial-court and local-rules directory still links an older 2019 edition of the same rules, so use the file on the court's own site. The court's Probate Court Costs schedule carries an effective date of June 2021 and was read for this page in July 2026.
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Hocking County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the Logan-area home was held jointly with right of survivorship, or was covered by a transfer on death designation affidavit recorded with the Hocking 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 Hocking County Probate Court on the second floor at 1 East Main Street: Form 2.0 and Form 4.0 with a will, leading to letters testamentary, or Form 4.0 alone with no will, leading to letters of administration, with Form 1.0 attached to each application under Local Rule 24(I). 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, though Local Rule 49(C) means notice is published once in a county newspaper unless waived. Where a will was admitted, the Form 2.4 notice certificate is due within 60 days of appointment (Local Rule 24A). | Asset discovery to confirm how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to reach the court. Packet generation for the Hocking County filing, whether a full administration or a release, formatted to the local rules. A vetted attorney referral if the title or a claim turns out to be contested. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | Where the estate is small enough for a release from administration, an interested party can apply on Forms 5.0 and 5.1 instead of running a full administration (R.C. 2113.03), but check the debts first: Local Rule 49(D) bars an insolvent estate from being relieved from administration in Hocking County, and the entry has to state that known debts are paid or secured. A release still requires the Medicaid estate recovery notice within thirty days where the program applies (R.C. 2117.061) and does not shorten the six-month creditor window (R.C. 2117.06). Because there is no e-filing, an out-of-state child files by mail to 1 East Main Street, Logan, OH 43138 and calls (740) 385-3022 to ask what the release costs, since the court quotes that figure rather than publishing it. Progress can then be tracked on the court's online estate record search rather than by phone. | Asset discovery to establish the estate's value and its debts 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 Logan 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 Hocking 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 the Form 2.4 notice certificate within 60 days (Local Rule 24A). The published deposit for a full administration is $150.00 (effective June 2021, read July 2026), with further costs quoted at the inventory and at each account (Local Rule 25(B)). The inventory follows within three months (R.C. 2115.02) on Form 6.0 with Form 1.0 attached and the notice certification or waivers (Local Rules 24(I) and 24B), and where an appraisal is required the court appoints one disinterested appraiser, usually from its own published list, at a suggested maximum of $150.00 without prior court approval (Local Rule 28). Note that an approved appraiser cannot then be the realtor selling the property (Local Rule 28(H)). Where the property goes to heirs instead of being sold, the route is a certificate of transfer on Form 12.0, recorded with the Hocking County Recorder. | 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 |
|---|---|
| Hocking County Juvenile and Probate Courts (juvenile.hocking.us), (740) 385-3022 | The filing office for estates: the Logan address, the probate and juvenile phone lines, the probate FAQ listing what the court handles, and links to the costs, rules, appraisers, genealogy page and record search. Court staff can tell you the costs and what is on file, but the court states that the judge and deputy clerks are prohibited by law from answering legal questions, deciding what forms you need, or helping you complete them |
| Hocking County Probate Court record search (juvenile.hocking.us) | The court's own online docket search, covering Estate, Guardianship, Trusteeship, Civil, Marriage and Miscellaneous cases by name, case number or filing date back to 1978. CAPTCHA protected, with the court's warning that postings can lag a filing by at least twenty-four hours and that confidential proceedings are excluded |
| Hocking County probate local rules and case management plan (juvenile.hocking.us) | The court's own 38-page rules: the 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. hours in Rule 18.1, records and copies in Rules 20 and 25(E), filing format and the Form 1.0 requirement in Rule 24, the 60-day will-notice rule 24A, inventory notice in 24B, early closing in 24C, staged court costs in Rule 25, appraisers in Rule 28, claims in Rule 30, accounts in Rule 32, fees in Rules 40 and 41, release and summary release in Rule 49, and the case management plan deadlines |
| Hocking County probate court costs (juvenile.hocking.us) | The court's cost schedule, effective June 2021, with the $150.00 full administration deposit, the will filing and will deposit figures, and the instruction to call the court about a release from administration or a summary release |
| Hocking County genealogical research and records repository (juvenile.hocking.us) | What the court keeps on site (the previous five years of estates) and what is at the county Records Repository, (740) 380-2457, including estate files from 1820 through 1984 and marriage records from 1818 through 1990 |
| Supreme Court of Ohio Standard Probate Forms, decedent's estate (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The statewide forms used in every Ohio county, including Hocking, with the numbered variants and waivers |
| Supreme Court of Ohio, Ohio trial courts directory (supremecourt.ohio.gov) | The official court names and links for each county's Court of Common Pleas divisions, including the Hocking County Probate Division. Its Hocking probate local-rules link points at an older 2019 edition of the rules, so use the court's own current file |
| 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 |
| Hocking County phone directory (hocking.oh.gov) | The county's own list of office numbers and buildings, which confirms the Probate Court at 1 East Main Street on (740) 385-3022 and distinguishes the Clerk of Courts, the Recorder and the Records Repository |
| Ohio Legal Help (ohiolegalhelp.org) | Plain-language Ohio probate guides, including release from administration and summary release, from a statewide non-profit. Not a government site, so confirm court contact details with the court itself |
| Legal Aid of Southeast and Central Ohio, Athens office (lasco.org), 740-594-3558 | Free civil legal help for eligible low-income residents. Its Athens office at 964 East State Street handles Athens, Gallia, Hocking, Meigs, Morgan, Vinton and Washington counties, so this is the legal-aid program for Hocking County. Phone lines are open 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. 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 |
When to hire an attorney
Many Hocking 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. But this court is unusually direct about the limits of self-representation: its own site states that probate proceedings can be quite complex, that filings require knowledge of Ohio statutes, case law and rules, that you are strongly encouraged to seek the advice of an attorney experienced in probate law, and that the judge and the deputy clerks are prohibited by law from assisting you with any aspect of your case, including answering legal questions, determining what forms are required and helping you complete them. Consider counsel when a will is contested or a dispute among heirs is likely, when real property or timber and mineral interests have to be sold or divided, when the estate is insolvent, which in Hocking County also rules out a release from administration (Local Rule 49(D)), when 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 Hocking County publishes no forms of its own, quotes some costs only by phone, collects costs in stages under Local Rule 25(B), and will reject a filing that does not meet its format rules. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Ohio probate attorney serving Hocking County and the surrounding southeastern 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, Hocking County real estate and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value and its debts, and which Ohio route fits your estate settlement, before you drive to Logan.
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, ready to file on paper with the Hocking County Probate Court at the counter or by mail.
Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Ohio probate attorney serving Hocking 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 Hocking County?
With the Hocking County Probate Court on the second floor of the Hocking County Courthouse, 1 East Main Street, Logan, OH 43138. It is the probate division of the Hocking 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 Hocking County Clerk of Courts. File in Hocking County if the person was a resident of the county at the time of death (R.C. 2113.01). Be careful with web directories: some list the probate court at 105 West Hunter Street, which is the Hall of Justice housing the Municipal Court and the county Records Repository.
What are the hours and the phone number for the Hocking County Probate Court?
The Probate Court is open Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is closed Saturday, Sunday and legal holidays, per Local Rule 18.1 of its own local rules and the hours on the court's site (verified July 2026). The probate line is (740) 385-3022. The Juvenile Division of the same court opens half an hour earlier and uses a different number, (740) 385-3615, and (740) 385-2616 reaches the Hocking County Clerk of Courts, which does not handle estates. Marriage licenses are by appointment only. Because this is a small combined court, call before making the drive to Logan.
Is there e-filing for probate in Hocking County?
No. Hocking County Probate Court has no electronic-filing system for estates, its Local Rule 24(A) requires paper filings on 8 and one-half by 11 inch microfilmable stock without backing and provides that a non-conforming form will be rejected, and the county's own court information page states that online payments are not available for the Juvenile and Probate Courts. The online payment portal linked from the site belongs to the Juvenile Court. Ohio has no statewide probate e-filing system: the large metro counties run their own, and most rural counties, including Hocking, are paper.
Can I file probate papers by mail in Hocking County?
Yes, and Ohio law backs it. The court publishes no separate post office box, so mail filings go to 1 East Main Street, Logan, OH 43138. Once letters of appointment have issued, the court must accept filings by mail in an estate unless it notifies you or your attorney in writing that a personal appearance is necessary, or one is required by law (R.C. 2109.021); the same statute requires the court to reject and return an improper or incomplete filing, so send complete packets. Call (740) 385-3022 before mailing an original will, and remember that under Local Rule 25(B) you should phone for the amount of costs before mailing the inventory or an account.
How do I look up a Hocking County probate case online?
Use the court's own record search on juvenile.hocking.us, which covers Hocking County Probate Court cases and includes Estate, Guardianship and Trusteeship case types alongside Civil, Marriage and Miscellaneous. You can search by name, by case number or by filing date, with filing years going back to 1978, and you accept the court's disclaimer and clear a CAPTCHA first. The court warns that the data is only as current as its retrieval system allows, that a filing may take at least twenty-four hours and possibly longer to appear, and that verified record information has to be requested from the court. Confidential proceedings do not appear, and adoption and mental illness files are confidential (Local Rule 20(B)). The Clerk of Courts inquiry system is a different search and does not cover probate.
How much does it cost to file probate in Hocking County?
The court's own Probate Court Costs schedule, effective June 2021 and read in July 2026, states a $150.00 deposit for a full administration and tells filers to call the court for the cost of a release from administration or a summary release. Behind those figures Ohio fixes the 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), effective September 30, 2025), and each court may set an advance deposit for costs by local rule up to $125.00 (R.C. 2101.16(E)). Hocking County does not publish how its figures break down, and it collects the rest of the costs later: under Local Rule 25(B) you pay again when the inventory is filed and again on each account, after calling the court for the amount. Call (740) 385-3022 and ask what to bring.
Does Hocking County have its own probate forms?
No. The court's own Forms link goes straight to the Supreme Court of Ohio's probate forms, so you file the statewide Standard Probate Forms with no county cover sheet. Three local worksheets live inside the local rules rather than as separate downloads: an Exhibit B computation of attorney fees for estates and two Exhibit C court-cost worksheets, one for the inventory and one for the account. Two local rules catch self-represented filers out. Local Rule 24(I) requires Form 1.0 with three separate filings, the application to admit the will, the application for authority to administer, and the inventory. Local Rule 24(C) requires every initial paper to carry the name, address and telephone number of the fiduciary or whoever prepared the forms.
Who can appraise estate property in Hocking County?
The court appoints one suitable and disinterested appraiser where the law requires an appraisal (Local Rule 28(A)), and it publishes its own list of approved appraisers, mostly Logan-area realtors, auctioneers and bank officers, plus a certified gemologist and a jeweler for personal property. The same list appears as Exhibit A to the local rules. To use someone who is not on the list, file standard probate Form 3.0 (Appointment of Appraiser) with a resume for your proposed appraiser. Local Rule 28(B) suggests a maximum appraiser fee of $150.00 without prior application to and approval by the court, and Local Rule 28(H) bars an approved appraiser from then being employed as the realtor who sells the property, which matters when the estate has to sell a house.
Do I have to travel to Logan to settle an estate in Hocking County?
Not usually just to file. Papers can be mailed to the probate court at 1 East Main Street, Logan, OH 43138, and once letters of appointment have issued the court is required to accept estate filings by mail unless it tells you otherwise in writing (R.C. 2109.021), so a filer at the county's edge or living out of state can open and run an uncontested estate largely by mail and phone, and can track it on the court's online record search. Plan on Logan for a hearing, for a marriage license, which is by appointment and in person, and for picking up certified copies of the letter of authority, which cost $1.00 per page (R.C. 2101.16(A), effective September 30, 2025) and are what banks and title companies ask for. Ask the court at (740) 385-3022 whether a particular hearing can be handled by phone or video; nothing about remote appearances is published.
Is the probate court the same as the juvenile court in Hocking County?
It is the same court and the same judge, in two divisions. One elected judge presides over both the Probate Division and the Juvenile Division of the Hocking County Court of Common Pleas, and the court brands itself the Hocking County Juvenile and Probate Courts, so the site and the signage cover both. That arrangement is common in Ohio's smaller counties. Both divisions are on the second floor of the courthouse, but they use different phone lines and different opening times: probate is (740) 385-3022 from 8:30 a.m., juvenile is (740) 385-3615 from 8 a.m. Estates, wills, guardianships, name changes and marriage licenses are probate matters. The shared judge does not change the law that applies to your estate, but it does mean the office is small, so calling ahead is worth the time.
Where are older Hocking County estate records kept?
The probate court's office keeps the previous five years of estates on site at the courthouse. Older archived files are at the Hocking County Records Repository, which the county lists at 105 West Hunter Street in Logan on (740) 380-2457, in the same building as the Municipal Court. Per the court's genealogy page the repository holds estates from 1820 through 1984, guardianships from 1831 through 1984, marriages from 1818 through 1990, births from 1867 through 1943 and deaths from 1867 through 1908, with births from 1944 and deaths from 1909 onward held by the Hocking County Health Department; for an estate file between 1985 and the court's most recent five years, ask the court at (740) 385-3022 where it is held. The court's page prints the repository address with East rather than West Hunter Street, so call (740) 380-2457 before driving. Probate records themselves cannot be removed from the court (Local Rule 20(A)), and copies of open records are $0.25 per page under Local Rule 25(E) of the court's local rules, revision filed February 19, 2020.
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.