How to Fill Out Ohio Probate Form 14.0 (w/Examples) + FAQs

Ohio Probate Form 14.0, the Application for Certificate of Transfer, is the document an executor or administrator files with the county probate court to move real estate from a deceased person’s name into the names of the heirs or beneficiaries. Every fiduciary handling an Ohio estate that includes a house, condo, vacant lot, mineral interest, or any other parcel must file this form, because Ohio law refuses to recognize a transfer of probate real estate without a court-issued Certificate of Transfer under Ohio Revised Code §2113.61.

If you skip this filing, the county recorder will not update the deed, the county auditor will not change the tax mailing address, and any future buyer’s title insurer will flag the property as having a “broken chain of title.” According to the Supreme Court of Ohio’s annual case statistics, Ohio’s 88 county probate courts process more than 45,000 estate filings each year, and clerks report that Form 14.0 is among the top three forms returned for correction because of legal-description errors.

Here’s what you’ll learn in this guide:

📋 What Form 14.0 does and exactly when the law requires you to file it
🗂️ The eight documents and data points to gather before you open the form
✍️ A line-by-line walkthrough of every box, with sample entries
👨‍👩‍👧 Three full filled-out scenarios with named filers
💵 County filing fees, payment methods, and the recorder’s hand-off
⚠️ The most expensive mistakes and how to avoid each one

What Form 14.0 Is and Who Must File It

Form 14.0 is the Application for Certificate of Transfer of Real Property, a Supreme Court of Ohio standard probate form adopted under Sup. R. 70 and required by every probate court in Ohio. The fiduciary — the executor named in a will or the administrator appointed in an intestate estate — files this application to ask the court to issue Form 14.1, the actual Certificate of Transfer, which the heirs then record at the county recorder’s office to perfect their title. The current revision of the form is dated March 1, 2024, and you should confirm that revision date in the lower-left corner of the PDF before you begin, because counties reject older versions on sight.

Anyone administering an Ohio decedent’s estate that includes solely-owned real property must file Form 14.0, including executors of testate estates, administrators of intestate estates, and successor fiduciaries. You do not need this form if the property passed by survivorship deed, transfer-on-death designation affidavit under ORC §5302.22, or a properly recorded trust deed, because those instruments transfer title outside probate. You also do not file Form 14.0 when a surviving spouse takes the home through a summary release from administration; that route uses Form 5.10 instead.

The form lives at the intersection of probate law, real-estate law, and county taxation. The probate court issues the certificate, the county recorder records it in the deed index, and the county auditor updates the tax-duplicate ownership. If any one of those three offices rejects the paperwork, the chain of title freezes, and heirs cannot sell, mortgage, or insure the property until the defect is cured. That is why fields like the legal description and the prior deed reference matter so much.

Before You Start: Documents and Information You Need

Gathering paperwork before you open Form 14.0 saves hours of back-and-forth with the probate clerk. The form references prior court filings and recorder data, and a single missing parcel number can kick the application back two weeks. Pull the items below into one folder, paper or digital, before you type a single character.

Certified copy of the death certificate — the court matches the date of death to the estate file, and a missing certificate stops processing immediately.
Letters of Authority (Form 4.0 or 4.1) — these prove you are the appointed fiduciary, and the clerk will not accept Form 14.0 from anyone else.
The decedent’s last recorded deed — you need the exact legal description, the prior deed’s volume/page or instrument number, and the grantor’s name.
The county auditor’s parcel number (also called the permanent parcel number or PPN) — pull it from the county auditor’s online property search or the tax bill.
The will, if any, plus the Entry Admitting Will to Probate (Form 2.3) — these prove the manner of transfer and the named beneficiaries.
A current Ohio estate inventory (Form 6.0) showing the real property — courts cross-check the legal description against the inventory.
Names, addresses, and fractional interests of every heir or devisee — fractions like an undivided one-third interest must add up to a whole.
The most recent property tax bill — confirm taxes are current, because some counties require a tax-status statement before recording.
A blank Form 14.1 (Certificate of Transfer) — you submit this with Form 14.0 so the judge can sign and issue it the same day.
Filing fee in cash, check, or e-payment — most counties charge between $25 and $50, plus a per-page recording fee at the recorder’s office.

If any item is missing, the safe move is to pause and gather it. A rejected filing means a second trip, a second fee in some counties, and a delay that can cost an heir a pending sale.

Where to Get the Form and How to Access It

The official, fillable PDF lives on the Supreme Court of Ohio standard probate forms page and on each county probate court’s website. Always download a fresh copy for every estate, because the Supreme Court occasionally updates the form’s footer revision date, and county clerks scan that date when they accept the filing. Bookmark the Franklin County Probate Court forms page, the Cuyahoga County Probate Court forms page, and the Hamilton County Probate Court forms page if you regularly handle estates in those counties.

You can complete Form 14.0 three ways. First, type directly into the fillable PDF using free tools like Adobe Acrobat Reader, then print it for wet signatures. Second, print the blank PDF and fill it in by hand using black ink only, because counties scan filings and blue ink sometimes drops out. Third, use a probate-software product such as GEMS or EstateExec, which auto-fills the form from data you already entered for Form 1.0 and Form 6.0.

E-filing availability depends on the county. Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Summit, and Montgomery counties accept Form 14.0 through their e-filing portals; smaller counties still require paper. When in doubt, call the probate clerk before you upload — Ohio counties enjoy broad discretion under Sup. R. 5 to set their own local filing rules.

Step-by-Step: How to Fill Out Form 14.0 Line by Line

The form is two pages: a caption block, a numbered application body with eight items, a fiduciary signature block, and an attorney signature block. Work top to bottom, left to right, and do not skip any item even if it appears not to apply, because the clerk reads each box.

Caption: Court, County, Case Number, and Estate Name

The caption is the boxed header at the very top of the form, identifying the Probate Court of [County] County, Ohio, the Estate of [Decedent’s Name], Deceased, and the Case No. assigned when the estate was opened. Type the county name in all caps, copy the estate caption verbatim from Form 1.0, and paste the case number exactly as the clerk stamped it, including any leading zeros and letter prefixes. Maria Lopez, executor of her father’s estate in Franklin County, types FRANKLIN, Estate of Hector Lopez, Deceased, and Case No. 614005123.

A common pain point is mismatching the decedent’s name across forms. If Form 1.0 reads Hector R. Lopez but Form 14.0 reads Hector Lopez, the clerk may flag the inconsistency and ask for a correction. The consequence is a delay of one to two weeks while the clerk routes the filing to a deputy for review.

A widespread misconception is that the case number can be abbreviated or shortened. It cannot. The full case number, including any suffix like PE or ES, must appear or the docketing system will not link Form 14.0 to the parent estate.

Form Title and Manner of Transfer Election

Just under the caption, the form title reads Application for Certificate of Transfer, and immediately below it you must check one of two boxes indicating whether the transfer is under the will or by the laws of intestate succession. Check exactly one box; never both, never neither. Marcus Bell, administrator of his intestate brother’s estate in Cuyahoga County, checks the second box because his brother died without a will.

The nuance arises in partial-intestacy estates, where the will disposes of some property but not the real estate. In that scenario, the transfer of the real estate is by intestate succession even though the estate itself is testate, and you check the intestate box. Getting this wrong forces the court to issue a corrected certificate, which delays the recorder’s recording.

A misconception filers carry is that the will box should be checked any time a will exists. That is wrong. The box turns on whether this specific real estate passes under that will, not whether the estate has a will at all.

Item 1: Decedent’s Name, Date of Death, and Domicile

Item 1 asks the applicant to state that [Decedent’s Name] died on a specific date, a resident of a specific Ohio county, owning the real property described below. Enter the decedent’s full legal name as it appears on the death certificate, the date of death in MM/DD/YYYY format, and the county of legal domicile at death. Janet Reilly enters Patrick J. Reilly, 11/04/2025, Hamilton County, Ohio.

The most common edge case is a non-resident decedent who owned Ohio real estate. Those estates open as ancillary administrations under ORC §2129.04, and Item 1 must list the decedent’s true domicile state, not Ohio, with the Ohio probate court acting only over the Ohio property. Listing Ohio as the domicile when the decedent lived in Kentucky will trigger a jurisdictional challenge.

A misconception is that the date of death may be approximated when the exact date is uncertain. It may not. If the precise date is unknown, you must use the presumed date of death established by court order under ORC §2121.01, and attach that order.

Item 2: Names and Addresses of Persons Entitled to the Real Property

Item 2 lists each person who inherits an interest in the real property, their relationship to the decedent, their mailing address, and the fractional share each receives. Type the full legal name of each heir, then their relationship using the words from ORC §2105.06 such as surviving spouse, child, or grandchild, then their current street address, then the fraction. Aisha Bell, sister, 410 Larchmere Blvd., Shaker Heights, OH 44120, an undivided one-half interest.

The pain point is fractions that do not sum to one whole. Three children inheriting equally must each receive an undivided one-third interest, and those fractions must literally sum to 3/3. Probate clerks add the fractions on a calculator, and a sum of 0.999 because someone wrote 1/3, 1/3, 1/3 as decimals will draw a correction notice.

A misconception is that minor heirs need not appear in Item 2. They must. Minor heirs are listed by full legal name with the notation a minor, and the certificate issues to the minor, not to a parent or guardian, although the guardian manages the property until majority.

Item 3: Manner in Which Decedent Acquired Title

Item 3 asks how the decedent originally got the property — by deed, by inheritance, by survivorship, or by land contract — and references the prior recorded instrument. Pull the Deed Volume and Page or Instrument Number from the decedent’s last recorded deed, and copy them exactly. Hector Lopez acquired title by General Warranty Deed recorded in Official Records Volume 38241, Page 552, Franklin County Recorder.

The edge case appears when the decedent acquired title through a previous probate, in which case Item 3 references the prior Certificate of Transfer by its volume and page, not a deed. Listing a deed when the source instrument is itself a certificate of transfer will create a recording chain error that the recorder’s office will reject.

A misconception is that this item may be left blank when the prior deed is “obvious.” It cannot be left blank. The recorder relies on this reference to index the new certificate, and a blank field forces a re-filing.

Item 4: Date of Acquisition

Item 4 is the date the decedent acquired the property, taken from the prior deed’s recording date, not the deed’s signing date. Enter the date in MM/DD/YYYY format. Patrick J. Reilly acquired title on 06/22/1998.

A nuance arises when the decedent acquired the property in stages — for example, a one-half interest by deed in 1990 and the second half by inheritance in 2010. In that case, list both dates and both source instruments, separated by a semicolon, and the certificate will recite both. Listing only the most recent acquisition date strips the earlier interest from the chain of title.

A misconception is that date of acquisition equals the closing date. The closing date is irrelevant; the recorded date controls because Ohio is a race-notice state under ORC §5301.25.

Item 5: Legal Description of the Real Property

Item 5 is the single most important field on Form 14.0. It asks for the complete metes-and-bounds or platted legal description of the real estate, and it must match the decedent’s prior deed word for word, comma for comma. Copy the legal description from the prior recorded deed, paste it into Item 5, and proofread twice. Situated in the City of Columbus, County of Franklin, State of Ohio, and being Lot Number Forty-Two (42) of Eastmoor Heights Subdivision, as the same is numbered and delineated upon the recorded plat thereof, of record in Plat Book 17, Page 38, Recorder’s Office, Franklin County, Ohio.

The pain point is filers who substitute the street address for the legal description. A street address is not a legal description, and the certificate will be unrecordable if Item 5 reads 123 Main Street. The county recorder will reject it under ORC §317.08, and the heirs will have to come back to court for an amended certificate.

A misconception is that the auditor’s parcel number replaces the legal description. It does not. The parcel number is an administrative tax identifier, while the legal description is the legal identifier of the land itself, and both must appear, with the legal description carrying the actual chain of title.

Item 6: Auditor’s Parcel Number and Property Address

Item 6 asks for the auditor’s permanent parcel number and the common street address, which together let the auditor update the tax duplicate. Pull the parcel number from the most recent property tax bill or the county auditor’s website and type it exactly, hyphens included. 010-123456-00, 1845 Bryden Road, Columbus, OH 43205.

The edge case appears with multi-parcel properties — a single homestead that sits on two adjacent parcels, for example. List every parcel number on a separate line, and list the common address once. Omitting a parcel will leave that parcel taxed in the decedent’s name forever, racking up future delinquency notices.

A misconception is that the parcel number on the tax bill is always current. It is not always current after a recent split or consolidation. Verify on the auditor’s website the same week you file, because mid-year reparcelizations are common in Ohio’s larger counties.

Item 7: Value of the Real Property

Item 7 is the fair market value of the real property as of the date of death, taken from the estate’s Form 6.0 inventory or a qualified appraisal. Enter the dollar value with no commas in the entry box but with proper currency formatting, and round to the nearest whole dollar. $285,000.

A nuance is that the value must match Form 6.0 exactly. If the inventory showed $285,000 and Form 14.0 shows $290,000, the clerk will demand reconciliation, because the value drives the Ohio estate inventory schedule and any nominal probate court costs tied to value.

A misconception is that the value is the current market value at the time of filing Form 14.0. It is not. Use the date-of-death value, period, because that is the value the estate inventoried and the value the IRS uses for the heirs’ stepped-up basis under IRC §1014.

Item 8: Prayer and Request for Certificate

Item 8 is the prayer, the closing request that asks the court to issue a Certificate of Transfer to the persons named in Item 2 in the fractional shares stated. The form pre-prints this language; you do not retype it, but you must read it to confirm it matches your facts. The applicant requests the Court issue a Certificate of Transfer to the persons named in Item 2 in the shares set forth therein.

The edge case is a partial transfer, where the estate sold part of the real estate during administration and only the unsold remainder transfers to heirs. The prayer must be modified by attached rider to reference only the unsold portion, with the legal description amended accordingly. Failing to modify the prayer will cause the certificate to issue for the sold portion as well, clouding the buyer’s title.

A misconception is that Item 8 may be skipped because it is “boilerplate.” It cannot be skipped, because the prayer is the legal request that authorizes the judge to act, and a missing prayer renders the application defective on its face.

Fiduciary Signature, Date, and Attorney Block

The bottom of page two contains the Fiduciary’s Signature line, the Date line, and the Attorney’s Signature, Attorney Registration Number, Address, Phone, Fax, and Email lines. The fiduciary signs in black ink on the day of filing, prints the date in MM/DD/YYYY format, and the attorney (if any) signs and supplies the Ohio Supreme Court attorney registration number. Maria Lopez signs Maria E. Lopez, Fiduciary, dates 04/12/2026, and her attorney Karen Wu signs and lists Reg. No. 0089123.

The nuance is co-fiduciary signatures. If two executors serve, both must sign Form 14.0, because the application is a fiduciary act and Ohio law treats co-fiduciaries jointly under ORC §2109.06. Missing a co-fiduciary signature will cause the clerk to bounce the filing back the same day.

A misconception is that pro se fiduciaries leave the attorney block entirely blank. They should instead write Pro Se across the attorney name field, leave the registration number blank, and supply their own contact information so the court can reach them.

Three Filled-Out Examples Using Real Scenarios

Below are three full walkthroughs of named filers completing Form 14.0 from start to finish. Each table shows what the filer enters in the major sections, so you can see the form behave under different facts.

Scenario 1: Maria Lopez — Sole Devisee Under a Will (Franklin County)

Maria’s father Hector left a one-page will devising his Bexley home to Maria alone. The estate is open in Franklin County Probate Court, and Maria is the executor.

Form Section	What Maria Enters
Caption	FRANKLIN County, Estate of Hector R. Lopez, Deceased, Case No. 614005123
Manner of Transfer	Checked: under the will
Item 1 — Decedent	Hector R. Lopez, died 11/15/2025, Franklin County, Ohio
Item 2 — Heirs	Maria E. Lopez, daughter, 1845 Bryden Rd., Columbus, OH 43205, the entire fee simple interest
Item 3 — Acquisition	General Warranty Deed, Official Records Vol. 38241, Pg. 552
Item 4 — Date Acquired	06/22/1998
Item 5 — Legal Description	Lot 42, Eastmoor Heights Subdivision, Plat Book 17, Pg. 38, Franklin County
Item 6 — Parcel and Address	010-123456-00, 1845 Bryden Rd., Columbus, OH 43205
Item 7 — Value	$310,000
Signature	Maria E. Lopez, Fiduciary, 04/12/2026; Pro Se

Scenario 2: Marcus Bell — Intestate Estate, Two Heirs (Cuyahoga County)

Marcus’s brother Devin died without a will, leaving a duplex to his only two siblings — Marcus and his sister Aisha — in equal shares.

Form Section	What Marcus Enters
Caption	CUYAHOGA County, Estate of Devin T. Bell, Deceased, Case No. 2025EST300456
Manner of Transfer	Checked: by the laws of intestate succession
Item 1 — Decedent	Devin T. Bell, died 09/03/2025, Cuyahoga County, Ohio
Item 2 — Heirs	Marcus J. Bell, brother, 9821 Larchmere Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106, an undivided one-half interest; Aisha R. Bell, sister, 410 Coventry Rd., Cleveland Heights, OH 44118, an undivided one-half interest
Item 3 — Acquisition	Survivorship Deed, Instrument No. 202010230456
Item 4 — Date Acquired	10/23/2010
Item 5 — Legal Description	Sublot 17, Block C, Larchmere Allotment, Plat Vol. 92, Pg. 14, Cuyahoga County
Item 6 — Parcel and Address	127-15-019, 9821 Larchmere Blvd., Cleveland, OH 44106
Item 7 — Value	$245,000
Signature	Marcus J. Bell, Administrator, 05/18/2026; Atty. Karen Wu, Reg. No. 0089123

Scenario 3: Janet Reilly — Surviving Spouse Plus Children (Hamilton County)

Janet’s husband Patrick died testate, leaving the marital home to Janet for life, with the remainder to their three children equally.

Form Section	What Janet Enters
Caption	HAMILTON County, Estate of Patrick J. Reilly, Deceased, Case No. 2025003221
Manner of Transfer	Checked: under the will
Item 1 — Decedent	Patrick J. Reilly, died 11/04/2025, Hamilton County, Ohio
Item 2 — Heirs	Janet M. Reilly, surviving spouse, 612 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208, a life estate; Sean P. Reilly, son, an undivided one-third remainder; Brigid A. Reilly, daughter, an undivided one-third remainder; Liam C. Reilly, son, an undivided one-third remainder
Item 3 — Acquisition	General Warranty Deed, Deed Book 9821, Pg. 412
Item 4 — Date Acquired	06/22/1998
Item 5 — Legal Description	Lot 9, Hyde Park Place Subdivision, Plat Book 41, Pg. 22, Hamilton County
Item 6 — Parcel and Address	032-0001-0099-00, 612 Erie Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45208
Item 7 — Value	$520,000
Signature	Janet M. Reilly, Executor, 06/01/2026; Atty. Thomas Park, Reg. No. 0076541

How to File the Completed Form

You file Form 14.0 in the probate court of the county where the estate is open, together with a completed but unsigned Form 14.1 (the certificate the judge will sign). The judge reviews the application, signs Form 14.1, and the clerk issues a certified copy to you for recording.

In person. Walk the application into the probate clerk’s window during business hours. Filing fees vary by county: Franklin charges $25 per certificate at the Franklin County Probate Court clerk’s window, Cuyahoga charges $26 at the Cuyahoga County Probate Court intake, and Hamilton charges $30 at the Hamilton County Probate Court filings desk. Most counties accept cash, certified check, money order, and major credit cards (with a small surcharge). Processing time is usually same-day to three business days. Keep the time-stamped copy as your proof of filing.

By mail. Mail the original signed Form 14.0, the unsigned Form 14.1, a self-addressed stamped envelope, and a check for the filing fee to the probate court’s mailing address. Mailed filings take seven to fifteen business days. Use certified mail with return receipt as proof of filing.

By e-filing. In counties that accept e-filing, upload the signed PDF through the county’s portal — for example, Cuyahoga County’s e-filing system — and pay the fee with a credit card or e-check. Processing time is one to five business days, and the portal returns a stamped electronic copy as your proof of filing.

After the judge signs Form 14.1, take the certified copy to the county recorder to record it in the deed index. Recording fees follow ORC §317.32 — typically $34 for the first two pages and $8 per additional page. Then visit the county auditor to complete a Statement of Reason for Exemption from Real Property Conveyance Fee (DTE Form 100EX), because transfers from a decedent’s estate are exempt from the conveyance fee under ORC §319.54(G)(3)(m).

What Happens After You File

After you file Form 14.0, the probate judge or magistrate reviews the application against the estate file, confirms the heirs and fractional shares, and signs Form 14.1 — the actual Certificate of Transfer. The clerk issues you a certified copy stamped with the court’s seal, which is the document that operates as the deed.

You then take the certified Form 14.1 to the county recorder, who indexes it under the decedent’s name as grantor and the heirs’ names as grantees. The recorder returns a recorded copy with a volume and page or instrument number, completing the chain of title. The county auditor updates the tax-duplicate ownership and mails future tax bills to the new owners at the addresses listed in Item 2.

Once recorded, the heirs may sell, mortgage, refinance, or insure the property. Title insurers in Ohio recognize a recorded Form 14.1 as a valid root-of-title document under Ohio Title Insurance Rate Bureau standards, provided Items 5 and 6 match the prior deed. If a defect appears later — a misspelled name, a wrong fraction, a typo in the legal description — you must petition the probate court for a Nunc Pro Tunc Entry to correct the certificate, and re-record the corrected Form 14.1, paying recording fees again.

Mistakes to Avoid When Filling Out the Form

Substituting the street address for the legal description in Item 5. The recorder will reject the certificate, and the heirs cannot sell the property until you re-file.
Listing the wrong manner of transfer. Checking under the will in a partial-intestacy estate forces an amended certificate and a second filing fee.
Leaving a co-fiduciary signature off the form. The clerk bounces the filing the same day, delaying every downstream step.
Using blue ink instead of black ink on a paper filing. Counties scan filings, and blue ink may drop out, rendering the signature unreadable.
Mismatching the decedent’s name across forms. Inconsistencies trigger a clerk review, adding one to two weeks to the timeline.
Skipping the auditor’s parcel number in Item 6. The auditor cannot update the tax duplicate, so future tax bills go to the dead person.
Listing fractional shares that do not sum to one whole. The court will demand a corrected application, and the certificate cannot issue until the math works.
Citing the closing date instead of the recorded date in Item 4. This breaks the chain of title and will stop a future title search cold.
Using a stale revision of the form. Counties reject Form 14.0 if the footer revision date is older than the current Supreme Court of Ohio version.
Forgetting to attach the unsigned Form 14.1. Without the certificate to sign, the judge has nothing to issue, and you must come back another day.
Omitting minor heirs from Item 2. The omitted minor’s interest never transfers, leaving a permanent cloud on title.
Filing Form 14.0 before the inventory (Form 6.0) is approved. Some counties require an approved inventory first; filing prematurely earns a dismissal without prejudice.

Dos and Don’ts

Do:

Pull the legal description from the prior recorded deed, not the tax bill, because only the recorded deed carries the legally controlling text.
Verify the parcel number on the auditor’s website the same week you file, because reparcelizations happen and a stale number costs time.
File Form 14.1 simultaneously with Form 14.0, so the judge can sign and issue both at once.
Use black ink for every signature and date on a paper filing, because counties scan documents in grayscale.
Double-check that fractional interests in Item 2 sum to a whole, because the math drives the recorder’s indexing.
Keep a stamped or e-filed copy of Form 14.0 in your fiduciary file, because you will need it for the final account (Form 13.0).

Don’t:

Don’t leave the attorney block blank if you are pro se; write Pro Se and supply your contact information.
Don’t paraphrase the legal description; copy it verbatim or the recorder will reject it.
Don’t list the decedent’s nickname; use the full legal name from the death certificate every time.
Don’t sign before reviewing every item, because a fiduciary’s signature is sworn under penalty of perjury per ORC §2921.11.
Don’t file Form 14.0 if the property passed by transfer-on-death, survivorship, or trust; you do not need it.
Don’t forget the conveyance-fee exemption form (DTE 100EX) at the auditor, or you will pay a fee you did not owe.

Pros and Cons of Filing on Your Own vs. With Help

Many fiduciaries can complete Form 14.0 without hiring counsel, especially in simple single-heir estates. Other estates — those with minor heirs, life estates, partial intestacy, or out-of-state real estate — almost always benefit from an Ohio probate attorney listed in the Ohio State Bar Association directory.

Pros of filing pro se:

Saves $300 to $1,200 in attorney fees on a routine certificate-of-transfer filing.
Keeps the fiduciary in direct control of timing and communication with the clerk.
Builds the fiduciary’s familiarity with the estate file for later filings like Form 13.0.
Avoids waiting on an attorney’s calendar when heirs need title cleared quickly.
Demystifies probate, which the Supreme Court of Ohio’s self-help materials actively encourage.

Cons of filing pro se:

A single legal-description typo can delay a pending real-estate closing by weeks.
Pro se filers often miss the conveyance-fee exemption and overpay at the auditor.
Counties vary in their local rules, and pro se filers learn those rules the hard way.
Errors that require a Nunc Pro Tunc Entry cost more in court time than an attorney fee would have.
Title insurers may scrutinize pro se filings more closely, slowing the next sale.

FAQs

Do I need a lawyer to file Form 14.0?

No. Ohio law allows any properly appointed fiduciary to file Form 14.0 pro se. Complex facts — minor heirs, life estates, ancillary administration — make counsel worthwhile.

Is Form 14.0 the same as a deed?

No. Form 14.0 is the application; Form 14.1 is the Certificate of Transfer that operates as the deed once the judge signs it and the recorder records it.

How much does it cost to file Form 14.0?

No single statewide fee exists. Counties charge between $25 and $50 for the application, plus recorder’s fees of about $34 for the first two pages under ORC §317.32.

Do I write the street address in Item 5?

No. Item 5 demands the complete legal description from the prior recorded deed. A street address belongs in Item 6, not Item 5, and using one in Item 5 makes the certificate unrecordable.

Do I list a minor heir in Item 2?

Yes. List the minor by full legal name with the notation a minor. The certificate issues to the minor; the guardian merely manages the property until majority.

Can I file Form 14.0 before the inventory is approved?

No in many counties. Several Ohio probate courts require an approved Form 6.0 inventory first. Call the clerk to confirm local practice before filing.

Do I write the signing date or the recording date in Item 4?

Yes — the recording date. Ohio’s race-notice rule under ORC §5301.25 means recording controls priority, so Item 4 must show the recorded date of the prior deed.

Do co-executors both have to sign?

Yes. Co-fiduciaries act jointly under ORC §2109.06, and a missing co-executor signature will cause the clerk to reject the filing on intake.

Can I e-file Form 14.0?

Yes in many counties. Cuyahoga, Franklin, Hamilton, Summit, and Montgomery accept e-filing. Smaller counties still require paper, so confirm with the clerk before uploading.

Does the transfer trigger a conveyance fee?

No. Transfers from a decedent’s estate are exempt under ORC §319.54(G)(3)(m). File DTE Form 100EX at the auditor to claim the exemption.

Do I need Form 14.0 for a transfer-on-death property?

No. A property held under a transfer-on-death designation affidavit passes outside probate and never appears on Form 14.0.

Can the certificate be corrected after it issues?

Yes, by filing a motion for a Nunc Pro Tunc Entry in the probate court, then re-recording the corrected Form 14.1 at the recorder, paying the recording fee again.

Do I list the fair market value as of today?

No. Item 7 requires the date-of-death value, matching Form 6.0. Today’s market value is irrelevant for the certificate and for the heirs’ stepped-up basis.

Is there a deadline to file Form 14.0?

No statutory deadline exists, but most courts expect filing before the final account (Form 13.0). Delay clouds title and can derail pending sales.

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