Ohio Small Estates: the release from administration

Specific to OHLast reviewed

The short answer

Ohio calls its simplified route the release from administration, and it is set out in Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.03. This is a court order, not an affidavit. The limit is $100,000 when the surviving spouse receives the whole estate. Ohio sets no waiting period for it. It can also cover real estate, which is unusual and worth knowing before you assume a house means full probate. The current limit and the date we last read the statute are on the card below.

Ohio’s release from administration

Ohio sets this out in Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.03. This is a court order, not an affidavit. The limit is $100,000 when the surviving spouse receives the whole estate. The figure itself, and the date we last read that statute, are on the card below.[1]

  • Ohio

    Procedure:
    release from administration
    Limit:
    $35,000
    Wait:
    none stated
    Real estate:
    covered

    This is a court order, not an affidavit. The limit is $100,000 when the surviving spouse receives the whole estate.

    Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.03 — official page read September 18, 2026

It can also cover real estate, which is unusual and worth knowing before you assume a house means full probate.[1]

The release from administration is one piece of settling an estate in Ohio. Answer a few questions and Go Forward builds the rest of the list for your situation — the notifications, the accounts, the paperwork — in the order it needs doing.

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Steps this page connects to: Check whether probate is required · Order certified death certificates · List what the estate holds

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Creditor claims under Ohio Rev. Code § 2117.06

Above the limit it is a regular Ohio probate case. Ohio does not require a published newspaper notice, which removes a cost and a delay other states impose. The window for claims is 6 months after the death..[2]

  • Ohio

    Published notice:
    not required
    Claim window:
    6 months after the death.

    Ohio Rev. Code § 2117.06 — official page read September 18, 2026

Sources

  1. Ohio Rev. Code § 2113.03 (release from administration)Ohio — official statute or court self-help page. Read September 18, 2026.
  2. Ohio Rev. Code § 2117.06 (notice to creditors)Ohio — official statute or court self-help page. Read September 18, 2026.

Each state above links to the statute or court page we read, with the date we read it.

How we source and review these pages, and how to tell us about a mistake: our editorial policy.

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