Columbus Living Trust: Franklin County Probate Court and Deed Recording

By Rozsa Gyene, California estate planning attorney, State Bar of California #208356. Published October 4, 2026. Last reviewed October 4, 2026.

Which county this page covers

This page describes the Franklin County offices. The City Auditor's 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report states: "Property taxes in Ohio are levied and collected by its 88 counties. The City lies partially within three of these counties: Franklin, Fairfield, and Delaware." Which county's offices you use is a matter of location, not mailing address: under R.C. 2107.11(A)(1) a will "shall be admitted to probate" in "the county in this state in which the testator was domiciled at the time of the testator's death", and under R.C. 5301.255 a memorandum of trust is recorded "in the office of the county recorder of any county in which real property that is subject to the trust is located". The table names each county's offices; the Franklin County offices are described in full below, and a reader in the Delaware or Fairfield part of the city should use the offices in that row.

The Franklin County Probate Court

Ohio gives each county a probate court. Under R.C. 2101.24(A)(1) "the probate court has exclusive jurisdiction" "To take the proof of wills", "To grant and revoke letters testamentary and of administration", "To direct and control the conduct and settle the accounts of executors and administrators and order the distribution of estates" and "To hear and determine applications for an order relieving an estate from administration under section 2113.03 of the Revised Code". A living trust sits differently: under R.C. 2101.24(B)(1)(b) the court has only "concurrent jurisdiction with" the general division of the court of common pleas over "Any action that involves an inter vivos trust", which means a trust comes before the court only if someone brings a case. The Estates (Large) page says "the probate process begins by any interested person filing an application to administer the estate in the county in which the decedent lived", and defines estate administration as "the process by which a person's assets are collected, maintained, and distributed among creditors, heirs and beneficiaries according to the person's will and the laws of Ohio."

Opening an estate: deposits and court costs

Probate court fees are fixed by statute. R.C. 2101.16, as amended by House Bill 96 of the 136th General Assembly (effective September 30, 2025), lists among them "Probating will" $15.00, "Fiduciary ... appointment of" $35.00, "Relieving an estate from administration under section 2113.03 of the Revised Code or granting an order for a summary release from administration under section 2113.031 of the Revised Code" $60.00, and "Transfer of real property, application, entry, and certificate for" $7.00; division (E) lets the court "require an advance deposit for costs, not to exceed one hundred twenty-five dollars" when an executor or administrator applies or a will is presented. The Franklin County court's Court Costs page turns those into deposits:

The Estates (Large) page adds: "If you open a full estate with the minimum deposit of $125, you will be required to add an additional deposit prior to receiving letters of authority." In person, "All credit/debit transactions are subject to a 2.5% transaction fee with a minimum fee of $2.00"; through e-Filing, "All payments for E-Filing must be made with a credit or debit card and are subject to a 3% transaction fee."

Release from administration

R.C. 2113.03(A) lets an estate be released from administration when "The value of the assets of the estate is thirty-five thousand dollars or less", or when it "is one hundred thousand dollars or less" and the decedent left everything by will to the surviving spouse or died without a will leaving a spouse entitled to the whole estate. The section's page shows "Effective: January 13, 2012" and "Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 124 - 129th General Assembly", so no 2025 or 2026 act has changed those figures. The court's Estates (Small) department states the two cases in its own words: "Surviving spouse inherits the entire estate and the gross estate is less than $100,000" or "Someone other than a surviving spouse inherits and the entire gross estate is less than $35,000", and prices "No Administration" at $105.00 to $115.00. The smaller summary release is $105.00 and applies where "the value of the assets does not exceed the lesser of $5,000 or the amount of the decedent's funeral and burial expenses", or for a surviving spouse where "total assets are less than $40,000", rising to $45,000 with funeral expenses. Under R.C. 2113.03(B) the order directs "delivery of personal property and transfer of real property to the persons entitled" to them, and under division (F) a will must still be "presented for probate". The Ohio release from administration guide explains the application.

The allowance for support

Whatever else happens to the estate, R.C. 2106.13(A) gives "the surviving spouse, minor children, or both" the right "to receive, subject to division (B) of this section, in money or property the sum of forty thousand dollars as an allowance for support", paid "one hundred per cent to the surviving spouse" where there are no minor children or all of them are the spouse's children. The allowance "shall be considered estate assets", and the release-from-administration section (R.C. 2113.03(D)) measures it "in accordance with section 2106.13". That section's page shows "Effective: August 17, 2021" and "Latest Legislation: House Bill 7 - 134th General Assembly".

Recording a deed to the trustee: the Auditor first, then the Recorder

A home goes into a living trust by a deed from the owner to the trustee, and in Franklin County that deed makes two stops. The Recorder's Real Estate Recording page says: "Any documents that transfer real property should start the transfer process with the Franklin County Auditor."

Under R.C. 319.202 the grantee submits "a statement, in the form prescribed by the tax commissioner" declaring the value of the property before "the county auditor indorses any real property conveyance", or, "when the transfer is exempt under division (G)(3) of section 319.54 of the Revised Code only a statement of the reason for the exemption". The Auditor's FAQ says "Only certain qualifying relationships found on the DTE100EX form allow for tax-exempt transfers of real estate", and its Exemptions page lists, among them, a transfer "To a trustee of a trust, when the grantor of the trust has reserved an unlimited power to revoke the trust", the wording of R.C. 319.54(G)(3)(t). Where a transfer is not exempt, the Auditor's calculator explains that "the conveyance fee is $3 per every $1,000 of the real property or manufactured home sale price", made up of "a $1 per $1,000 fee set by the State of Ohio and a $2 per $1,000 fee set by the Franklin County Board of Commissioners", with "a $3 minimum conveyance fee and $0.50 transfer tax associated with all property transfers that are non-exempt from the conveyance fee"; the statute's own figures are "ten cents for each one hundred dollars" (R.C. 319.54(G)(3)) and "fifty cents for each transfer or entry" (R.C. 319.54(G)(2)). Whether your deed qualifies is decided on the DTE 100EX, and the Auditor's office answers questions at 614-525-3253.

The Recorder says its fees "are set in accordance with the Ohio Revised Code section 317.32." That section charges, for recording an instrument, "A base fee of seventeen dollars for the first two pages and a housing trust fund fee of seventeen dollars, and a base fee of four dollars and a housing trust fund fee of four dollars for each subsequent page", plus "A document preservation surcharge of up to five dollars" at the county's option; the Franklin schedule matches the $34 and $8 and lists no surcharge. Acceptable forms of payment are "cash, check, money order, or debit/credit card", and the Recorder takes Discover, Mastercard and Visa only, with checks payable to the "Franklin County Recorder". You "can file it by visiting the Recorder's Office in person or sending it to us through the mail", and should "include a self-addressed and stamped envelope with the documents you are recording, or the Recorder's Office will charge postage".

The Recording Standards require "Paper size of 8 1/2 inches by 11 inches or 8 1/2 inches by 14 inches", "One inch margins on the sides and bottom of the document", "A three inch margin of blank space at the top of the first page and a one and one-half inch margin at the top of the remaining pages", a "Legible font of size ten or larger in blue or black ink only", and no highlighted text; "Documents that do not meet the above standards and are not exempt from complying with the standards may still be recorded with an additional fee of $20." E-recording is open to "Documents that meet all legal and standardization requirements" through CSC Global, ePN, Indecomm Global Services and Simplifile, but "Deeds that transfer real property are accepted for e-recording by the Auditor, Engineer, and Recorder, but only through Simplifile at this time", and "Documents that deal with the transfer of property need to be submitted through a title company, bank, or other similar entity." A homeowner recording a trust deed personally therefore does it on paper, Auditor first.

The memorandum of trust after Senate Bill 101

Senate Bill 101 of the 136th General Assembly, effective June 16, 2026, amended R.C. 317.08 and 5301.255. The recorder's list of official records now includes "Memoranda of trust, as described in division (A) of section 5301.255 of the Revised Code, that describe specific real property" (R.C. 317.08(A)(17)) and, among powers of attorney, "all memoranda of trust ... that do not describe specific real property" (R.C. 317.08(A)(23)). Under R.C. 5301.255(A) a memorandum of trust "shall be of record when any interest in real property is conveyed by the trustee of a disclosed trust, and in circumstances other than the conveyance of real property may be presented" to the recorder of any county where trust property lies. It must be "executed by the trustee of the trust and acknowledged by the trustee" and state "The name and address of the trustee of the trust", "The date of execution of the trust" and "The powers specified in the trust relative to the acquisition, sale, or encumbering of real property by the trustee or the conveyance of real property by the trustee, and any restrictions upon those powers". It "shall constitute notice only of the information contained in it", and the recorder records it "Upon the presentation for recordation" and "the payment of the requisite fee prescribed in section 317.32". In plain terms: when the successor trustee later sells or deeds out the Columbus home, a memorandum of trust must be on record; recording one with the original deed is permitted and saves that step.

What a living trust changes for a Columbus homeowner

The probate court supervises property that was in the decedent's own name. A home deeded to the trustee during the owner's life is not raised as part of that estate, is not counted toward the $35,000 or $100,000 release figures, and does not wait for letters of authority; the successor trustee deals with it under the trust document, with the court available under R.C. 2101.24(B)(1)(b) only if a dispute needs it. The price of that is one trip to the 21st and 18th floors of 373 South High Street while the owner is alive: a DTE 100EX claiming the revocable-trust exemption, a deed that meets the Recording Standards, $34 for the first two pages and $8 for each more, and, if you choose, a memorandum of trust recorded with it. Anything left outside the trust follows the steps in the Ohio probate process guide.