Toledo Living Trust: Lucas 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 covers Lucas County. The county's About Us page says that Toledo was named the county seat by a referendum ordered by the Ohio General Assembly "and has remained so since that date", and every office below sits in Toledo. Under Ohio Rev. Code 2107.11 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 5302.22 and 5301.255 a recorded instrument about land goes to the recorder of the county where the land is. A Toledo address in another county is served by that county's probate court, auditor and recorder.

The Lucas County Probate Court

The court's site is its own, lucasprobate.org; the county's page for the Probate Court only links to it with a note that the site "is not a part of the Lucas County Official Website". By statute 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" and for a summary release under 2113.031 (Ohio Rev. Code 2101.24(A)(1)). Over "Any action that involves an inter vivos trust" its jurisdiction is concurrent with the general division of the court of common pleas (2101.24(B)(1)(b)).

Filing fees from the court's instructions

The court's "Instructions for filing a Summary, Relief, and Full Administration" give the fee for each type of case. Its Court Costs page adds that you should "Always verify costs with the intake clerks", that "Additional charges may apply" and that "Costs are subject to change".

The statute behind these deposits is Ohio Rev. Code 2101.16, amended by House Bill 96 of the 136th General Assembly (the state operating budget, effective September 30, 2025). It sets the probate court's own charges item by item: $15.00 for "Probating will", $60.00 for "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", $7.00 for a "Transfer of real property, application, entry, and certificate for", $5.00 for "Deposit of will", and up to $15.00 for docketing and indexing. Division (E) lets a court by rule "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, which is why a court's deposit differs from the statute's single-item figures.

Relief from administration and the summary release

Ohio Rev. Code 2113.03 lets the court relieve an estate from administration if "The value of the assets of the estate is thirty-five thousand dollars or less", or if the value "is one hundred thousand dollars or less" and the decedent left everything by will to the surviving spouse, or died without a will and the spouse "is entitled to receive all of the assets of the decedent's estate under section 2105.06". The order directs "delivery of personal property and transfer of real property to the persons entitled". The Lucas court's instructions say the same for deaths on or after March 18, 1999 (for the spouse) and January 9, 1994 (no spouse), and tell you to bring the original death certificate, the original will if there is one, the funeral bill or receipt, account and title numbers, and "The market value of real property as found in Lucas County Auditor records (AREIS)". The applicant "must be an Ohio resident". The forms the instructions name are 5.0, 5.1, 5.2 and 5.6, with 12.0 and 12.1 when real estate is transferred, all on the court's Estate / Relief / Wills forms page.

The summary release under 2113.031 is narrower: the court's instructions allow it when "The value of the estate is $5,000.00 or less, and the applicant paid the funeral bill or is obligated in writing to pay the funeral bill", or when "There is a surviving spouse, the assets do not exceed $45,000.00, the spouse is entitled to 100% of the family allowance, and the funeral bill has been prepaid or the surviving spouse is obligated to pay the funeral bill". The statute states those limits as the lesser of $5,000 or the funeral and burial expenses, and for a spouse the allowance for support plus up to $5,000 of funeral expenses. The Ohio release from administration guide walks through the forms.

The allowance for support

Under Ohio Rev. Code 2106.13 (effective August 17, 2021, House Bill 7 of the 134th General Assembly) a surviving spouse, minor children or both "shall be entitled to receive ... in money or property the sum of forty thousand dollars as an allowance for support". It goes "one hundred per cent to the surviving spouse" when there are no minor children or all the minor children are the spouse's; otherwise the court fixes equitable shares. The money or property set off "shall be considered estate assets", and the court's instructions list a standard form 7.1, "Application for Family Allowance", among the estate forms.

Recording a deed with the Lucas County Recorder

The Recorder's overview says its "primary responsibility" is "to create a complete, accurate and permanent record of every document pertaining to the conveyance and encumbrance of land within the county", and its list of documents filed includes "Certificate of Transfer", "Deeds" and "Powers of Attorney". Its FAQ answers "Can you prepare my document, or give me the forms to use?" with "No. The Recorders office does not prepare or sell any legal documents, nor do we give legal advice."

The Recorder's news note explains the figure: "On April 1, 2026, the recording fee for most documents will increase by $5.00 due to the passage of Senate Bill 94 by the Ohio Legislature. As a result, the new recording fee will be $39.00 for the first two pages and $8.00 for each additional page, in accordance with Ohio Revised Code Section 317.32." The section itself (effective October 24, 2024, Senate Bill 94 of the 135th General Assembly) sets "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". Payment is "cash or checks payable to: Lucas County Recorder", and a "Self addressed stamped envelope required or postage included in payment"; from August 17, 2026 the postage for a standard first class letter is $1.00.

Formatting, from the Recorder's FAQ on Ohio's statewide standards: paper from 8 1/2 by 11 to 8 1/2 by 14 inches; a 3 inch top margin on the first page, 1 1/2 inches on later pages and 1 inch on the sides and bottom; type of at least 10 points; "Black or Blue only" ink and "No highlighting". "A non-conforming document charge of $20 for items not meeting these specifications will be assessed."

Step one: the Auditor's transfer and the conveyance fee

In Ohio a deed is "transferred" by the county auditor before the recorder will record it. Under Ohio Rev. Code 319.202 (effective September 30, 2025, House Bill 96) the grantee submits "a statement, in the form prescribed by the tax commissioner ... declaring the value of real property", 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 "shall indorse each conveyance on its face to indicate the amount of the conveyance fee and compliance with this section". Section 319.54(G)(3) lists the exemptions, and one of them is a transfer "To a trustee of a trust, when the grantor of the trust has reserved an unlimited power to revoke the trust"; 319.54(G)(2) separately charges "fifty cents for each transfer or entry".

The Auditor's Property Transfers page says: "Once the transfer document is submitted to the County Auditor, the Conveyance Fee is $4.00 per $1,000 of the sale price. Additionally, there is a Transfer Fee of $0.50 per parcel. These fees are set by Ohio law and the Lucas County Commissioners." Its fact sheet adds: "Generally, transfers due to death, adding survivorship, or putting your property into your trust are exempt transfers that only cost $0.50 per parcel." The page lists the four conveyance forms, "Real Property Conveyance Fee and Statement (DTE 100)" and "Exemption from the Real Property Conveyance Fee (DTE 100(EX))" among them, and says a homestead or CAUV property may need DTE 101 or DTE 102 as well.

The order of the stops, in the page's words: "Prior to visiting the Auditor's Office, the legal description on the deed must be approved by the Lucas County Engineer's Tax Map Department, and the Lucas County Recorder's Office must verify the fee amounts. Both of these offices are located on the 7th floor of One Government Center. After these are completed, the appropriate Conveyance Form must be filled out and submitted with the deed and Recorder fees to the Lucas County Auditor's Office on the 6th floor of One Government Center." You "must bring an unexpired, government-issued photo ID in order to enter One Government Center", and "Both the buyer (grantee) and the seller (grantor) must be present to transfer property." The Auditor "cannot prepare your transfer documents, including deeds", and "hiring an attorney is the best practice". Its fact sheet notes that on AREIS "Property held by a Trustee will show the word 'Trustee' after their name(s)".

The memorandum of trust after Senate Bill 101

Senate Bill 101 of the 136th General Assembly, effective June 16, 2026, amended Ohio Rev. Code 5301.255 and 317.08 "to require a memorandum of trust or other qualifying instrument concerning real property to be recorded". Section 5301.255(A) now reads that a memorandum of trust that is executed and acknowledged by the trustee and states "The name and address of the trustee of the trust", "The date of execution of the trust" and the trustee's powers over real property "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 real property is located. The recorder records it under 317.08(A)(17) if it describes specific real property, or (A)(23) if it does not, for the fee in 317.32. For a Toledo homeowner this means the deed into the trust may be recorded with or without a memorandum, but when the trustee later sells or conveys the home a memorandum of trust must be on record.

What a living trust changes for a Toledo homeowner

The Lucas County Probate Court's instructions value an estate by the decedent's own assets, and the fee and the forms rise with that value: a summary release, a relief from administration or a $350 full administration. A home deeded to the trustee of a revocable living trust during the owner's life is not among those assets; at death the successor trustee acts under the trust, and the probate court is involved only if an action about the trust is brought to it under 2101.24(B)(1)(b). The price of that is one trip through One Government Center: the Engineer's Tax Map Department and the Recorder on the 7th floor, the Auditor on the 6th floor with a DTE 100(EX) and $0.50 per parcel, then the Recorder's $39.00 for the first two pages. A transfer on death designation affidavit under Ohio Rev. Code 5302.22, recorded "in the same manner as deeds are recorded" for "the same amount as the fee for recording deeds", is the other way to keep a Toledo home out of probate; the Auditor's fact sheet lists "Transfer on Death Confirmations" among the documents it handles. Whatever is left in the owner's own name goes through the steps in the Ohio probate process guide.