OH · rules
Ohio Civ.R. 73
Probate Division of the Court of Common Pleas
(A) Applicability
(1) Rules 73 to 73.29 apply only to proceedings in the probate division of the court of
common pleas.
(2) To the extent of any conflict, Rules 73 to 73.29 take precedence over any other
provision of the Rules of Civil Procedure. Otherwise, the Rules of Civil Procedure
apply except to the extent that by their nature they would be clearly inapplicable.
(B) Venue
Civ.R. 3(C) shall not apply to proceedings in the probate division of the court of common
pleas, which shall be venued as provided by law. Proceedings under Chapters 2101.
through 2131. of the Revised Code, which may be venued in the general division or the
probate division of the court of common pleas, shall be venued in the probate division of
the appropriate court of common pleas.
Proceedings that are improperly venued shall be transferred to a proper venue provided by
law and division (B) of this rule, and the court may assess costs, including reasonable
attorney fees, to the time of transfer against the party who commenced the action in an
improper venue.
(C) Service of summons
Civ.R. 4 through 4.6 shall apply in any proceeding in the probate division of the court of
common pleas requiring service of summons.
(D) Service and filing of pleadings and papers subsequent to original pleading
In proceedings requiring service of summons, Civ.R. 5 shall apply to the service and filing
of pleadings and papers subsequent to the original pleading.
(E) Service of notice
In any proceeding where any type of notice other than service of summons is required by
law or deemed necessary by the court, and the statute providing for notice neither directs
nor authorizes the court to direct the manner of its service, notice shall be given in writing
and may be served by or on behalf of any interested party without court intervention by
one of the following methods:
(1) By delivering a copy to the person to be served;
(2) By leaving a copy at the usual place of residence of the person to be served;
(3) By United States certified or express mail return receipt requested, or by a
commercial carrier service utilizing any form of delivery requiring a signed
receipt, addressed to the person to be served at the person’s usual place of
residence with instructio ns to the delivering postal employee or to the
carrier to show to whom delivered, date of delivery, and address where
delivered, provided that the certified or express mail envelope or return of
the commercial carrier is not returned showing failure of delivery;
(4) By United States ordinary mail after a returned United States certified or
express mail envelope or return of the commercial carrier shows that it was
refused;
(5) By United States ordinary mail after a United States certified or express
mail or commercial carrier envelope is returned with an endorsement stating
that it was unclaimed or a similar endorsement indicating the item was
unclaimed, provided that the United States ordinary mail envelope is not
returned by the postal authorities showing failure of delivery;
(6) By publication once each week for three consecutive weeks in some
newspaper of general circulation in the county when the name, usual place
of residence, or existence of the person to be served is unknown and cannot
with reasonable diligence be ascertained; provided that before publication
may be utilized, the person giving notice shall file an affidavit which states
that the name, usual place of residence, or existence of the person to be
served is unknown and cannot with reasonable diligence be ascertained;
(7) By other method as the court may direct.
Civ.R. 4.2 shall apply in determining who may be served and how particular persons or
entities must be served.
(F) Proof of service of notice; when service of notice complete
When service is made through the court, proof of service of notice shall be in the same
manner as proof of service of summons.
When service is made without court intervention, proof of service of notice shall be made
by affidavit. When service is made by United States certified or express mail or by
commercial carrier service, the return receipt which shows delivery shall be attached to the
affidavit. When service is made by United States ordinary mail, the prior returned certified
or express mail or commercial carrier envelope which shows that the mail was refused or
unclaimed shall be attached to the affidavit.
Service of notice by United States ordinary mail shall be complete when the fact of mailing
is entered of record except as stated in division (E)(5) of this rule. Service by publication
shall be complete at the date of the last publication.
(G) Waiver of service of notice
Civ.R. 4(D) shall apply in determining who may waive service of notice.
(H) Forms used in probate practice
Forms used in proceedings in the probate division of the courts of common pleas shall be
those prescribed in Civ.R. 73.2. Forms not prescribed in such rule may be used as permitted
in that rule.
Blank forms reproduced for use in probate practice for any filing to which the rule
applicable to specifications for printing probate forms of the Rules of Superintendence
applies shall conform to the specifications set forth in Civ.R. 73.3.
No pleading, application, acknowledgment, certification, account, report, statement,
allegation, or other matter filed in the probate division of the courts of common pleas shall
be required to be executed under oath, and it is sufficient if it is made upo n the signature
alone of the person making it.
(I) Notice of Filing of Judgments
Civ.R. 58(B) shall apply to all judgments entered in the probate division of the court of
common pleas in any action or proceeding in which any party other than a plaintiff,
applicant, or movant has filed a responsive pleading or exceptions. Notice of the judgment
shall be given to each plaintiff, applicant, or movant, to each party filing a responsive
pleading or exceptions, and to other parties as the court directs.
(J) Filing with the court defined
The filing of documents with the court, as required by these rules, shall be made by filing
them with the probate judge as the ex officio clerk of the court. A court may provide, by
local rules adopted pursuant to the Rules of Superintendence, for the filing of documents
by electronic means. If the court adopts such local rules, they shall include all of the
following:
(1) Any signature on electronically transmitted documents shall be considered
that of the attorney or party it purports to be for all purposes. If it is
established that the documents were transmitted without authority, the court
shall order the filing stricken.
(2) A provision shall specify the days and hours during which electronically
transmitted documents will be received by the court, and a provision shall
specify when documents received electronically will be considered to have
been filed.
(3) Any document filed electronically that requires a filing fee may be rejected
by the clerk of court unless the filer has complied with the mechanism
established by the court for the payment of filing fees.
History
Effective Date: July 1, 1970 Amended: July 1, 1971; July 1, 1975; July 1, 1977; July 1, 1980; July 1, 1996; July 1, 1997; July 1, 2001; July 1, 2012; July 1, 2023; July 1, 2026 Staff Note (July 1, 1996 Amendment) Rule 73(I) Notice of Filing of Judgments In 1989, Civ.R. 58 was amended to, among other things, make clear that a clerk of courts shall serve signed judgments upon parties. After that amendment, there apparently has been some confusion as to the effect of that amendment upon probate proceedings. The amendment to division (I) makes clear that Civ.R. 58(B) does apply to probate proceedings, in the manner indicated. Staff Note (July 1, 1997 Amendment) Rule 73 Probate division of the court of common pleas Prior to the 1997 amendment, service of process under this rule was permitted only by certified mail. It appears that service of process by express mail, i.e. as that sort of mail is delivered by the United States Postal Service, can always be obtained re turn receipt requested, and thus could accomplish the purpose of notification equally well as certified mail. Therefore, the amendment provides for this additional option for service. Division (H) was amended to delete the specific reference to Rule 16 of the Rules of Superintendence for Courts of Common Pleas, and instead a generic reference is made to the applicable rule. This amendment was made because the rules of superintendence w ere being revised and renumbered in 1997, and the rule number that will apply to probate forms was not known at the time of this amendment. Other amendments to this rule are nonsubstantive grammatical or stylistic changes. Staff Note (July 1, 2001 Amendment) Civil Rule 73 Probate Division of the Court of Common Pleas The amendments to this rule were part of a group of amendments that were submitted by the Ohio Courts Digital Signatures Task Force to establish minimum standards for the use of information systems, electronic signatures, and electronic filing. The substa ntive amendment to this rule was the addition of division (J). Comparable amendments were made to Civil Rule 5, Criminal Rule 12, Juvenile Rule 8, and Appellate Rule 13. As part of this electronic filing and signature project, the following rules were amended effective July 1, 2001: Civil Rules 5, 11, and 73; Criminal Rule 12; Juvenile Rule 8; and Appellate Rules 13 and 18. In addition, Rule 26 of the Rules of Superintend ence for Courts of Ohio was amended and Rule of Superintendence 27 was added to complement the rules of procedure. Superintendence Rule 27 establishes a process by which minimum standards for information technology are promulgated, and requires that courts submit any local rule involving the use of information technology to a technology standards committee designated by the Supreme Court for approval. Staff Note (July 1, 2012 Amendment) Divisions (E) and (F) are amended so that they are consistent with the 2012 amendments to Civ.R. 4.1 relating to service of process by commercial carrier service and Civ.R. 4.6 relating to returns of service showing “refused” or “unclaimed” when service of process is attempted by U.S. certified or express mail or by commercial carrier service.
Provenance
- Source
- supremecourt.ohio.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-14
- Edition
- 2026-09-14
- Content hash
6e33df0dd0b3d98be733c77bf781f6a07d5a341f9cf9ff89fdbe1b3646060750
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