Ohio's recorded instrument, affidavit stating facts relating to title, including facts of death, family history and heirship, rests on the general recording statute for affidavits of facts affecting title to land. What a recorded affidavit does, in the statute's words: When so recorded, such affidavit, or a certified copy, shall be evidence of the facts stated, insofar as such facts affect title to real estateR.C. 5301.252(A), as quoted in State ex rel. H&S Invest. Properties, L.L.C. v. Yamamoto, 2026-Ohio-1505, ¶ 19Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. It is evidence of the facts it states, not a deed; it does not itself transfer title, and a purchaser, lender or title company decides whether to rely on it.
In the office of the county recorder in the county in which the real estate is situatedR.C. 5301.252(A), (C), (D), as quoted in 2026-Ohio-1505, ¶ 19Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. The office records it as it records deeds, in the county where the land lies, and charges its recording fee per page.
It depends on what the person owned and how it was titled. Property with a named beneficiary, joint property with survivorship, and property in a trust pass outside probate. What remains goes through probate unless it is under the state's small estate limit, in which case a small estate affidavit collects it. The Probate Decision Tool applies your state's rules.
When the estate's value is under the state's limit and the state's waiting period after the death has passed. The limit and the period differ by state, and several states run the small estate as a court process rather than an affidavit. The builder checks the estate against your state's limit before it produces the document.
It records who the heirs are when no estate was administered, so that real property can be dealt with in the county land records. It is a sworn statement of the decedent's family history, laid out to the state's recording rules. It does not itself transfer title.