How to Fill Out and File an Ohio Survivorship Deed Form

An Ohio survivorship deed form is the statutory deed set out in Ohio Revised Code Section 5302.17 that transfers real property to two or more owners so that when one dies, the survivor automatically receives full title without probate. To use it, complete the form with the exact survivorship language the statute requires, have every grantor sign before a notary, pay the conveyance fee at your county auditor, and record the deed with the county recorder in the county where the property sits.

What the Deed Actually Does

A survivorship deed creates a survivorship tenancy. Each owner holds an interest for the joint lives of all owners, with the remainder going to whoever survives. When one owner dies, that person’s share vanishes from their estate and vests in the survivors by operation of law. The property never enters probate, so there is no executor petition, no court hearing, and no months-long wait before the surviving owner has clear title.

You do not need to be married to use this deed. The statute allows any two or more people to hold title this way, whether they are spouses, siblings, business partners, or unrelated co-owners.¹ Because the survivorship interest transfers at the moment of death, it overrides any conflicting instructions in the deceased owner’s will. The will has no power over property that was never part of the probate estate.

The One Phrase That Makes It a Survivorship Deed

Ohio courts look for one phrase to decide whether a deed creates a survivorship tenancy: the grantees hold the property “for their joint lives, remainder to the survivor of them.” Leave that language out or alter it, and the county recorder may still accept the deed, but the ownership defaults to a tenancy in common and the property goes through probate when someone dies. Section 5302.20 says courts should liberally construe language showing a clear intent to create survivorship, but the safest approach is to copy the exact statutory phrasing from Section 5302.17.²

The granting clause in the statutory form reads: the grantor “grant(s) … to [Grantee A] (marital status) and [Grantee B] (marital status), for their joint lives, remainder to the survivor of them.” That language must appear in the body of the deed. Do not paraphrase it. Omitting the survivorship clause is the most common and most consequential mistake people make with this form.¹

What to Gather Before You Start

Pull all of this together before you sit down with a blank form. Stopping midway to track down a legal description or prior deed reference is where errors creep in.

Full names and marital status of every grantor. Ohio law requires every deed to state whether the grantor is married or unmarried, and if married, the spouse’s full name. Use the name exactly as it appears on the current deed. A misspelled name or missing middle initial creates chain-of-title problems that take a corrective deed to fix.³
Full names, marital status, and tax-mailing address of every grantee. The statutory form has a dedicated line for the tax-mailing address.
The legal description of the property. This is not the street address. It is the lot numbers, subdivision name, or metes-and-bounds measurements from the current deed, which you can also pull from the county auditor’s office. A street address alone will cause the recorder to reject the document.
The prior instrument reference. The form has a blank for this. It is the volume and page number or the instrument number of the most recent recorded deed, available through the county recorder’s online records or by phone.
The name of the person who prepared the deed. Section 317.111 bars the county recorder from accepting any instrument that does not identify its preparer, printed, typed, stamped, or legibly signed on the document.⁴

Filling Out the Form

Use the statutory form in Section 5302.17 as your template. Blank versions are available from your county recorder’s website, Ohio-specific legal document providers, or an attorney. Work through the form in order.

Start at the top with the grantor block. Enter the grantor’s full legal name and marital status, followed by the county where the grantor resides. For multiple grantors, list each with their marital status. Below that, enter the consideration. For a sale this is usually “for valuable consideration paid.” When no money is changing hands, such as adding a spouse to the title, “for good and valuable consideration” is standard.

The granting clause comes next. Enter each grantee’s full name, marital status, and tax-mailing address, followed by the survivorship language: “for their joint lives, remainder to the survivor of them.”¹

Below the granting clause, insert the full legal description of the property. Include any encumbrances, reservations, or exceptions that apply, such as existing easements or deed restrictions. Then fill in the prior instrument reference line with the volume-and-page number or instrument number from the last recorded deed.

If the grantor is married and the spouse is not also a grantee, the statutory form includes a line for the spouse to release dower rights. Ohio dower gives a surviving spouse the right to use one-third of the deceased spouse’s real property for life. If the spouse does not sign the dower release, the survivorship tenancy may be clouded by a dower claim. Both the grantor and the releasing spouse must sign.

Finish with the preparer statement. A line reading “This instrument was prepared by [your name]” satisfies the requirement.⁴

Signing and Notarization

Every grantor must sign the deed and have the signature acknowledged before an authorized official. Section 5301.01 lists who can take the acknowledgment: a notary public, a judge or clerk of a court of record, a county auditor, a county engineer, or a mayor.⁵ In practice, a notary public handles nearly all of these. Ohio eliminated the two-witness requirement for deeds executed on or after February 1, 2002, so no separate witnesses are needed beyond the notary’s acknowledgment.

If a spouse is releasing dower, that spouse must also sign in front of the notary. The notary attaches a certificate of acknowledgment to the deed. Confirm that the notary’s commission is current and that the certificate includes the notary’s printed name, signature, commission expiration date, and seal.

Filing: Auditor First, Then Recorder

Recording the deed makes the survivorship tenancy a matter of public record and protects the grantees against later claims by third parties. Until a deed is recorded it is “fraudulent” as to any subsequent buyer with no knowledge of it, meaning an unrecorded deed can lose priority to a later recorded transfer.⁶ File promptly.

Step One: The County Auditor

Before the recorder will accept the deed, take it to the county auditor’s office in the county where the property sits. The auditor verifies the property information, collects the conveyance fee, and transfers the parcel on the tax rolls. You also need to submit one of two state forms.

DTE 100 when the transfer involves a sale or monetary consideration. The grantee answers questions about the sale price and property details.⁷
DTE 100(EX) when the transfer qualifies for a conveyance fee exemption, such as a deed between spouses with no sale price.

If the property is enrolled in Ohio’s Current Agricultural Use Valuation program, file DTE Form 101 as well.

The mandatory state conveyance fee is ten cents per hundred dollars of the property’s value, equivalent to $1 per $1,000, with a $1 minimum.⁸ On top of that, many Ohio counties levy a permissive real property transfer tax of up to $3 per $1,000 of value, bringing the combined total to as much as $4 per $1,000 in those counties.⁹ If no money is changing hands and the transfer falls under one of the exemptions in Section 319.54(G)(3), no conveyance fee is charged; just submit the DTE 100(EX).

Step Two: The County Recorder

After the auditor stamps the deed, take it to the county recorder in the same county. The recorder charges a statutory fee of $17 base plus a $17 housing trust fund fee for the first two pages, and $4 base plus $4 housing trust fund for each additional page. A document preservation surcharge of up to $5 may also apply.¹⁰ For a standard two-page survivorship deed, expect roughly $34 to $39 at the recorder’s window.

Many Ohio counties accept electronic recording through authorized third-party vendors if you prefer not to appear in person. Once the recorder stamps the document with a date, time, and filing number, the transfer is legally complete. The original recorded deed is usually mailed back to the filer within a few weeks. Keep it with your important papers; you will need it for any future sale or refinance.

What the Survivor Does After a Co-Owner Dies

Ownership passes automatically at the moment of death, but the public records still need to be updated. The surviving owner takes one of two documents to the county auditor and then files it with the county recorder.

An affidavit together with a certified copy of the death certificate. The affidavit must include the names and addresses of the surviving tenants, the date of death, and a legal description of the property.¹
A certificate of transfer issued under Ohio Revised Code Section 2113.61.

The affidavit route is simpler and more common. Once the recorder files it, the public record reflects that the surviving owner holds full title. No probate petition is required, and no court order is needed. When title passes to the surviving tenant after death, the transfer is exempt from the conveyance fee under Section 319.54(G)(3).⁸ The recorder’s filing fee for the affidavit still applies, but no transfer tax does.

Limits Worth Knowing Before You Use This Deed

A survivorship deed avoids probate. It does not make property untouchable. If a creditor obtains a judgment against one survivorship tenant, the creditor can file an action to marshal liens against that tenant’s interest. If the court finds a valid lien, the survivorship tenancy terminates and converts into a tenancy in common, and the court can order the sale of the debtor’s fractional share to satisfy the lien.² A single creditor action can destroy the automatic-transfer feature of the deed for all owners.

Medicaid is the other common surprise. Ohio’s estate recovery program specifically includes survivorship property. Under Section 5162.21, the state can seek recovery for Medicaid costs from any real and personal property and other assets in which the recipient had any legal title or interest at the time of death, including property that passed through survivorship.¹¹ Holding property in survivorship does not shield it from a Medicaid lien after the recipient’s death.

1
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5302.17 – Survivorship Deed Form
2
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5302.20 – Survivorship Tenancy
3
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5309.80 – Statements or Indorsements Contained in Instruments Presented for Registration
4
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 317.111 – Name of Preparer on Instrument
5
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 5301 – Conveyances and Encumbrances
6
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5301.25 – Recording Deeds
7
Ohio Department of Taxation. Real Property Conveyance Fee Statement of Value and Receipt – DTE 100
8
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 319.54 – Fees and Charges
9
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Revised Code Chapter 322 – Real Property Transfer Tax
10
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 317.32 – Recording Fees
11
Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Ohio Code 5162.21 – Medicaid Estate Recovery Program