Witness fees must be requested at the conclusion of the hearing for which the subpoena was issued. If not requested at that time, the fee is waived.

The fee for filing a petition for the release of adoption information pursuant to Ohio R.C.2101.16(F) shall be $50.00.

The filing fee required by Ohio R.C.2101.16(A)(57) shall be paid at the time of filing the transcript, exhibits, or foreign records.

The applicant for the admission of a will to probate or other person listed in Ohio R.C. 2107.19(A)(4) shall file a Certificate of Service of Notice of Probate of Will (Standard Probate Form 2.4) not later than two months after the appointment of the fiduciary, or, if no fiduciary has been appointed, not later than two months after the admission of the will to probate. Proof of service shall consist of either waivers of notice of the probate of the will or original certified mail return receipt cards as provided under Civil Rule 73(E)(3). A waiver of notice may not be signed by any minor, or on behalf of a minor sixteen (16) or seventeen (17) years of age.

Failure to file a Certificate of Service of Notice of Probate of Will within the two month period will make the fiduciary subject to removal.

Before an application is made to admit the will to probate, to appoint an estate fiduciary, or to relieve an estate from administration, each applicant or the applicant's attorney shall examine the index of wills deposited pursuant to section 2107.17 of the Revised Code. Wills deposited pursuant to section 2107.17 of the Revised Code previous to the will offered for probate shall be filed in the estate proceeding for record purposes only.

Appraisers shall be paid a reasonable fee as negotiated between the fiduciary, attorney, and appraiser. The court has not established a guideline for appraiser's fees. See more information regarding appraisers in Local Rule 75.3.

All accounts must be personally signed by the fiduciary and contain the full name, current resident address, and telephone number of the fiduciary.

All fiduciaries must sign the account when multiple fiduciaries have been appointed.

No expenditure, sale, distribution or fee will be approved while the fiduciary is delinquent in filing an account. See also Sup.R.78.

When the decedent's date of death is on or after January 1, 2002, original vouchers are not required.

When the decedent's date of death is prior to January 1, 2002, vouchers are required. However, if the estate is solvent, in lieu of submitting vouchers, the fiduciary may file with the account, a waiver and consent from all the beneficiaries acknowledging each received a copy of the account, waives notice of the hearing on the account, and consents to the filing of the account. The signature of each beneficiary must be dated.

The Court will accept as a voucher a statement from a financial institution specifying the payee, check amount and date of payment.

The fiduciary in a decedent's estate shall pay and disclose in the estate account all valid debts unless otherwise determined by law.

If real estate is sold during the accounting period, the account shall show the gross amount of the proceeds and include a copy of the closing statement itemizing all of the disbursements, and the account shall take a credit for all disbursements.

Receipts for distributive shares signed by persons holding power of attorney may be accepted, provided the power of attorney is recorded in the county in which the estate is being administered and a copy of the recorded power is attached to the account. See additional rules regarding sale of real estate in Local Rule 78.1.

For decedent's estates, the final and distributive account due within six (6) months after appointment of the fiduciary may be extended by motion for up to thirteen (13) months for the reasons enumerated in Ohio R.C.2109.301(B)(1). All subsequent accounts must be filed on an annual basis unless the Court otherwise orders. Failure to file accounts shall cause a citation to be issued.

The Court will require a partial account to be filed when a final account or motion to extend administration cannot be filed.

For guardianship and trusts, the first account shall be filed not later than one (1) year following the date of appointment of the fiduciary and all subsequent accounts shall be filed on an annual basis, unless otherwise ordered by the Court. Failure to file accounts shall cause a citation to be issued.

For all estates of decedents with dates of death on or after January 1, 2002, a Certificate of Service of Account to heirs or beneficiaries (Standard Form 13.9), shall be filed with the Court disclosing that the executor or administrator has provided a copy of the account to all persons entitled thereto under Ohio R.C.2109.32(B)(1).

Verifications of proof that will be accepted are as follows:
    1. return receipt for certified mail (green cards)
    2. waiver signed stating copy of account was received (not waiver of hearing on account)
    3. receipt or cancelled check for specific bequest or devise signed or endorsed by beneficiary.

This certificate shall be signed by the executor or administrator and filed with the probate court prior to or simultaneously with the filing of the account.

A certified copy of the minor's birth certificate must be filed with the guardian's application.

The Court will not establish a guardianship for school purposes only. Custody for school purposes is a matter to be heard and determined by the Juvenile or Domestic Relations Division.

The Court will not establish any guardianship over the person of a minor where another Court has jurisdiction over custody of a minor.

Funds in the name of the ward shall not be released to the guardian without a specific court order.

The guardian must deposit with the Court any and all wills of the ward for safekeeping in accordance with Ohio R.C.2107.07.

A guardian appointed by this Court shall inform the Court as to any change of address of the guardian or ward. This notification must be made within thirty (30) days of the address change. Failure to notify the Court under this rule may result in the guardian being removed.

The guardian of the person shall file the guardian's annual report.

When a physician or clinical psychologist states on a Statement of Expert Evaluation that to a reasonable degree of medical certainty it is unlikely the ward's mental competence will improve, the Court will dispense with the filing of subsequent Statement of Expert Evaluation when subsequent guardian's reports are filed.

Applications to terminate a guardianship of a minor require notice to all persons designated in Ohio R.C.2111.04 and any other individuals who received actual notice of the original appointment of the guardian.

In addition to those entitled to notice of the hearing on the application for the appointment of a guardian of an adult under Ohio R.C.2111.04, the applicant shall disclose to the Court the names and addresses of all adult children of the proposed ward known to reside in this state. The Court shall serve the adult children with notice of the time and date of the hearing, unless the notice is waived.

A certified copy of the minor's birth certificate must be presented to the Court upon the filing of the application to settle a minor's claim.

A written narrative setting forth the circumstances of the minor's injury shall be filed with the application for settlement thereof.

The application to settle a claim for wrongful death and the apportionment of the proceeds are two distinct matters for which the Court may require separate hearings.

A written narrative setting forth the circumstances of the wrongful death shall be filed with the application for settlement thereof.

Attorney fees, which do not exceed the guidelines hereinafter set forth, and fiduciary fees, established by statute will be approved without hearing, unless the amount of such fees is challenged. A form provided by the Court which sets forth the computation of said fees will be signed by the fiduciary and attorney and filed. Neither fiduciary fees nor attorney fees shall be paid before an account is being prepared, unless prior court approval is secured.

The schedule of compensation for attorney fees is merely a guide. It is not a minimum fee or a maximum fee. However, fees in excess of this schedule will be approved only upon application, notice to beneficiaries and hearing. In many estates, the guidelines might result in an excessive fee. In such cases fees shall be reduced voluntarily. (No attorney fees will be approved, if the fiduciary is an attorney and charges the statutory fiduciary fee, without application, notice to beneficiaries and hearing. A conference is recommended in these instances at the outset of the administration to avoid confusion, embarrassment and/or misunderstanding.)

5% of the first $30,000
4% of the next $70,000
3% of the next $200,000
2% of the balance

Landsale Proceeding (Delete value from the above computation)
6% of the first $50,000
4% of the balance

Note: real estate purchased by surviving spouse is not subject to this increased fee.

Total Non Probate Assets (Joint and survivorship property and real estate transferred on death.) Note: Fee is based upon ½ of the total value of joint and survivorship property and T.O.D. real estate when beneficiary is spouse.
2% of the first $100,000
1% of the balance

Note: If the attorney is also the fiduciary, the attorney fee shall be limited to 2% of probate assets plus the schedule above for non probate assets.

Note: Fiduciary fee shall be paid pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2113.35.

Fees shall be based upon the number of hours of legal services provided, charged at a reasonable hourly rate.

All such fees are subject to review and possible modification by the Court.

Guardian's compensation shall be 5% of the income. There shall be no fee based upon corpus value, and no fee based upon distribution.

Additional compensation may be considered upon application, notice to next of kin and hearing.

Except where the instrument creating the trust makes provision for compensation, trustees subject to this Court's jurisdiction may, upon application and entry, be allowed compensation annually for ordinary services in connection with the administration of each separate trust in accordance with the following schedule.

Realty Fee
10% of gross (direct management)
OR
5% of net (managed by others)

Personalty Fee
5% of the income
AND
$2.50 per thousand on the fair market value
of the first $300,000
$1.50 per thousand on the balance

Compensation for corporate fiduciaries who are exempt from bond pursuant to Ohio R.C.1111.21 shall be approved in accordance with their published fee schedule if the fee schedule is filed in this court. Vested trust beneficiaries affected by the payment of fees shall be notified by the trustee of any changes in its corporate fee schedule.

Additional compensation for extraordinary services or allowance for expenses may be granted on application and entry, which shall be set for hearing unless waived by the Court.

It shall be the responsibility of the fiduciary and attorney to insure that any forms used reflect the current law. The Probate Court will endeaver to see that forms provided by the court and forms provided on our website do reflect current law, but Probate Court does not warrant the reliability or timeliness of said forms.

A. An original and a copy of all petitions, interlocutory decrees, and final decrees shall be filed in every adoption case. Additional copies of the petition shall be submitted as required for service.

B. In private placement adoptions, a placement application on a form prescribed by the Court shall be filed by the proposed adopting parents.

C. Once the application for placement has been filed in the Court, a hearing shall be held not less than seventy-two (72) hours after the birth of the child and after the parent(s) have met with the adoption assessor.

D. In all adoption cases, court costs are required to be paid at the time of the filing.

E. The criminal background checks and the Ohio Job & Family Services checks shall be filed in all adoption cases.

G. Adoption assessors who meet with the birth parent(s) in the course of preparing a

report for an adoption proceeding in this Court shall provide the birth parent(s) with a

copy of the brochure prepared pursuant to Ohio R.C. 3107.082 and 3107.083, and shall file a Certificate of Service form with the court prior to the first hearing.

A. Without special application to the court, a fiduciary may allow to the appraiser as compensation for services a reasonable amount agreed upon between the fiduciary and the appraiser.

B. If, by reason of the special and unusual character of certain property to be appraised, the fiduciary is of the opinion that the appraisal requires the services of the persons qualified in the evaluation of that property, the court will appoint a special appraiser to appraise said property.

A. When a claim has been filed with the court pursuant to Section 2117.06 of the Revised Code, the fiduciary shall file a copy of any rejection of the claim with the court.

A. The Court shall select and appoint Commissioners, when required, in estates released from administration. Specific authority shall be given to the appointed commissioner.

B. A short form release from administration may be filed when evidence is presented to establish:

    1. Gross assets are less than Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00) and no real estate.

    2. The funeral expenses to the extent of the estate priority pursuant to Ohio R. 2117.25(B) have been paid, or appropriate plans have been made to pay same.

C. The Court may waive a noticed hearing in those instances where it appears no beneficiaries or creditors will be prejudiced.

D. Upon the filing of an Application to Relieve Estate from Administration, the applicant shall exhibit to the Court a certified copy of the decedent's death certificate.

Any person placing a will on deposit in this Court shall sign a written statement acknowledging the will is being placed on deposit at the request of the testator or guardian of the testator and identify the testator's current address and telephone number.

Wills on deposit will only be released to the testator with proper identification.

After the testator's death, wills deposited for safekeeping pursuant to Ohio R.C. 2107.07 shall only be released to a court of probate jurisdiction.

The Court will appoint the attorney for a decedent's estate or a deputy clerk of this Court as a Commissioner to list the contents of the box and retrieve the decedent's will and codicils from the decedent's safe deposit box for delivery to the Court.

A surviving spouse who is eighteen years of age or older and not under disability may waive the service of the citation required under Section 2106.01(A) of the Revised Code by filing in the probate court a written waiver of the citation. The waiver shall include an acknowledgment of receipt of the description of the general rights of the surviving spouse required by division (B) of section 2106.02 of the Revised Code.

All paperwork submitted to this court for filing must be typewritten or printed in such a manner that all of the wording is clearly legible.

Otherwise, the court will refuse to file same.

For the purpose of insuring the readiness of proceedings in the Greene County Probate Court, the following procedure, shall be in effect:

I. CIVIL ACTIONS: (Excluding Land Sales)

A. All cases must have a general file number before a civil action may be filed.

B. A status conference and a pretrial conference shall be conducted in all civil actions unless otherwise ordered by the Court.

C. Within thirty (30) days after the final answer day, the case shall be set by plaintiff's counsel for a status conference.

D. Plaintiff's counsel shall give not less than fourteen (14) days notice of the status conference to all counsel of record and/or all parties not represented by counsel who have entered an appearance.

E. Status Conference. All counsel must have full authority to enter into binding orders. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the following matters and decisions shall be addressed at the status conference:

    1. the possibility of settlement of the action;

    2. a discovery schedule shall be agreed upon by all parties or set by the Court;

    3. a date of exchange of expert witness reports shall be determined;

    4. a final date for filing all motions which shall not be later than twenty-eight (28) days before the pretrial conference. No further motions shall be considered without good cause shown and leave of Court;

    5. the date for the pretrial conference shall be set by the Court and shall be no more than fourteen (14) days before the trial;

    6. the date for trial shall be set by the Court.

F. Pretrial Conference. All counsel must have full authority to enter into binding orders. Unless otherwise ordered by the Court, the following matters and decisions shall be addressed at the pretrial conference:

    1. the Court may rule on any pending motions;

    2. the following shall be submitted:

        a. trial briefs;

        b. witness lists;

        c. exhibit lists;

        d. exhibits as ordered by the Court;

        e. proposed jury instructions;

        f. proposed jury interrogatories.

    3. Clients shall be present unless their presence has been excused by the Court.

G. Witness lists exchanged between parties and/or presented to the Court are to provide the name and, if known, the address and telephone number of each person intended to be called as a witness.

H. The trial date shall not be continued without good cause shown and order of the Court.

II. CIVIL ACTIONS: LAND SALES

A. All cases must have a general file number before a civil action may be filed.

B. All land sales which have not been concluded within one (1) year from the date of filing shall be set for status conference by plaintiff's counsel within thirty (30) days following the expiration of one (1) year.

    1. The fiduciary and the attorney must attend the status conference.

    2. A written status report shall be submitted to the Court at the status conference. The status report shall address pending issues and the efforts being made to conclude the land sale.

    3. The fiduciary shall show cause why the Court should not order public sale of the real estate.

III. MOTIONS

A. Motions for continuance shall be submitted in writing with the proper caption and case number.

Except on motion of the court, no continuances shall be granted in the absence of proof of reasonable notice to, or consent by, the adverse party or the party's counsel. Failure to object to the continuance within reasonable time after receiving notice shall be considered consent to the continuance.

A proposed entry shall be filed with a motion for continuance, leaving the time and date blank for the court to set a new date.

B. All motions filed in this Court shall be accompanied by a memorandum stating the grounds and citing the authorities relied upon. Opposing counsel or a party shall serve the response memorandum on or before the fourteenth (14^th) days after the date of service as set forth on the certificate of service attached to the served copy of the motion. The moving party shall serve any reply memorandum on or before the seventh (7^th) day after the date of service as set forth on the certificate of service attached to the served copy of the response memorandum. On the twenty-eight (28^th) day after the motion is filed, the motion shall be deemed submitted to the Court unless a prior written request for an oral hearing has been filed and approved by the Court. The time and length of any oral hearing shall be fixed by the Court. Except as otherwise provided, this rule shall apply to all motions.

C. Motions for summary judgments are subject to the preceding Paragraph (A) and set for non-oral hearing on the twenty-eighth (28^th) day following the filing of the motion for summary judgment. The filing of opposing affidavits and supporting documents are subject to Civ. R. 56.

D. Motions for temporary restraining orders, preliminary injunctions, or similar urgent equitable relief, applications and motions relating to administrative matters, and appointments shall be submitted to the Court at a time set by the Court. When required, notice of the time and place of the hearing shall be served upon any adverse party or their counsel by the moving party.

E. Interrogatories under Civ. R. 33, requests for production or inspection under Civ. R. 34, and requests for admissions under Civ. R. 36 shall be served upon other counsel or parties in accordance with these rules, but shall not be filed with the Court. The party responding may file with the Court interrogatories and requests together with any responses and objections. If relief is sought under Civ. R. 26(C) or Civ. R. 37 concerning any interrogatories, requests for production or inspection, and request for admissions, copies of the portions of the documents which are in dispute shall be filed with the Court contemporaneously with any motion filed under Civ. R. 26(C) or Civ. R. 37.

IV. MENTAL ILLNESS AND MENTAL RETARDATION HEARINGS

All hearings shall comply with R.C. Chapters 5122 and 5123.

V. ADOPTIONS

The status of pending pre-placement applications and adoption proceedings shall be reviewed annually and the Court may order further action as necessary. Also see Local Rule 75.1 for more adoption rules.

VI. MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS

All miscellaneous matters shall be reviewed annually and the Court shall order further action as necessary.

VII. FAILURE TO COMPLY

Failure to comply with the Case Management Rule may result in dismissal pursuant to Civ. R. 41 and other sanctions, including but not limited to, payment of costs and attorney fees.

A. An attorney desiring to withdraw shall file a motion to withdraw stating the reasons for withdrawal. The motion shall contain the last known address and telephone number of the client. The Court shall not issue an entry approving the withdrawal until the attorney has filed a certification that the following conditions have been fulfilled:

    1. Notice has been given to the client stating all filing deadlines affecting the client;

    2. Notice has been given to all attorneys, unrepresented parties, and interested persons;

    3. Attorneys withdrawing from representation of a fiduciary shall file the written acknowledgment of the withdrawal signed by the fiduciary or withdrawal shall be granted after a hearing with notice to the fiduciary. The attorney shall also notice any bonding agencies involved.

B. No attorney shall be permitted to withdraw from a case sooner than twenty (20) days prior to a trial or dispositive hearing, except for extraordinary circumstances that require permission of the Court.

C. Substitution of counsel shall be in writing but does not require approval of the Court. Notice shall be given to all attorneys, unrepresented parties, and interested persons.

A. In lieu of the appraiser signing the estate inventory, the fiduciary may attach to the inventory the original appraisal(s) containing the signature of the appraiser(s).

B. The inventory shall contain the address, legal description, and parcel number of the interest in the real estate of the decedent or ward.

C. The Court will not approve distribution, sale or expenditure of any estate or guardianship assets prior to the filing of the inventory.

D. All fiduciaries must sign the inventory when multiple fiduciaries have been appointed.

Guardians' accounts and Trustees' accounts are governed by R.C. 2109.302 - .303. However, in Greene County Probate Court, guardians and trustees are ordered to file accounts every year.

All estates will initially be scheduled according to the six (6) month administration schedule of Ohio R.C. 2109.301(B). In those estates meeting the requirements for extended administration stated in R.C. 2109.30(B)(1)(a)-(f), the administrator or executor shall file an application to extend the filing deadlines.