Generally, the most efficient way for the transfer to happen is at death via a trust. The deed is titled within your family trust or transfer on death deed. The trust transfers the assets to the children at passing. Skips probate.
As a married couple, most of the property and assets you have are jointly owned. That means that when one of you dies, the other simply becomes the sole owner of the assets. This does not require any legal action or court involvement.
Ohio's Senate Bill 313, which became law on August 29, 2000, provides a simple way for citizens to transfer real estate outside of probate. The transfer on death provision will afford some advantages over other forms of transfer.
How to create a Transfer on Death for your home Choose your recipients. You can choose one or more people to become owner of any home or land that you own. Find a copy of your deed. Complete the TOD for real estate form. Take the form to a notary. Submit the form at your County Recorder's Office.
Fill out the affidavit completely. Sign the document in front of a notary. Attach a "certified" copy of the death certificate. Also attach a "legal description" of the property to be transferred (a copy of the survivorship deed or transfer on death designation or deed will suffice).
Real Estate can be titled in survivorship to avoid Probate; bank accounts can be joint accounts or POD/TOD, which stands for Payable on death or Transfer on death; vehicles can have survivorship beneficiaries or a TOD designation.
As the sole owner of a motor vehicle, watercraft, or outboard motor, an individual may designate a beneficiary or beneficiaries to an Ohio title with a signed and notarized Affidavit to Designate a Beneficiary (form BMV 3811) submitted to a County Clerk of Courts Title Office.
(B) If two or more persons hold an interest in the title to real property as survivorship tenants, each survivorship tenant holds an equal share of the title during their joint lives unless otherwise provided in the instrument creating the survivorship tenancy.