Losing a spouse upends nearly every part of life, and your estate plan is no exception. What seemed like a settled arrangement—a trust both of you built together—can suddenly feel like an open question. I work with families across Columbus and throughout Ohio at Michael D. Christensen Law Offices, LLC, and the period immediately after a spouse’s death is one of the most consequential times to get legal guidance. The decisions made in those first months can shape what your heirs receive years from now. This post walks through the practical questions I hear most often from surviving spouses in 2026.
Written by Mike Christensen. Read more about the author.
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What Happens to My Ohio Trust If My Spouse Dies First in Columbus?
The answer depends almost entirely on how your trust was drafted. Most married couples in Columbus use one of two structures: a joint revocable living trust (a single document covering both spouses) or separate individual trusts that cross-reference each other. I’ve reviewed hundreds of these documents, and the outcome after a first death varies significantly based on which structure the couple chose—and how carefully the successor trustee provisions were written.
With a joint revocable living trust, the death of the first spouse typically triggers one of two outcomes. In the simpler approach, the surviving spouse remains the sole trustee and the trust continues as a single, fully revocable document. The survivor can still amend or revoke it. This works well for smaller or straightforward estates, but it does leave the surviving spouse free to change beneficiaries after the fact—which can become a problem in blended families or situations where the deceased spouse had children from a prior relationship.
The more complex approach splits the trust into two sub-trusts at the first death: often called a “Survivor’s Trust” and a “Bypass Trust” (sometimes called a “Family Trust” or “Credit Shelter Trust”). The surviving spouse typically controls the Survivor’s Trust fully. The Bypass Trust holds assets up to a certain value, names the deceased spouse’s beneficiaries, and operates under more restricted terms. The surviving spouse may receive income from it and sometimes principal for health, education, maintenance, and support—but cannot typically change who ultimately inherits those assets.
In 2026, with the federal estate and gift tax exemption at $15 million per person, most Columbus families won’t owe federal estate tax regardless of whether they use a split-trust structure. But I still see clients who drafted A/B trusts twenty years ago, back when the exemption was much lower, and who haven’t revisited whether that structure still serves them. For some, it creates unnecessary administrative complexity with no tax benefit. That review is worth doing.
One thing I consistently tell clients: the trust document controls, but so does Ohio law when the document is silent. If your trust doesn’t specify what happens to successor trustee authority when a co-trustee dies, you may need to look to R.C. Chapter 5808, which governs trustee duties and powers under Ohio’s Trust Code. Having an estate attorney read through the specific language of your trust—rather than relying on assumptions—is the only reliable approach.
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What Happens to My Ohio Home If I Die Without a Trust or Beneficiary Designation?
Your home is likely your largest asset, and it is also one of the most common sources of confusion I see. If you own your Columbus home outright in your name alone—no survivorship deed, no transfer-on-death designation, no trust—and you die, that property must pass through Ohio probate.
Ohio does provide a Transfer on Death (TOD) deed option under R.C. 5302.22. A properly executed and recorded TOD deed lets real property pass directly to a named beneficiary without probate. It’s one of the most underused tools available to Ohio homeowners. I’ve had clients come in after losing a parent who had meant to set up a TOD deed but never got around to it, and the family ended up in a probate process that took considerably longer and cost more than a simple deed transfer would have.
Survivorship language on a deed—specifically a joint and survivorship deed—is another option for married couples. When one spouse dies, the survivor automatically becomes the sole owner. No probate for that asset. But again, that only works if the deed explicitly includes survivorship language. A standard tenants-in-common deed does not carry that effect.
If neither of these tools is in place and you die without a will, your home goes through Ohio’s intestacy laws, which I cover below. If you have a will, the home still goes through probate—the will directs how it passes, but it does not bypass the process.
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What Happens If My Ohio Estate Plan Beneficiary Dies Before Me?
This is a scenario most people don’t think about when they first set up their estate plan, and it’s one that causes real disruption if not addressed. Say your trust or will leaves everything to your adult child, but that child dies before you do. What happens next depends on whether your document contains an “antilapse” or “alternate beneficiary” provision.
Ohio’s antilapse statute, R.C. 2107.52, applies to wills. Under that statute, if a beneficiary who is a descendant of the testator (the person who wrote the will) dies before the testator, the gift passes to that deceased beneficiary’s descendants unless the will says otherwise. So if you leave your estate to your son and your son dies before you, his children (your grandchildren) may inherit in his place—by default, under Ohio law.
Trusts are governed differently. Ohio’s Trust Code, specifically R.C. 5804.09, has its own antilapse provision for trusts, but its application depends on the trust’s specific language. Some trust documents name alternate beneficiaries explicitly (“if John does not survive me, then to John’s children in equal shares”). Others name a backup (“if John does not survive me, then to my daughter Sarah”). And some older documents simply go silent on the question, leaving a gap that requires court interpretation or, in some cases, a trust modification proceeding.
In my practice, I recommend naming at least one layer of contingent beneficiaries in every document—both in the trust itself and on accounts with beneficiary designations, like IRAs and life insurance. Those designations operate separately from your trust and will. If your IRA still lists a deceased spouse as beneficiary and you haven’t updated it, that asset may default to your estate, send it through probate, and lose favorable tax treatment. I see this mistake more than I should.
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What Estate Planning Steps Should I Take After a Spouse Dies in Ohio?
The period after a spouse’s death is emotionally difficult, and estate paperwork is the last thing most people want to deal with. But certain steps are time-sensitive, and others become significantly harder if delayed.
First, locate all estate planning documents—the trust agreement, any pour-over will, beneficiary designation forms, and deed records. If your spouse was the primary or sole trustee, you need to formally establish your authority as successor trustee before you can manage trust assets. Financial institutions will require a copy of the trust and, in some cases, an affidavit of successor trustee.
Second, update your own plan. Your existing documents likely named your spouse as your primary beneficiary and possibly as your personal representative or successor trustee. Both of those roles need new designations now. This is also the time to reconsider whether your current structure still makes sense given your changed circumstances.
Third, review beneficiary designations on every account—retirement accounts, life insurance, annuities, and bank accounts with payable-on-death designations. These pass outside your trust and outside your will. An outdated designation can override everything else you’ve planned.
Fourth, address any assets that were titled in your spouse’s name alone. Those may need to go through probate unless they had a beneficiary designation or survivorship title. The Franklin County Probate Court handles estates originating in Columbus; you’ll file there if probate is required.
Fifth, under R.C. 2117.06(B), creditors of a deceased person generally have six months from the date of death to present claims against the estate. That window runs from the date of death—not from when the estate is opened or notice is published. This is the point I see families get wrong most often. If you’re administering a spouse’s estate, be aware that this window is running regardless of whether you’ve opened probate yet.
For a broader look at our experience handling estate matters in Columbus and across Ohio, I’d encourage you to review our background and approach before scheduling a consultation.
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What Happens to My Assets in Ohio If I Die Without a Will?
Ohio’s intestate succession laws determine what happens. The relevant statutes are found in R.C. Chapter 2105. The distribution depends on who survives you.
If you’re married and have children only with your surviving spouse, your spouse typically inherits everything. If you have children from a prior relationship, the surviving spouse and those children share the estate under a formula set by statute—and the result may not match what you would have chosen.
If you’re unmarried, assets pass to children, then to parents, then to siblings, following the order set out in R.C. 2105.06. Assets with no heir under that chain eventually pass to the state.
Real property and most personal property titled in your name alone will go through the Franklin County Probate Court if you die without any transfer mechanism in place. There are simplified procedures for smaller estates—release from administration under R.C. 2113.03 is available when the estate is $35,000 or less, or $100,000 or less when the surviving spouse is entitled to the entire estate. These can reduce the time and cost involved, but they don’t eliminate the process entirely.
The American Bar Association notes that intestate succession often produces distributions that don’t reflect what a person would have wanted. That’s consistent with what I see in practice. The most common example: a person with grown children who assumed their spouse would “just get everything,” when in fact Ohio law would divide the estate between the spouse and the children.
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Is a Living Trust Better Than a Will in Ohio?
This comes up constantly, and the honest answer is: it depends on your assets, your family situation, and what you want to accomplish. A living trust is not automatically the better choice for every Columbus family.
A will alone directs how your probate assets pass after death. It does not bypass probate. A living trust, if properly funded, can pass assets directly to beneficiaries without probate, maintain privacy (a will becomes a public record when filed with the probate court, a trust generally does not), and provide continuous management if you become incapacitated before you die.
But a trust only works if it’s funded. I regularly meet with families who paid to have a trust drafted years ago and never transferred their assets into it. The house is still in individual names. The bank account was never retitled. The trust document sits in a drawer, and when the owner dies, everything goes through probate anyway—despite the cost and effort of setting up the trust.
A will is simpler and less expensive to draft. For younger people with modest assets and straightforward family situations, a well-drafted will combined with proper beneficiary designations and a TOD deed on real property can accomplish most of what a trust would accomplish, at lower upfront cost.
For people with larger estates, blended families, minor children, a family member with a disability who receives government benefits, or significant real property in multiple states, a trust generally offers advantages a will can’t match. FindLaw and Cornell Law School’s Legal Information Institute both offer readable overviews of how trusts and wills function differently, if you want background before talking with an attorney.
What I’ve found, after working with clients at every asset level, is that the planning tool matters less than whether it’s current, properly drafted, and funded. An outdated trust is often worse than a simple will, because it creates false confidence. And a will that hasn’t been updated since a major life change—death of a beneficiary, divorce, a new child, a significant asset acquisition—can produce outcomes the person never intended.
Justia maintains a database of Ohio statutes if you want to read the underlying law yourself. For the specifics of how Ohio’s Trust Code structures trustee duties and beneficiary rights, R.C. Chapters 5801 through 5811 are the governing provisions.
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Talk to a Columbus Estate Attorney Before Problems Arise
The questions covered here don’t have one-size answers. The structure of your trust, the titles on your assets, the ages of your beneficiaries, and the specific language of your documents all determine the outcome in your situation. General information can help you ask better questions; it doesn’t substitute for reviewing your actual documents.
At Michael D. Christensen Law Offices, LLC, I work with clients in Columbus and across Ohio on trust administration, estate planning after a spouse’s death, and the full range of estate planning documents. If your situation has changed—or if you’ve never had a plan in place—this is a practical time to act.
Schedule a consultation to talk through your specific circumstances. You can also reach us directly by phone at (614) 300-5000, or visit our office at 3341 W Broad St, Columbus, OH 43204, United States.
For additional reading on related topics, our blog covers a wide range of Ohio estate planning and personal legal questions for Columbus-area residents.