Current as of November 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Ohio keeps two accounting systems running at once. The Ohio Trust Code, Chapters 5801 to 5811 of the Revised Code, sets the reports every trustee owes beneficiaries. Chapter 2109 still requires testamentary trustees, executors, administrators and guardians to file accounts with the probate court. A trust created by will answers to both. A living trust answers only to the Trust Code.
Who must provide an accounting in Ohio
Section 5808.13 runs to the current beneficiaries rather than the broader class of qualified beneficiaries used in most Uniform Trust Code states. The trustee keeps them reasonably informed and responds promptly to a beneficiary's request for information. On request, the trustee furnishes a copy of the trust instrument. Ohio lets the trustee send only the provisions relevant to the beneficiary's interest, unless the beneficiary asks for the whole document.
Within sixty days of accepting the trusteeship, the trustee notifies the current beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address and telephone number. Within sixty days of learning that a trust is irrevocable, it tells them of the trust's existence, the settlor's identity, their right to a copy of the instrument and their right to a trustee's report. The report goes at least annually and at termination to the current beneficiaries and to other beneficiaries who request it. While the settlor of a revocable trust is alive, the trustee's duties under the section are owed only to the settlor, whether or not the settlor has capacity.
Section 5801.04 makes some of these duties mandatory, with an Ohio twist. The duty to notify current beneficiaries of an irrevocable trust who have reached age 25, and the duty to respond to their requests for reports, cannot be overridden by the trust's terms. But the settlor may waive or modify them by naming one or more beneficiary surrogates in the trust instrument. The surrogate receives the notices and reports instead and must act in good faith to protect the beneficiaries' interests.
What an Ohio trust accounting must contain
The section 5808.13 report covers the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, a listing of the trust assets and, if feasible, their market values.
A probate court account under section 2109.303 is more demanding. It includes an itemized statement of all receipts during the period and of all disbursements and distributions, verified by vouchers or proof unless the trustee is a corporate fiduciary subject to section 1111.28. It includes an itemized statement of all funds, assets and investments at the end of the period, and shows any changes in investments since the last account. A testamentary trustee's account must show receipts and disbursements separately identified as to principal and income. When the account is filed, the trustee exhibits the securities and a passbook or certified bank statement for each depository for the court's examination.
Income and principal allocation in Ohio
Allocation is governed by Chapter 5812, Ohio's Uniform Principal and Income Act, including the trustee's power to adjust between income and principal in section 5812.03. Ohio has not adopted the 2018 Uniform Fiduciary Income and Principal Act. Because a testamentary trustee's probate account must separate principal from income, the allocation rules show up directly in what the court reviews.
Filing an accounting with the Ohio probate court
Under section 2109.303, every testamentary trustee renders an account of its administration at least once every two years, and a final account within thirty days after completing the administration. The court may order an account at any other time for good cause, on its own motion or on the motion of an interested person.
Executors and administrators follow section 2109.301. They file a final and distributive account within six months of appointment unless one of the listed circumstances applies, such as an Ohio estate tax return, a will contest or an insolvent estate. Otherwise they account within thirteen months of appointment and at least annually after that. Where no beneficiary is under a legal disability, all of them may waive partial accounts in writing.
When an Ohio accounting is contested
Section 5810.05 gives a beneficiary two years to bring a proceeding for breach of trust after the beneficiary, a representative, or a beneficiary surrogate is sent a report that adequately discloses the potential claim and states the time allowed. A report is adequate if the beneficiary knows or should know of the potential claim.
Where no such report was sent, the limit is four years from the first of the trustee's removal, resignation or death, the end of the beneficiary's interest, the end of the trust, or the time the beneficiary knew or should have known of the breach. Ohio also preserves equitable defenses such as laches, estoppel and waiver.
How T.E.A. Fiduciary helps
We prepare Ohio probate court accounts for testamentary trustees, executors and administrators, with principal and income separately stated, and section 5808.13 reports for living trusts, built to start the section 5810.05 period. We work alongside your attorney and your tax preparer; we do not prepare tax returns.
This page provides general information about Ohio fiduciary accounting requirements and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes and court rules change. Verify the current text before relying on any of it, and consult counsel on questions of legal interpretation.
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Primary source: Ohio Revised Code Chapters 2109 and 5808, Ohio Legislative Service Commission.
Written by Christina Gutman, C.P.A. — Founder and Principal of T.E.A. Fiduciary. Christina is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of California and has specialized exclusively in fiduciary accounting for over a decade, preparing trust, estate, and conservatorship accountings for law firms, professional fiduciaries, trust companies, family offices, and individual trustees nationwide. She has also served as a forensic consultant in contested accounting matters. More about Christina
