After “which track are we on,” the next question is always “how long is this going to take?” For a full administration in Franklin County, the honest answer is nine to fourteen months — and the reason isn’t slow paperwork. It’s clocks that run on their own schedule, no matter how organized anyone is.
The biggest one is Ohio’s creditor window. Creditors generally have six months from the date of death to bring claims against the estate. Two things about that clock surprise almost everyone. First, it starts at death — not when the estate is opened. A family that waits four months to file hasn’t saved any effort; they’ve just pushed the finish line four months further out. Second, it can’t be shortened. Even a simple, uncontested estate generally can’t make final distributions until the window closes, because a fiduciary who pays out early can be held personally responsible if a valid claim surfaces later.
The second clock is the inventory. In a full administration, the fiduciary has three months from appointment to file a complete inventory of the estate’s assets with the court — the house, the accounts, the vehicles, each at fair market value. Extensions exist, but you have to ask before the deadline passes, not after.
Here’s the part that keeps a year-long process from feeling like a year of waiting: the house doesn’t sit idle while the clocks run. Marketing, showings, accepting an offer, and often the closing itself can all proceed during the creditor period. What usually waits is the final distribution of proceeds — not the sale. An estate that gets the home valued, prepared, and moving early can have the sale done and the money sitting safely in the estate account by the time the window closes, instead of starting the listing process at month seven.
So the practical advice is simple: open the estate early, and get the house moving early. The clock started whether or not anyone has called the courthouse.
If you’re working with an executor who’s bracing for a year of delay, I’m glad to help compress the part I can control — valuation, preparation, and sale — so the legal timeline is the only timeline. The market analysis that starts it is no cost, no obligation.
Andrew Howell, REALTOR® | eXp Realty · (614) 632-5733 andy@centralohioestateservices.com
Andrew Howell is a licensed Ohio real estate agent with eXp Realty and is not an attorney. This article is for general informational purposes and is not legal or tax advice; confirm current thresholds and procedures with a licensed Ohio probate attorney.
