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Basic Ohio Probate Forms

A Probate Processor

Click here for information about the Cuyahoga County version.

Click here for information about the Franklin County version.

When we released Basic Ohio Probate Forms for Windows (WBOPF) in 1995, we set new standards for probate programs. At the time, the best "software" available was dumb templates. Templates usually require special software to run and usually don't have the ability to handle calculations.

Imagine selling software to an accountant's office and saying, "Here's our new tax program. By the way, when you're done making your entries, you'll need to get out a calculator and do all the math." They'd laugh in your face as they showed you the door!

In response, we devoted ourselves to making WBOPF exceed the expectations of discerning users. When you try it, you'll be amazed and wonder how you've been able to get along without it!

The new help files are about 25% bigger than in the prior version. Again, studying our users—what they like, and what they don't like—paid big dividends. State of the art features weren't enough; we designed WBOPF to eliminate problems and achieve our goal—zero learning curve. Help files are context sensitive. You can press <F1> on any menu item and get instant help. If you have a problem, WBOPF can often find the help topic you need to get going again.

The help files also have tips on creating better looking forms. A tutorial takes you step-by-step, from beginning to end, through creating a file, entering information and printing the forms.

This version of WBOPF is a Next Generation program that is designed and customized for Windows XP, although it runs in all Windows 32-bit environments, i.e., 2000/ME/98/95 & NT.

Forms

Quality Not Quantity. Instead of paying for thousands of forms you never use or that are incorrect or incomplete, we give you the complete set of “Standard Probate Forms” as promulgated by the Ohio Supreme Court under Rules 51 and 52 of the Rules for the Superintendence of Common Pleas Courts and legally valid in all counties. Be careful not to be misled by sheer numbers of forms, because some probate programs contain forms that are not usable.  WBOPF contains all the forms of its predecessors. Every Standard Probate Form between Form 1.0 and Form 13.7 is represented. Moreover, it has been updated in compliance with recent form revisions and the list of included forms was expanded to include a number of often-requested additional forms - there are over 80 pages of forms.

The Solution

Law offices needed intelligently integrated probate forms. If you enter a decedent's name, address and date of death once, why reenter it on multiple other probate forms? Ditto for assets and debts. If you enter a lengthy real estate legal description once, why retype it on the Inventory, then on the Certificate of Transfer, and later again on the Final Account? You should even be able to take the legal description and transfer it to Schedule A or E of the Ohio Estate Tax return.

A probate program must handle financial information. Once you enter a real estate value, for example, the value should appear automatically on the Inventory (in the appropriate category); it should also appear automatically on the Final Account (in the appropriate category); the value should also appear on any of a dozen other probate forms that require this information—automatically. The same applies for the transfer of this asset to the Ohio Estate Tax return.

Summary of Features

• Handles all calculations automatically; most forms complete themselves automatically!
  
  

• Prepares every probate form in the Standard Probate Form set as set forth in Rules 16 and 17 of the Supreme Court's Rules for the Superintendence of Common Pleas Courts.
  
  

• Has the ability to export probate files to the Ohio Estate Tax program that can, in turn, export a file to the U.S. Estate Tax program - a true single entry system.
  
  

• Notices, Consents & Waivers. More than half the standard probate forms involve the spouse, kin and legatees, so you’ll be wanting your probate program to fully complete ALL the necessary notices, consents and waivers. WBOPF does all that and more! So, if you have 40 beneficiaries, WBOPF completes the notices, consents and waivers for all of them automatically - one for each individual or entity that needs one. If there are 40 kin, in 40 different states, and each needs a particular notice, waiver or consent, you can have WBOPF prepare all forty different copies in one step. Our new WBOPF makes most such forms available in multiple sets including without limitation the following: Form 1.0 - Surviving Spouse, Next of Kin, Form 2.2 - Notice of Probate of Will, Form 4.4 - Notice of Hearing, Form 5.3 - Notice of Application to Relieve, Form 5.5 - Form 6.1 - Schedule of Assets, Form 6.3 - Notice of Hearing on Inventory, Form 10.2 - Notice of Hearing, Form 10.4A - Notice to Distributee, Form 12.1 - Certificate of Transfer, Form 12.2 - Entry Issuing Certificate, Form 13.1 - Receipts and Disbursements, and Form 13.5 - Notice of Hearing on Account.
  
  

• The ability to insert, move, sort and delete individual assets or debts in their respective worksheets.
   

• What You See Is What You Get. When you look at our Inventory or Accounting forms, you see the form as it would be printed. You don’t need to go through a preview process (similar to word processors in the 80’s) to see what your form will look like.
   

• Front and back sides of the same form are viewed together in a single, scrollable format. There’s no need to jump through hoops and waste time just because you want to work on or view the back side a form.
   

• Context sensitive help. If you have a question about a particular command, merely highlight the command and press l. The program takes you immediately to the related help topic. We increased the content of our help files 500%. We added more explanations, more troubleshooting, more graphics, more of everything.
  
  

• Push button operation of common program functions such as starting, loading or saving files, printing forms, etc.
  
  

• WBOPF handles next of kin, legatees and devisees like it does assets and debts. If you enter a name and address once, the information will flow to all the notices, consents and waivers that that person must sign.
  
  

• The ability to insert, move and delete individual assets or debts in their respective worksheets.
  
  

• No edit menus. If you want to change a particular field on a form, just click on it or TAB to it like you do in any Windows program. Pressing ENTER will automatically move you from field to field on a probate form. This really streamlines the data entry process.
  
  

• We increased the content of our help files 500%. We added more explanations, more trouble-shooting, more graphics, more of everything.
  
  

Print Shop Perfect Probate Forms

Every form is fully formatted, picture perfect and ready to file. Strict compliance with the typographical specification set forth in Rules 51 and 52 of the Supreme Court Rules for Superintendence for Courts of Common Pleas assures acceptability in all Probate Courts.

No Repetition - Automated Forms

You enter basic information one time. WBOPF automatically completes the forms based on your single entry (i.e., decedent's name, address, date of death; applicant or fiduciary's name, address and telephone number; attorney's name, address, telephone number and registration number; surviving spouse's name, address and telephone number; all court information, county name, court title, presiding judge, etc.). Enter assets and liabilities once. Then simply direct the entries to the appropriate forms by pointing and clicking. That means you type lengthy legal descriptions a single time. Enter any information you want and use it as a default over and over in different decedent files without retyping!

Word Processor Compatibility

You'll love this exciting new feature. With it you can send a form to your word processor so you can disguise your forms to be indistinguishable from the Court's own "approved" forms. What's that? You say all Probate Courts must, by law, accept forms that comply with the typographical specifications set forth in Rules 51 and 52 of the Supreme Court's Rules of Superintendence for the Courts of Ohio? Guess you don't get around much! It doesn't always work that way and you've probably heard the maxim "You can't fight city hall." So in addition to printing forms that comply with each of the hundred or more specifications in Rules 51 and 52, WBOPF also lets you change the forms in your word processor to include any county- or office-specific modifications you desire. The ability to send forms and data to your word processor has some additional not-so-obvious advantages. This capability lets you use your word processor as an optional alternate method for final review, formatting and printing. It also facilitates emailing, faxing, making PDFs, etc. The functionality of your word processor is your only limitation.

Compatibility With Ohio Estate Tax for Windows

Better yet is WBOPF's compatibility with our Ohio Estate Tax for Windows (WOET) software. WBOPF files can be converted into nearly complete WOET files that you need only check over and then print. This, in itself, saves hours of time and reduces errors that may occur in the preparation of the Ohio Estate Tax form. The process is extremely easy. Simply mark an asset or debt to direct it to a particular schedule of the Ohio Estate Tax form. Our new WOET program can read the codes you enter and import the contents of the probate file into a WOET file. It's no harder than opening a file!

A Complete, Stand-Alone Probate System

WBOPF is not a WordPerfect add-on or macro. WBOPF is a complete system in itself. It automatically completes and formats the probate forms based on information you enter in the worksheets. It prints picture perfect probate forms on all printers—laser, ink jet, even dot matrix printers. All printer fonts are part of Windows and maintained internally and automatically. Additional software fonts or hardware font cartridges are unnecessary.

User Friendly, No Prohibitive Learning Curve, No Expensive Training Needed

You don't need to be Einstein to use WBOPF! Because it was written and designed by an Ohio attorney, it works the way you expect a probate program should.  WBOPF is a stand-alone Windows program that follows standard Windows programming conventions. It is not a simple template, HotDocs or script, but instead is a true Windows program. What this means is that opening, saving, and printing is done in the customary way, just like in your word processor. You won’t be forced to learn needlessly different or complex new ways to do the same old thing. If your program doesn’t have an immediately recognizable menu bar and interface, it’s not following Windows protocol. In addition to programming considerations, the screen designs and printouts look exactly like the probate forms with which you are familiar. No expensive training sessions are necessary. WBOPF is as easy to use as a word processor because it completes, calculates and formats the probate forms automatically. Of course, there is extensive on-line help through Windows, and there is our easy-to-read, printed software owner's manual. WBOPF is easy to use. You can dig right in without apprehension. If you do have a problem, our expert telephone support staff can answer any question. Also, there's no mandatory annual upkeep fee.

User Friendly Prices

When you realize that other legal software (i.e., bankruptcy packages, probate software, office management systems, etc.) start at about $500 and up, you can appreciate the price-conscious value of WBOPF. Like all the other software in the Puritas Springs Software legal library, we designed and priced WBOPF to give you maximum bang for the buck! No other legal software gives you the same specialized, comprehensive assistance so inexpensively.

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