Am. H. B. No. 96 As Reported by the House Judiciary Committee

(1)	Account, in addition to advertising charges ..........	$12.00	17
	Waivers and proof of notice of hearing on account, per		18
	page, minimum one dollar .............................	$ 1.00	19
(2)	Account of distribution, in addition to		20
	advertising charges ..................................	$ 7.00	21
(3)	Adoption of child, petition for ......................	$50.00	22
(4)	Alter or cancel contract for sale or purchase of		23
	real estate, petition to .............................	$20.00	24
(5)	Application and order not otherwise provided		25
	for in this section or by rule adopted pursuant to		26
	division (E) of this section .........................	$ 5.00	27
(6)	Appropriation suit, per day, hearing in ..............	$20.00	28
(7)	Birth, application for registration of ...............	$ 7.00	29
(8)	Birth record, application to correct .................	$ 5.00	30
(9)	Bond, application for new or additional ..............	$ 5.00	31
(10)	Bond, application for release of surety or		32
	reduction of .........................................	$ 5.00	33
(11)	Bond, receipt for securities deposited in lieu of ....	$ 5.00	34
(12)	Certified copy of journal entry, record, or proceeding,		35
	per page, minimum fee one dollar .....................	$ 1.00	36
(13)	Citation and issuing citation, application for .......	$ 5.00	37
(14)	Change of name, petition for .........................	$20.00	38
(15)	Claim, application of administrator or executor for		39
	allowance of administrator's or executor's own .......	$10.00	40
(16)	Claim, application to compromise or settle ...........	$10.00	41
(17)	Claim, authority to present ..........................	$10.00	42
(18)	Commissioner, appointment of .........................	$ 5.00	43
(19)	Compensation for extraordinary services and attorney's		44
	fees for fiduciary, application for ..................	$ 5.00	45
(20)	Competency, application to procure adjudication of ...	$20.00	46
(21)	Complete contract, application to ....................	$10.00	47
(22)	Concealment of assets, citation for ..................	$10.00	48
(23)	Construction of will, petition for ...................	$20.00	49
(24)	Continue decedent's business, application to .........	$10.00	50
	Monthly reports of operation .........................	$ 5.00	51
(25)	Declaratory judgment, petition for ...................	$20.00	52
(26)	Deposit of will ......................................	$ 5.00	53
(27)	Designation of heir ..................................	$20.00	54
(28)	Distribution in kind, application, assent, and		55
	order for ............................................	$ 5.00	56
(29)	Distribution under section 2109.36 of the Revised		57
	Code, application for an order of ....................	$ 7.00	58
(30)	Docketing and indexing proceedings, including the		59
	filing and noting of all necessary documents, maximum		60
	fee, fifteen dollars .................................	$15.00	61
(31)	Exceptions to any proceeding named in this section,		62
	contest of appointment or ............................	$10.00	63
(32)	Election of surviving partner to purchase assets of		64
	partnership, proceedings relating to .................	$10.00	65
(33)	Election of surviving spouse under will ..............	$ 5.00	66
(34)	Fiduciary, including an assignee or trustee of an		67
	insolvent debtor or any guardian or conservator		68
	accountable to the probate court, appointment of .....	$35.00	69
(35)	Foreign will, application to record ..................	$10.00	70
	Record of foreign will, additional, per page .........	$ 1.00	71
(36)	Forms when supplied by the probate court, not to		72
	exceed ...............................................	$10.00	73
(37)	Heirship, petition to determine ......................	$20.00	74
(38)	Injunction proceedings ...............................	$20.00	75
(39)	Improve real estate, petition to .....................	$20.00	76
(40)	Inventory with appraisement ..........................	$10.00	77
(41)	Inventory without appraisement .......................	$ 7.00	78
(42)	Investment or expenditure of funds, application for ..	$10.00	79
(43)	Invest in real estate, application to ................	$10.00	80
(44)	Lease for oil, gas, coal, or other mineral, petition		81
	to ...................................................	$20.00	82
(45)	Lease or lease and improve real estate, petition to ..	$20.00	83
(46)	Marriage license .....................................	$10.00	84
	Certified abstract of each marriage ..................	$ 2.00	85
(47)	Minor or mentally ill person, etc., disposal of estate		86
	under ten thousand dollars of ........................	$10.00	87
(48)	Mortgage or mortgage and repair or improve real		88
	estate, petition to ..................................	$20.00	89
(49)	Newly discovered assets, report of ...................	$ 7.00	90
(50)	Nonresident executor or administrator to bar		91
	creditors' claims, proceedings by ....................	$20.00	92
(51)	Power of attorney or revocation of power,		93
	bonding company ......................................	$10.00	94
(52)	Presumption of death, petition to establish ..........	$20.00	95
(53)	Probating will .......................................	$15.00	96
	Proof of notice to beneficiaries .....................	$ 5.00	97
(54)	Purchase personal property, application of surviving		98
	spouse to ............................................	$10.00	99
(55)	Purchase real estate at appraised value, petition of		100
	surviving spouse to ..................................	$20.00	101
(56)	Receipts in addition to advertising charges,		102
	application and order to record ......................	$ 5.00	103
	Record of those receipts, additional, per page .......	$ 1.00	104
(57)	Record in excess of fifteen hundred words in any		105
	proceeding in the probate court, per page ............	$ 1.00	106
(58)	Release of estate by mortgagee or other lienholder ...	$ 5.00	107
(59)	Relieving an estate from administration under section		108
	2113.03 of the Revised Code or granting an order for a		109
	summary release from administration under section		110
	2113.031 of the Revised Code .........................	$60.00	111
(60)	Removal of fiduciary, application for ................	$10.00	112
(61)	Requalification of executor or administrator .........	$10.00	113
(62)	Resignation of fiduciary .............................	$ 5.00	114
(63)	Sale bill, public sale of personal property ..........	$10.00	115
(64)	Sale of personal property and report, application		116
	for ..................................................	$10.00	117
(65)	Sale of real estate, petition for ....................	$25.00	118
(66)	Terminate guardianship, petition to ..................	$10.00	119
(67)	Transfer of real estate, application, entry, and		120
	certificate for ......................................	$ 7.00	121
(68)	Unclaimed money, application to invest ...............	$ 7.00	122
(69)	Vacate approval of account or order of distribution,		123
	motion to ............................................	$10.00	124
(70)	Writ of execution ....................................	$ 5.00	125
(71)	Writ of possession ...................................	$ 5.00	126
(72)	Wrongful death, application and settlement of claim		127
	for ..................................................	$20.00	128
(73)	Year's allowance, petition to review .................	$ 7.00	129
(74)	Guardian's report, filing and review of ..............	$ 5.00	130

(B)(1) In relation to an application for the appointment of a	131
guardian or the review of a report of a guardian under section	132
2111.49 of the Revised Code, the probate court, pursuant to court	133
order or in accordance with a court rule, may direct that the	134
applicant or the estate pay any or all of the expenses of an	135
investigation conducted pursuant to section 2111.041 or division	136
(A)(2) of section 2111.49 of the Revised Code. If the	137
investigation is conducted by a public employee or investigator	138
who is paid by the county, the fees for the investigation shall be	139
paid into the county treasury. If the court finds that an alleged	140
incompetent or a ward is indigent, the court may waive the costs,	141
fees, and expenses of an investigation.	142

(2) In relation to the appointment or functioning of a	143
guardian for a minor or the guardianship of a minor, the probate	144
court may direct that the applicant or the estate pay any or all	145
of the expenses of an investigation conducted pursuant to section	146
2111.042 of the Revised Code. If the investigation is conducted by	147
a public employee or investigator who is paid by the county, the	148
fees for the investigation shall be paid into the county treasury.	149
If the court finds that the guardian or applicant is indigent, the	150
court may waive the costs, fees, and expenses of an investigation.	151

(C) Thirty dollars of the thirty-five-dollar fee collected	152
pursuant to division (A)(34) of this section and twenty dollars of	153
the sixty-dollar fee collected pursuant to division (A)(59) of	154
this section shall be deposited by the county treasurer in the	155
indigent guardianship fund created pursuant to section 2111.51 of	156
the Revised Code.	157

(D) The fees of witnesses, jurors, sheriffs, coroners, and	158
constables for services rendered in the probate court or by order	159
of the probate judge shall be the same as provided for like	160
services in the court of common pleas.	161

(E) The probate court, by rule, may require an advance	162
deposit for costs, not to exceed one hundred twenty-five dollars,	163
at the time application is made for an appointment as executor or	164
administrator or at the time a will is presented for probate.	165

Section 1. That section 2101.16 be amended and section	10
2101.164 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:	11

Sec. 2101.16. (A) ~~The~~Except as provided in section 2101.164	12
of the Revised Code, the fees enumerated in this division shall be	13
charged and collected, if possible, by the probate judge and shall	14
be in full for all services rendered in the respective	15
proceedings:	16

(F) The probate court, by rule, shall establish a reasonable	166
fee, not to exceed fifty dollars, for the filing of a petition for	167
the release of information regarding an adopted person's name by	168
birth and the identity of the adopted person's biological parents	169
and biological siblings pursuant to section 3107.41 of the Revised	170
Code, all proceedings relative to the petition, the entry of an	171
order relative to the petition, and all services required to be	172
performed in connection with the petition. The probate court may	173
use a reasonable portion of a fee charged under authority of this	174
division to reimburse any agency, as defined in section 3107.39 of	175
the Revised Code, for any services it renders in performing a task	176
described in section 3107.41 of the Revised Code relative to or in	177
connection with the petition for which the fee was charged.	178

(G)(1) Thirty dollars of the fifty-dollar fee collected	179
pursuant to division (A)(3) of this section shall be deposited	180
into the "putative father registry fund," which is hereby created	181
in the state treasury. The department of job and family services	182
shall use the money in the fund to fund the department's costs of	183
performing its duties related to the putative father registry	184
established under section 3107.062 of the Revised Code.	185

(2) If the department determines that money in the putative	186
father registry fund is more than is needed for its duties related	187
to the putative father registry, the department may use the	188
surplus moneys in the fund as permitted in division (C) of section	189
2151.3529, division (B) of section 2151.3530, or section 5103.155	190
of the Revised Code.	191

Sec. 2101.164. (A) As used in this section, "combat zone"	192
means an area that the president of the United States by executive	193
order designates for purposes of 26 U.S.C. 112 as an area in which	194
armed forces of the United States are or have engaged in combat.	195

(B) A probate judge shall not charge, or collect from, the	196
estate of a decedent who died while in active service as a member	197
of the armed forces of the United States any of the following fees	198
if the death occurred while the decedent was serving in a combat	199
zone or as a result of wounds, disease, or injury incurred while	200
serving in a combat zone:	201

(1) Any fee for or associated with the filing of the	202
decedent's will for probate;	203

(2) Any fee for any service rendered by the probate court	204
that is associated with the administration of the decedent's	205
estate;	206

(3) Any fee for relieving the decedent's estate from	207
administration under section 2113.03 of the Revised Code or	208
granting an order for a summary release from administration under	209
section 2113.031 of the Revised Code.	210

(C) In determining whether a decedent died in a place or	211
manner that exempts the estate of the decedent from fees under	212
division (B) of this section, a probate judge may consider a	213
casualty report issued pursuant to Army Regulation 600-8-1 or the	214
regulations of any of the armed services of the United States, the	215
list of combat zones set forth in Publication 3, "The Armed	216
Forces' Tax Guide," of the Internal Revenue Service, or any other	217
form of documentation satisfactory to the probate judge.	218

Section 2. That existing section 2101.16 of the Revised Code	219
is hereby repealed.	220

Section 3. Section 2101.16 of the Revised Code, as amended by	221
this act, and section 2101.164 of the Revised Code, as enacted by	222
this act, apply to the estates of decedents who die on or after	223
the effective date of this act.	224