Affidavit for Transfer & Record of Real Estate Inherited – Cuyahoga County, OH

The Affidavit for Transfer & Record of Real Estate Inherited is the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer's one-page sworn statement in which an affiant declares who inherited real estate from a person who died intestate, and in what portions, so the transfer can be recorded.

The form walks through the facts in a fixed order. It states the name of the decedent and the date of death, and says a copy of the death certificate is attached. It gives the decedent's place of residence at the time of death. It lists each heir at law and next of kin with name, age, address and relationship to the decedent, so far as ages and addresses are known and can be ascertained. A second table gives the part or portion each heir inherited. It then states that the decedent was the owner of and seized of the real estate described, with the legal description attached and the Permanent Parcel No. written on the form.

The affidavit is headed "State of Ohio, County of Cuyahoga". The affiant signs, and the form is then sworn to and subscribed before a notary public, who also appears in the "Prepared By" block.

The Fiscal Officer lists this form on its Real Estate Services Forms page, which notes that documents on it must be prepared in accordance with ORC 317.114, Standard format of instruments to be recorded. Other documents on that page include the Transfer on Death Designation Affidavit and the Change of Name Form; this affidavit is the one built for inherited real estate where the owner died intestate.

The person who signs this affidavit is the affiant: someone who can swear to the facts about a decedent who died intestate, the decedent's heirs at law and next of kin, and the real estate the decedent owned. The form does not say who may act as affiant or how the affiant must be related to the decedent.

The form applies where:

• the property owner died intestate, the word the form prints for a death without a will;
• the decedent owned real estate in Cuyahoga County, identified by a Permanent Parcel No. and a legal description;
• one or more heirs at law and next of kin inherited that real estate and the transfer is to be recorded.

Every heir at law and next of kin must be listed, with age, address and relationship where known, and each one's inherited share must be stated.

The form is not a will, a death certificate or a deed. It does not cover property passing by a Transfer on Death Designation Affidavit, which the Fiscal Officer lists as a separate form. A notary public must be available to administer the oath, because the form is sworn to and subscribed before a notary.

The triggering event is the death of a property owner who left no will and whose real estate passed to heirs at law and next of kin. The form prints no due date of its own, and the Fiscal Officer's forms page sets none for it. Complete the affidavit when you are ready to have the inherited transfer recorded. You will need the date of death, a copy of the death certificate, the decedent's residence at death, the heirs' details and shares, the legal description and the Permanent Parcel No. at hand before you start. For timing or procedure questions, use the Fiscal Officer's Transfer and Recording Procedures page.

The affidavit prints no mailing address, portal or appointment rule, so the Cuyahoga County Fiscal Officer's Transfer and Recording pages are the place to confirm how to present it for transfer and recording.

• Fiscal Officer's forms page: the form is listed under Real Estate Services Forms at https://cuyahogacounty.gov/fiscal-officer/departments/transfer-and-recording/real-estate-services-forms, next to links named Transfer and Conveyance Standards and Transfer and Recording Procedures.
• Format: the page says documents must be prepared in accordance with ORC 317.114, Standard format of instruments to be recorded.
• Before you deliver it: sign only in front of the notary, have the notary complete the jurat, and attach the copy of the death certificate and the legal description the form calls for.

Ask the Fiscal Officer about any fee, since the form names none. FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the Fiscal Officer's channels, not this site.