HB 55 Ohio House · 136th Legislature (2025-2026)

Revise fees for the administration of a probate estate

HB 55 updates Ohio's rules for paying fees when managing a deceased person's estate. It changes the order of payment: first covering sale costs and attorney fees (including up to $5,000 more in fees for insolvent estates), then taxes and mortgages, and finally estate debts and legacies. The bill directly affects executors, administrators, attorneys handling probate cases, and creditors receiving payments from estate assets. It makes no changes to tax collection or property sale procedures but clarifies how fees are prioritized during estate administration.
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
House Passage
Mar 2025
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
Signed into Law
May 2026
Introduced Feb 4, 2025 Signed May 27, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 3 comparisons

What changed between versions

As Passed by the Senate As Enrolled · 4 edits · Feb 25, 2026
MODERATE
This bill underwent formatting and structural changes as it moved from Senate passage to final enrollment. The substantive policy content regarding probate estate fees and tax liens remains unchanged, with only the document layout, header information, and signature lines being modified. No new provisions or policy adjustments were made during this final stage.
TECHNICAL

Header formatting changed from '136th General Assembly' to '(136th General Assembly)' with additional parenthetical labeling for the House Bill number.

Page numbers and line numbers were removed from the text, and the document was restructured with cleaner section breaks and spacing.

Signature lines for the Speaker, President, Governor, and Secretary of State were added in the standard enrolled format with blank spaces for dates and signatures.

The bill title and enactment language were reformatted for consistency with enrolled bill standards, though the substantive legal text remained identical.

Floor votes · Senate Feb 12, 2026 · House Mar 26, 2025

How they voted

320
Passed
Total votes 32
Feb 12, 2026
D Democratic8
8 Yea
100% Yea
R Republican24
24 Yea
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea All Nay Mixed No data
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
13
Key actions
4
Committee
2
Amendments
1
Feb 18, 2026
Legislature · Passed
Sent To The Governor
legislature
Feb 12, 2026
Senate · Passed
Senate Vote: pass (32-0)
senate
Feb 11, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed
upper
Apr 2, 2025
Committee
Referred to committee
upper
Apr 1, 2025
Introduced
Introduced
upper
Mar 26, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
Mar 26, 2025
Introduced
Reported - Amended
lower
Feb 5, 2025
Committee
Referred to committee
lower
Feb 4, 2025
Introduced
Introduced
lower
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Brian Stewart
Brian Stewart
RRepublican
OH
12