Geauga County Disclaimer of Interest (Trustee) Form

A trust can be next in line for Ohio real estate it does not want: a transfer on death designation affidavit names the trustee as beneficiary, a will devises a parcel to the trust, or a deed makes the trustee the grantee of land that carries more liability than value. This form prepares the instrument by which the trustee refuses that interest on the trust's behalf under Section 5815.36 of the Ohio Revised Code, signed and acknowledged by one trustee in that capacity alone.

Authority that comes from the trust instrument

Section 5815.36 lets most takers disclaim at will, but it treats a fiduciary differently. Division (B)(1) permits a disclaimant to disclaim the succession to property in whole or in part, except a fiduciary under an instrument who is not authorized by the instrument to disclaim the interest of a beneficiary, and division (A)(1)(c) repeats the limit from the other side. The authorization lives in the trust agreement or the will that created the trust, and Section 2 of this form recites it in a fixed sentence beneath the trust's name and date. The instrument follows the Section 5815.36 procedure, with its relation back under division (H) and its final and binding effect under division (M).

The successor trustee stands in

Ohio's transfer on death statute anticipates the trustee named in an affidavit no longer serving. Section 5302.22(G) provides that where the person designated solely as trustee of a trust has died, resigned, or been replaced by the owner's death, the successor trustee is the beneficiary in existence on that date even though the affidavit never names the successor. Section 1 of the form takes the successor's name and the words Successor Trustee in the same blank. When that trustee disclaims, Section 5302.23(B)(1) carries the interest to the contingent beneficiary the affidavit names and, where none exists, into the owner's probate estate.

Contents the statute dictates

No official Ohio form exists for a disclaimer. Division (B)(3) lists the contents of the written instrument, division (F)(4) adds two more for real estate, and the form carries each: the donative instrument and its record reference, the real estate described with certainty, the interest disclaimed and the extent of the disclaimer, and the declaration itself. Section 6 performs the act in fixed text: the trustee disclaims irrevocably and without any power to revoke, the condition division (E)(1) attaches to an effective disclaimer, has accepted no benefit of the interest, and makes no direction as to where it goes, leaving division (G) and the donative instrument to decide. The trustee's marital status plays no part, and no spouse signs.

One trustee, one trust, one certificate

The form recites exactly one trustee of exactly one trust, a natural person serving as trustee or successor trustee, with one signature block and one acknowledgment certificate carrying the Section 147.55(F) short form for a public officer, trustee, or personal representative, whose name blank holds the trustee's name and title. A trustee of a family trust declining a parcel the settlor's transfer on death affidavit left to the trust, so that the affidavit's contingent beneficiary takes it instead, presents the pattern this form recites. Co-trustees disclaiming together, a bank or other entity trustee signing through an officer, a trustee disclaiming fiduciary powers under division (B)(2), and a guardian or personal representative disclaiming with probate court consent under division (B)(4) follow different patterns.

Where the executed copy goes

An executed copy is recorded with the recorder of the county where the land lies, on pages formatted to Section 317.114, which this form meets with 12 point type. For a transfer on death interest the instrument is also filed with that recorder; for an interest under a will it is filed in the probate division with a copy delivered to the personal representative; for an interest under a deed or other nontestamentary instrument it is delivered to the person holding legal title or possession. Each step comes before the trust accepts any benefit of the interest.

Three deliverables make up the package: the fillable trustee disclaimer form, a completed example worked through a Hamilton County fact pattern, and the guide, which takes up each numbered section in turn together with the statutory delivery and filing paths and the recording steps. Neither this description nor the guide applies the Ohio statutes to a particular trust or parcel, and neither is legal advice.