Ohio Trustee Deed (Trustee to Beneficiaries)

When an Ohio trust reaches the event its instrument names, the trustee's last act with the real estate is a deed out: a conveyance from the trustee of record to the beneficiaries entitled to the property. This Ohio Trustee Deed (Trustee to Beneficiaries) prepares that distribution deed on the fiduciary deed pattern of Ohio Revised Code Section 5302.09: one trustee of a disclosed trust conveying to one or two beneficiaries of that trust.

A deed that closes out the trust's real estate

Section 5808.17(B) of the Ohio Trust Code provides that, upon the event terminating or partially terminating a trust, the trustee proceeds expeditiously to distribute the trust property to the persons entitled to it, and Section 5808.16 lets the trustee distribute in divided or undivided interests. The deed records the result in fixed text: the grantor acts solely as trustee and not individually, the grantees are beneficiaries of the trust, and the conveyance is made in distribution of trust property under the trust's terms. The consideration entry reads the way a distribution reads, with no purchase price.

Fiduciary covenants, not a general warranty

The deed conveys with the words Section 5302.09 prints for a trustee, grants, with fiduciary covenants, and Section 5302.10 supplies their meaning: the grantor is duly appointed, qualified, and acting in the fiduciary capacity described, is duly authorized to make the conveyance, and has complied with the statutes. Those are covenants about the trustee's authority, not covenants of seisin or against encumbrances. An Ohio trustee's deed, a fiduciary deed from a trust, and a deed from a trust to a beneficiary are the same instrument under other names.

The memorandum of trust the recorder expects

Since June 16, 2026, Section 5301.255 provides that a memorandum of trust shall be of record when any interest in real property is conveyed by the trustee of a disclosed trust, and the deed's trust section asks for its recording reference. Where the signing trustee succeeded the trustee named in the vesting deed, Section 5302.171 places the succession of record through an affidavit of successor trustee; the memorandum and the affidavit are each recorded separately and are not included in this package.

Why the conveyance fee usually drops out

Ohio's state conveyance fee under Section 319.54(G)(3) does not apply to a transfer to the beneficiaries of a trust if the fee was paid when the property went into the trust or if the transfer is made under trust provisions that became irrevocable at the grantor's death. The exemption is claimed on the DTE 100EX statement filed with the county auditor, whose transfer endorsement under Section 317.22 comes before recording.

One trustee, one certificate, no spousal line

The form recites exactly one trustee as grantor, provides a grantee block for one or two beneficiaries with room for a co-ownership designation, and carries one signature block and one acknowledgment certificate in the Section 147.55(F) short form for a trustee. The form prints no marital status for the trustee and no spousal signature line, because the trustee holds title for the beneficiaries rather than beneficially; the guide walks through Section 2103.021, the Ohio statute on dower claims against a grantee whose name of record is followed by the word trustee. A successor trustee distributing the settlor's residence to the settlor's children after the settlor's death, and a trustee distributing a parcel to the beneficiary at the date the trust names, present the pattern this deed recites. Two co-trustees signing together, a trustee's sale to a purchaser for value, a transfer back to the settlor under a reserved power, and three or more grantees follow patterns the form is not set up as.

Recording in the county where the land lies

The deed is formatted to Section 317.114, with the three inch blank top margin on the first page and 12 point body type above the 10 point minimum, and the preparer's name Section 317.111 requires has its own block. Statewide base recording fees run thirty four dollars for the first two pages and eight dollars for each additional page; the instrument is four recordable pages before exhibits.

The package includes the fillable trustee deed form, a completed example filled in for a Franklin County trust distribution, and the guide that walks through each numbered section, the memorandum of trust, and the auditor and recorder steps. This description and the guide describe the form and the governing Ohio statutes in general terms; they are not legal advice.