Ohio Code 2117.36 – Real property not liable for debts
No real property of a deceased person that has been aliened or encumbered by the decedent‘s heirs prior to the issuing of letters testamentary or of administration shall be liable while in the possession or under the control of a bona fide purchaser for value or to the prejudice of a bona fide lessee or encumbrancer for value for debts of the deceased person unless letters testamentary or of administration are granted within four years from the date of death of the deceased person. No real property of a deceased person that has been aliened or encumbered by the decedent’s heirs or devisees after the issuance of letters testamentary or of administration shall be liable while in the possession or under the control of a bona fide purchaser for value or to the prejudice of a bona fide lessee or encumbrancer for value for debts of a deceased person unless suit is brought to subject the real property to the payment of those debts prior to the settlement of the executor‘s or administrator’s final account or what purports to be the executor’s or administrator’s final account; provided that if the final account is not filed and settled within four years after the granting of letters testamentary or of administration, but excluding for these purposes the time that any action is pending against the executors or administrators for the establishment or collection of any claim against the deceased, the real property so aliened shall not be liable for the debts of the deceased unless suit is brought to subject the real property to those debts within that four-year period. The heir or devisee aliening the real property shall be liable for its value, with legal interest from the time of alienation, to the creditors of the deceased in the manner and within the limitations provided by law. This section does not enlarge or extend the right of the creditors of any deceased person against the deceased person’s real property, repeal any limitations contained in other sections of the Revised Code, or apply to mortgages or liens of record at the time of the death of the deceased person.
Terms Used In Ohio Code 2117.36
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Executor: A male person named in a will to carry out the decedent
- Person: includes an individual, corporation, business trust, estate, trust, partnership, and association. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Property: means real and personal property. See Ohio Code 1.59
- Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
- Settlement: Parties to a lawsuit resolve their difference without having a trial. Settlements often involve the payment of compensation by one party in satisfaction of the other party's claims.