The court and how to reach it
Medina County’s combined Probate and Juvenile Court is on the 4th floor of 225 East Washington Street in Medina. The probate line is 330-725-9703 and the probate fax is 330-725-9119; juvenile uses 330-725-9709. The court’s home page has recently warned of county phone system problems, so email or a visit may be faster. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Local Rule 53.1 matches.
Judge Kevin W. Dunn was appointed in August 2013, and the court’s site says his terms began in 2015 and 2021. The magistrates are Lisa Louy, Derek Cek, Andrew Parker and Timothy Smanik, and Jennifer A. Moore is court administrator.
The court’s official site is medinaprobate.org. Older third-party directories list other addresses and phone numbers for this court, so use the court’s own contact page.
Filing in person, and the online docket
Medina is a paper-and-counter court for estates. The site asks that case filings be submitted in person. Email to probatefilings@medinacounty.gov is limited to motions to continue, interpreter requests and Zoom hearing requests. The court’s technology plan (revised November 2024) lists a Tyler e-filing system as a future project.
The docket, though, is online. Medina probate cases are on the Tyler portal shared with the other Common Pleas divisions, with case numbers that look like 2023-01-ES-00000.
Rules that catch self-represented filers:
- Local Rule 57.2: the fiduciary’s address must be their legal residence.
- Local Rule 57.5: the attorney may not sign for the fiduciary.
- Local Rule 57.12: a certified death certificate must be shown at the first filing.
- Local Rule 60.1: the fiduciary must personally sign Form 4.8, the acceptance, before letters issue.
Staff can’t help choose or fill out forms, and the court strongly recommends a lawyer. A self-represented fiduciary signs the court’s Self-Representation Acknowledgment.
Appraisals on a fixed formula
Medina is unusual in setting the real estate appraiser’s fee by rule. Under Local Rule 61.1:
| House value | Appraiser fee |
|---|---|
| First $200,000 | $1.50 per $1,000 |
| Above $200,000 | $1.00 per $1,000 |
| Minimum | $50 |
So a $250,000 house costs $300 plus $50, or $350, to appraise. The court keeps an approved appraiser list (dated May 4, 2026) and an appraiser application. An appraiser not on the list needs a license and $300,000 of professional liability insurance. In a release from administration, the auditor’s value is accepted.
Local Rule 61.2 then bars the appraiser from buying or brokering the property for 12 months, which means the estate’s appraiser can’t double as its listing agent.
The inventory comes before any sale
Medina sets a firm order of events for real estate. Under Local Rule 78.4, the inventory must list each property’s address, legal description and parcel number, and no sale may happen before the inventory is filed. Inventory hearing notice goes by ordinary mail.
That lines up with R.C. 2127.011, where a consent sale must be at least 80% of the appraised value in an approved inventory. Bond under Local Rule 78.7 is at least double the personal estate, and attorneys can’t act as sureties. Local Rule 60.2 requires a nonresident fiduciary to have an Ohio attorney plus a county custodial deposit, a resident co-fiduciary or a bond.
On the back end, Local Rule 64.1 automatically extends the final account deadline to one year, sets every account for hearing, and requires the closing statement to be attached to any account that shows a real estate sale. The executor duties guide explains those accounting duties.
Land sales on the ELS forms
When a court sale is needed, Medina uses its own estate land sale set, ELS-01 to ELS-11, and publishes a flow chart of the steps:
- Preliminary title search, with waivers where possible.
- Complaint, with a guardian ad litem if needed.
- Evidence of title, which Local Rule 65.1 says must be dated after the complaint.
- Entry finding the sale necessary.
- Appraisal, or a motion to dispense with it. Local Rule 65.2 requires one unless the inventory appraisal is less than a year old.
- Bond if needed, then an entry confirming the appraisal and ordering the sale.
- An optional motion to fix price, which Local Rule 78.1-II sets for hearing.
- Notice to all defendants, the return of sale, and the entry confirming the sale and ordering the deed, filed before closing.
Land sales open more than a year get a status conference with the fiduciary and attorney under Local Rule 78.1-II. Local Rule 64.5 requires a schedule of debts when the sale is to pay debts.
Medina County deposits
From the court’s fee schedule under Administrative Order 2023-0004, effective February 24, 2023:
| Filing | Deposit |
|---|---|
| Full administration, with will / without will | $365 / $315 |
| Release from administration, with will / without will | $250 / $200 |
| Summary release, with will / without will | $240 / $190 |
| Application for certificate of transfer | $80 |
| Civil actions and complaints | $225 |
| Certified copies | $1 per page |
| Publication / certified mail | $150 / $9 |
The schedule has no separate land sale line, so ask the clerk whether the civil action deposit applies. Payment is in person or by mail, with a 3% card fee. Medina’s court guidance notes that full administration may be needed if real estate must be sold, even in a small estate. For houses in Brunswick, Medina, Wadsworth and the townships, our Medina County page covers selling there, and the certificate of transfer guide explains moving the house to heirs instead.
