4.3 Ohio Property Rights and Ownership

Forms of Ownership in Ohio

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Tenancy in severalty — one owner holds the entire title alone (the word comes from "severed" from others, not "several" people). Title passes through the estate at death.

Co-ownership and the default rule

When two or more people take title, Ohio presumes a tenancy in common unless survivorship is expressly created.

Ohio's statutory survivorship tenancy (ORC 5302.20)

Ohio abolished the old common-law joint tenancy with its rigid four unities. Instead, a deed must use express survivorship words — the statutory phrase is "for their joint lives, remainder to the survivor of them." Without that language, co-owners are tenants in common and the deceased's share goes to their heirs, not the co-owner.

Exam trap: "John and Mary, as joint tenants" is NOT enough in Ohio if the deed lacks the survivorship/remainder language. The bare label can default to tenancy in common.

No tenancy by the entireties for new deeds

Ohio eliminated tenancy by the entireties for conveyances made on or after April 4, 1985. Married couples who want survivorship now use a survivorship deed under 5302.20. Older entireties estates created before that date can persist, but you cannot create a new one.

Ohio Is an Equitable-Distribution State

Ohio is not a community-property state. On divorce, courts divide marital property equitably — meaning fairly, which is often but not necessarily 50/50.

Why dower matters at closing: Ohio is one of the few states that still recognizes dower (ORC 2103.02). A married owner's spouse holds a 1/3 life-estate interest even if not on the title. To deliver clear, marketable title, both spouses must sign the deed to release dower. A salesperson who forgets to get the non-owner spouse's signature can leave a cloud on title — a common exam fact pattern.

Condominiums, Cooperatives, and Timeshares

Ohio condominiums are governed by the Ohio Condominium Act (ORC Chapter 5311). A condo buyer owns their unit in fee plus an undivided percentage of the common elements. Developers must provide buyers a disclosure/condominium documents package, and resale buyers are entitled to the association's resale certificate. Cooperatives differ: the resident owns stock in a corporation and a proprietary lease, not real property. Timeshares are regulated separately and carry their own statutory rescission rights.

Ohio's Two Separate Homestead Protections

Students confuse these constantly — they are unrelated programs.

1. Homestead creditor exemption (ORC 2329.66)

This shields equity in a person's residence from most unsecured creditors and in bankruptcy. The amount is indexed every three years. For the period April 1, 2025 through March 31, 2028, the personal-residence exemption is $182,625 (it does not protect against the mortgage lender or unpaid property taxes — those are secured/priority claims).

2. Property-tax homestead reduction

A completely different benefit administered by the county auditor: it reduces the taxable value of an owner-occupied home for qualifying seniors and disabled owners.

Easements and Adverse Possession — the 21-Year Rule

Ohio uses a 21-year prescriptive/possession period, one of the longest in the U.S.

Adverse possession in Ohio requires all of these for the full 21 years (mnemonic "OCEAN-H"): Open, Continuous, Exclusive, Adverse/hostile, Notorious, plus actual possession — Hostile (without the owner's permission).

Worked scenario: A neighbor's fence has encroached three feet onto the lot since 1999. By 2020 (21 years), the neighbor may have a valid adverse-possession claim to that strip if the use was open, exclusive, and without permission. A signed permission letter at any point resets the clock by making the use permissive, not adverse.

Tacking is also tested: successive adverse possessors who are in privity (e.g., they sold the disputed-use land to one another) can add their time together to reach the 21 years. Government-owned land cannot be adversely possessed in Ohio.

Liens and Recording

Ohio is a race-notice style recording state for priority purposes: deeds and mortgages should be recorded promptly with the county recorder to give constructive notice and protect priority. Key Ohio lien facts: