Probate Court

About Probate Court

Welcome to the Guernsey County Probate Court website. The Probate Court is located on the second floor of the historic Guernsey County Court House. The Probate Court has over 200 separate duties that it is charged with by the Ohio Revised Code. These duties range from the issuing of marriage licenses to overseeing testamentary trusts valued in millions of dollars.

The term “Probate” comes from the Latin word Probatio, meaning “to prove”, wherein matters in early English religious courts were proven before an ecclesiastical judge. Early American probate courts may be traced back to those English ecclesiastical or religious courts, which had jurisdiction over the probate of wills and administration of estates.

In Ohio the Court of Common Pleas had exclusive jurisdiction of probate matters under the first Ohio Constitution written in 1802. Over the years amendments have been made to Ohio’s Constitution whereby the Probate Court now is a special division of the Court of Common Pleas. Each of Ohio’s 88 counties has a probate division of its Court of Common Pleas.

See our Annual Report (PDF)

See Probate Services