Depositing a Will
Ohio Revised Code §§ 2107.07 through 2107.08

 § 2107.07 Deposit of will.

A will may be deposited by the testator, or by some person for the testator, in the office of the judge of the probate court in the county in which the testator lives. That will shall be safely kept until delivered or disposed of as provided by section 2107.08 of the Revised Code. The judge, on being paid the fee of five dollars, shall receive, keep, and give a certificate of deposit for the will.

Every will that is so deposited shall be enclosed in a sealed envelope that shall be indorsed with the name of the testator. The judge shall indorse on the envelope the date of delivery and the person by whom the will was delivered. The envelope may be indorsed with the name of a person to whom it is to be delivered after the death of the testator. The will shall not be opened or read until delivered to a person entitled to receive it, until the testator files a complaint in the probate court for a declaratory judgment of the validity of the will pursuant to section 2107.081 of the Revised Code, or until otherwise disposed of as provided in section 2107.08 of the Revised Code.

§ 2107.08 Delivery of deposited will.

During the lifetime of a testator, the testator's will, deposited according to section 2107.07 of the Revised Code, shall be delivered only to the testator, to some person authorized by the testator by a written order, or to a probate court for a determination of its validity when the testator so requests. After the testator's death, the will shall be delivered to the person named in the indorsement on the envelope of the will, if there is a person named who demands it. If the testator has filed a complaint in the probate court for a judgment declaring the validity of the will pursuant to section 2107.081 of the Revised Code and the court has rendered the judgment, the probate judge with possession shall deliver the will to the proper probate court as determined under section 2107.11 of the Revised Code, upon the death of the testator, for probate.

If no person named in the indorsement demands the will and it is not one that has been declared valid pursuant to section 2107.084 of the Revised Code, it shall be publicly opened in the probate court within one month after notice of the testator's death and retained in the office of the probate judge until offered for probate. If the jurisdiction belongs to any other probate court, the will shall be delivered to the person entitled to its custody, to be presented for probate in the other court. If the probate judge who opens the will has jurisdiction of it, the probate judge immediately shall give notice of its existence to the executor named in the will or, if any, to the persons holding a power to nominate an executor as described in section 2107.65 of the Revised Code, or, if it is the case, to the executor named in the will and to the persons holding a power to nominate a coexecutor as described in that section. If no executor is named and no persons hold a power to nominate an executor as described in that section, the probate judge shall give notice to other persons immediately interested.