Assets generally avoid probate in Ohio when valid legal paperwork directs them to a surviving owner, named beneficiary, or trustee without requiring an executor to transfer them. Common examples include life insurance and retirement accounts with living beneficiaries, payable-on-death bank accounts, property owned with survivorship rights, assets held in a funded trust, and real estate covered by a valid transfer-on-death affidavit. The phrase “avoids probate” should not be mistaken for “has no legal consequences.” Nonprobate property may still affect taxes, creditor rights, Medicaid estate-recovery analysis, a surviving spouse’s rights, and the overall fairness of an estate plan. The transfer also fails if the named beneficiary died first, the form was…