The jurisdiction of the Probate Court is defined in Ohio Revised Code § 2101.24. The Code places many diverse duties upon the Court.

The Franklin County Probate Court provides a variety of services to the legal community, as well as the general public. The Court consists of one (1) Judge, one (1) chief magistrate, six (6) magistrates, one (1) court administrator, one (1) bailiff and thirty-seven (37) deputy clerks. With the assistance of these people, the Court handles the following administrative functions: the probating of wills, estate administrations (full estates and releases from administration), trusts, guardianships of incompetent adults and minors, commitment hearings for the mentally ill and mentally challenged, adoptions, birth corrections, name changes, delayed birth registrations, custodial accounts, lost heir accounts, order disinterments, court ordered healthcare for persons with tuberculosis (TB) and acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), Adult Protective Services cases, and issues approximately 9,000 marriage licenses per year. In addition, the court tries litigation issues in all the above matters.

A unique aspect of the Probate Court is that the Probate Judge is the ex-officio Clerk of Court, thus, the Judge in addition to performing judicial duties, also performs all the duties as the Clerk of the Court (indexing, filing, docketing, imaging, microfilming, etc.).