Ohio Rev. Code Ann. § 2113.04 – Payment of wages of deceased employee without administration

(A) Any employer, including the state or a political subdivision, at any time after the death of an employee, may pay all wages or personal earnings due to the deceased employee to the following, preference being given in the order named, without requiring letters testamentary or letters of administration to be issued upon the estate of the deceased employee, and without requiring an Ohio estate tax release if the wages or personal earnings do not exceed five thousand dollars:
1. (1) The surviving spouse;
2. (2) Any one or more of the children eighteen years of age or older;
3. (3) The father or mother of the deceased employee.
(B) The payment of wages or personal earnings under division (A) of this section is a full discharge and release to the employer from any claim for the wages or personal earnings. If letters testamentary or letters of administration are thereafter issued upon the estate of the deceased employee, any person receiving payment of wages or personal earnings under that division is liable to the executor or administrator for the sum received by the person.