Ohio Still Tests Dower Rights: What Most Candidates Miss

Ohio still recognizes Dower Rights, a concept abolished in most other states, and the ODRE tests it every single exam.

The PSI exam for Ohio tests 40 state specific questions alongside 80 national questions, with a 70% minimum passing score. Dower rights, Consumer Guide to Agency formatting requirements, and dual agency consent are areas where Ohio statutes diverge significantly from national norms. On these three topics, candidates who relied on general prep lose the most points. Here's the thing most people miss: Ohio isn't just a little different from national norms. On these three topics, it's operating in its own legal universe.

Dower Rights

Ohio is one of only six states still recognizing dower rights, a doctrine most other states abolished decades ago, and the ODRE tests it because candidates who trained on national materials have often never encountered it.

Ohio is one of only six states still recognizing dower rights, granting a surviving spouse a one-third life estate, the exam hammers the requirement that both spouses must sign the deed to release dower, even if only one is on title.

The exam tests whether both spouses must sign the deed, what the dower interest entitles the surviving spouse to receive, and what happens if the dower release is missing from a transaction. Each scenario appears on the state portion. Why did the Ohio closing take so long? The spouse hadn't signed yet. (That joke writes itself in Ohio, unfortunately.)

Consumer Guide to Agency

Ohio's Consumer Guide to Agency Relationships has two requirements that trip up candidates: a specific font size minimum and a specific delivery timing tied to showings. Miss either one and the question is wrong.

Ohio requires the Consumer Guide to Agency Relationships printed in no smaller than 14-point font and delivered to sellers before any showing, miss the precise timing and formatting requirements and you miss the question.

The ODRE exam will ask the minimum font size, when the guide must be delivered relative to any showing, and what happens if it's provided after the showing has already occurred. These aren't general concepts but specific Ohio requirements. I know, I know, a disclosure rule that tests font size. But this one actually matters on the exam.

Dual Agency Consent

Ohio's dual agency consent statute requires written disclosure that spells out specific limitations on representation. It's a more prescriptive standard than what most candidates learn from national materials, and the exact level of detail the ODRE exam tests.

Dual agency consent requirements vary in the Midwest. Kentucky requires agency disclosure under its Consumer Protection Act framework, and Michigan governs dual agency under Occupational Code Article 25. Ohio's dual agency consent statute requires written disclosure with a specific explanation of the limitations on representation that neither neighbor mandates in the same form.

Written consent from both parties is required, and the agent must disclose all relevant information for an "informed decision", plus the client's right to refuse dual agency and seek other representation.

Know that Ohio requires written consent from both parties, that the agent must explain the specific services they won't perform for each side, and that each client retains the right to refuse dual agency and seek separate representation. All three elements are tested on the state portion.