Bankruptcy laws are designed to give debtors a fresh financial start. Ohio, like most other states, has its own bankruptcy laws. Ohio bankruptcy laws are specifically designed for Ohio citizens. The law primarily includes the federal statutory law contained in Title 11 of the United States Code. However, bankruptcy cases in Ohio follow the state's bankruptcy laws, not federal bankruptcy laws.

The two courts in Ohio engaged in bankruptcy cases are federal bankruptcy courts that follow Ohio law. They are Ohio Northern Bankruptcy Court and Ohio Southern Bankruptcy Court. Ohio bankruptcy law forms can be downloaded or accessed directly from a form provider. The form to be selected depends on whether the debtor files a Chapter 7 bankruptcy or a Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

Exemptions based on Ohio bankruptcy laws help protect exempted properties from creditors. Properties exempted by Ohio bankruptcy laws include a residence up to $5,000, one automobile of up to $1,000, cash up to $400, a cooking range and refrigerator totaling up to $600, personal injury awards up to $5,000, death benefits up to $5,000, household goods and furniture for $1,500, jewelry up to $3,500, tools of trade up to $750, wild card and personal properties up to $400, as well as all pension and education plans. Ohio bankruptcy laws also allow exemptions on health aids, alimony and child support aids, property of business partnerships, ERISA-qualified benefits, retirement benefits, firefighters' and police officers' death benefits, group life insurance policy benefits, and seal and office registers.

The new Ohio bankruptcy law that took effect April 20, 2005, states that the value of the state homestead exemption is reduced by any addition to the value by disposition of non-exempt property during the ten years prior to the bankruptcy filing. Federal supplemental exemptions can be used in conjunction with Ohio exemptions. If one is not a permanent citizen of Ohio or has changed states frequently in the course of the past five years, one does not follow Ohio bankruptcy laws. Instead, the law of the state where one spent most of these years becomes operational.