Does the inheritance tax apply?

Estate tax is levied on the estate of a deceased. The federal exemption is $5,000,000, while the Ohio exemption is $338,000. Since you don't state to whom you are paying the money, I can't tell whether the will be a transfer tax applicable, but there will not be an inheritance tax, if the estate is less than the above exemptions.

Inheritance tax applies if the net value of the estate's assets exceeds the $1,000,000 threshold. How the tax (if any) is apportioned among the assets will depend upon the language of the will. If you are buying the property for fair market value rather than inheriting it, transferee liability should not apply.

The I.R.S. instituted a gift tax on inter vivos gifts, or gifts given during a person's lifetime. The purpose of this was to prevent individuals from giving property of money to relatives during their lives tax-free in order to avoid having to pay estate taxes. Estate taxes are only paid after the death of the owner of the property/assets, so this would not apply in your particular instance. The only tax that would potentially apply is a gift tax. If, for instance, the property is worth $100,000, and you only pay $5,000, then the I.R.S. may view the transfer as a gift to you in the amount of $95,000. This, of course, depends upon whether the I.R.S. becomes aware of this transfer, but they did begin looking into these types of transactions more extensively beginning in March of 2011.