Skip to main content

Oregon Probate Guide

County-specific probate filing-office contacts, filing fees, required forms, and step-by-step guidance for families settling an estate in Oregon.

Find Your County

Do I Need Probate?Free assessment toolEstate ChecklistStep-by-step tasksFee CalculatorEstimate your costsGlossaryLegal terms explainedFirst StepsWhat to do firstEstate PlanningPlan your own will & POA

Types of Probate in Oregon

Oregon is the rare state where WHICH COURT hears probate is not the same answer everywhere. ORS 111.075 vests jurisdiction of all probate matters in the COUNTY COURTS of Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler counties, and in the CIRCUIT COURT for each of the other 30 counties. Those six counties also have a circuit court and it does not hear their probate, though ORS 111.115 lets a county court transfer an estate proceeding to the circuit court at any time and requires the transfer where the county judge is a party or directly interested, so the county court is the default forum there rather than the only one. The simplified route is the SIMPLE ESTATE AFFIDAVIT, renamed from the small estate affidavit by 2023 Or. Laws ch. 17, and it is unusual twice over: it is FILED with the clerk of the probate court rather than handed to a bank, and it reaches real property as well as personal property. It turns on two caps in ORS 114.510(1)(a) that must BOTH hold, $75,000 of personal property other than manufactured homes and $200,000 of real property and manufactured homes combined, so the $275,000 that people quote is only the sum of the two and is not a test Oregon applies. Everything else is a full administration, and the filing fee for one steps up with the value of the estate under ORS 21.170 instead of being a single number.

See the full comparison of Oregon probate typesWhich procedures exist, who qualifies, and how the timelines compare.
Not sure which applies? Take the assessment →

Find your county

Oregon Probate Filing Offices by County

Choose your county to get its probate court contacts, filing fees, and required forms. 36 counties have detailed data.

Full data available: BakerFull data available: BentonFull data available: ClackamasFull data available: ClatsopFull data available: ColumbiaFull data available: CoosFull data available: CrookFull data available: CurryFull data available: DeschutesFull data available: DouglasFull data available: GilliamFull data available: Grant
Show all 36 counties
Full data available: HarneyFull data available: Hood RiverFull data available: JacksonFull data available: JeffersonFull data available: JosephineFull data available: KlamathFull data available: LakeFull data available: LaneFull data available: LincolnFull data available: LinnFull data available: MalheurFull data available: MarionFull data available: MorrowFull data available: MultnomahFull data available: PolkFull data available: ShermanFull data available: TillamookFull data available: UmatillaFull data available: UnionFull data available: WallowaFull data available: WascoFull data available: WashingtonFull data available: WheelerFull data available: Yamhill

Want a probate attorney to handle this?

We can connect you with a local attorney in Oregon.

Connect

Settled Estate is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

Oregon Probate Guides

View all guides
Oregon Probate Guide
ORAug 25, 2026

Oregon Probate Guide

How to Avoid Probate in Oregon
ORAug 25, 2026

How to Avoid Probate in Oregon

Oregon Probate Timeline
ORAug 25, 2026

Oregon Probate Timeline

Oregon Executor Duties
ORAug 25, 2026

Oregon Executor Duties

Oregon Letters Testamentary
ORAug 25, 2026

Oregon Letters Testamentary

Oregon Advance Directive
ORAug 25, 2026

Oregon Advance Directive

Browse Oregon guide topics

Jump to court, executor, tax, planning, property, and probate-avoidance guides that match your next task.

Probate Basics

6

Forms & Court

1

Executor Duties

3

Taxes & Deadlines

10

Planning Documents

7

Property Transfer

1

Avoiding Probate

2
Full guide library

Oregon Probate Self-Help and Online Resources

Oregon Estate Law Overview

Oregon Estate Tax Info

Oregon tax information for estates

No
Inheritance Tax

Who Inherits Without a Will?

Intestate succession decides who inherits when someone dies without a valid will. Oregon applies ORS 112.025 to 112.055 to any part of the net estate a will does not effectively dispose of, so an estate can be partly testate and partly intestate at the same time.

Oregon Homestead Protection

Oregon's homestead is a CREDITOR EXEMPTION, not a probate descent rule. ORS 18.395 exempts a homestead from sale on execution, from the lien of every judgment and from liability in any form for the owner's debts, up to a dollar value. Nothing in it gives a surviving spouse or child any interest in the house.

Exempt Property

OREGON HAS NO FIXED-DOLLAR FAMILY ALLOWANCE, NO EXEMPT-PROPERTY ALLOWANCE AND NO HOMESTEAD ALLOWANCE. It does not use the Uniform Probate Code trio. What it has is ORS 114.015, under which the court BY ORDER makes 'necessary and reasonable provision from the estate of a decedent for the support of the spouse and dependent children', plus a one-year right under ORS 114.005 to keep occupying the principal dwelling.

Oregon Probate Questions

How much does probate cost in Oregon?
Oregon probate filing fees vary by county and type of administration. Typical costs include the court filing fee plus certified copy fees, publication notice fees where notice is required, and potential bond premiums. Use our free Oregon fee calculator for county-specific estimates.
How long does probate take in Oregon?
Oregon probate timelines vary by route. A full administration usually runs 9 to 18 months. The simple estate affidavit usually finishes in 5 to 6 months, and it cannot start at all until 30 days after the death (ORS 114.515(3)). A bank deposit affidavit under ORS 708A.430 or ORS 723.466 can release a deposit of $25,000 or less in about two months without any court step, though nobody other than a surviving spouse may be paid earlier than 46 days after the death. Setting the whole estate apart for support under ORS 114.085 takes about five months and runs inside an administration rather than instead of one, because its four months are counted from the date notice was published. The clock that sets the floor on a full administration is the creditor window, and its anchor is publication rather than the death or the grant of letters: a claim is barred unless presented to the personal representative within four months after the date of publication of the notice to interested persons (ORS 115.005(2)(a)), and a creditor entitled to a written ORS 115.003(2) notice gets the LATER of that four months and 45 days after the notice is delivered or mailed, so the 45 days is never a ceiling. Publication is mandatory, once, upon appointment, unless the petition states that no assets are known (ORS 113.155). Two other fixed dates shape the front of the case: information to devisees, heirs and interested persons upon appointment, with notice to the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority and a copy of the death record within 30 days (ORS 113.145), and an inventory within 90 days of appointment (ORS 113.165). On the affidavit route there is no publication at all and the four months run from the date the affidavit was filed (ORS 114.540(1)(a)).
Do I need an attorney for probate in Oregon?
Oregon requires no attorney for any probate route. ORS 111.205(2) lets a personal representative or an affiant appear on their own behalf, and nothing in ORS chapter 113 conditions appointment on having counsel. Three Oregon features are worth weighing before deciding to file alone. First, the Oregon Judicial Department's statewide Self-Help Center carries no probate topic at all and its forms panel routes people back to their local court, so how much help the counter gives is a per-court question. The Forms Center says in terms that court staff cannot give legal advice, which it says includes telling you which form to choose, while ORS 9.160(3) permits Judicial Department staff acting under the Chief Justice's authorization to assist with selecting and completing court forms; both are official and current, so what you actually get depends on where you file. Second, a fee waiver or deferral is available in either forum, and ORS 21.680 to 21.700 reach the county courts as well as the circuit courts. Third, the personal representative's own commission is set by ORS 116.173 and is payable only on application to the court, and attorney fees charged to the estate are allowed under ORS 116.183 on a reasonableness test rather than as a percentage, so neither figure is fixed in advance. Counsel is usual where the estate is insolvent, where a will is contested, where real property has to be sold, or where an Oregon estate transfer tax return is due under ORS chapter 118.
Are these Oregon probate resources county-specific?
No. This map shows state-level source links from Settled data. Use it with the Oregon county page and the county office handling the estate before filing.
Which Oregon source should I use first?
Start with the official court, form, or agency source for the task, then confirm local requirements with the county filing office, clerk, register, or office that accepts the filing.
Does the Oregon Probate Resource Map replace attorney review?
No. The map is source navigation. It helps families find current public sources, but it does not decide eligibility, prepare filings, or replace advice from counsel.