Josephine County probate court Guide

OREGON'S SIMPLIFIED ROUTE APPLIES TWO SEPARATE CAPS AND BOTH MUST HOLD: not more than $75,000 of the fair market value of the estate may be attributable to personal property other than manufactured homes, AND not more than $200,000 may be attributable to the combined fair market value of real property and manufactured homes (ORS 114.510(1)(a)). There is no $275,000 aggregate test in current law; $275,000 is only the sum of the two caps, and treating it as one figure passes an estate that is closed out, because $250,000 of pure personal property sits under $275,000 while blowing the $75,000 cap. Fair market value is measured WITHOUT reducing for mortgages or other debts, so a house with little equity still counts at its full value. Unlike most states' small-estate affidavits this one REACHES REAL PROPERTY, and a manufactured home counts against the real-property cap rather than the personal-property one. A will does not close the route: ORS 114.510(1)(b) is an express testate alternative. The affidavit is filed with the clerk of the probate court, which in this county is the Josephine County Circuit Court, not later than 30 days after the death.

• At least 30 days must have passed since the death (ORS 114.515(3))
• The filer must be a claiming successor, a person named as personal representative in the will, or the state where assistance may be recoverable (ORS 114.515(1))
• The filer must not be disqualified under ORS 113.095 and must not have a felony conviction in Oregon or elsewhere (ORS 114.515(2))
• The affidavit must contain everything ORS 114.525 requires, including the ORS 114.535 notice of the duty to pay debt or turn over property in at least 14-point bold type
• A certified copy of the death certificate, and where the decedent left a will the original will with proof of the signature under ORS 113.055(1)
• A copy must be mailed to the Department of Human Services and to the Oregon Health Authority
• A $124 filing fee under ORS 21.145 as applied by ORS 114.515(5); an amended affidavit is free

Qualifies:

$75,000 personal property and $200,000 real property including manufactured homes, and BOTH caps must hold

Filing fee:

$124

source

Typical duration:

5-6 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

VOCABULARY: Oregon calls this a SIMPLE ESTATE AFFIDAVIT, not a small estate affidavit. 2023 Or. Laws ch. 17 renamed it and ORS 114.510 is captioned 'Simple estate criteria'. The document the affiant signs is still called an Affidavit of Claiming Successor, and both names are in circulation on official Oregon sites, so a reader may meet either. The statewide Oregon Judicial Department packet carries NO numeric form number; its identity is the name plus the 'OJD OFFICIAL (Jun 2026)' stamp on every page, and no number is asserted here. The creditor window on this route runs four months from the date the affidavit was FILED, not from any publication, because there is no publication on this route (ORS 114.540(1)(a)). The affiant is a fiduciary under ORS 114.545 with a duty to administer, preserve, settle and distribute, not merely a person collecting property.

An interested person, or the person nominated in the will, petitions the Josephine County Circuit Court for appointment of a personal representative and for probate of the will (ORS 113.035). Letters issue, the personal representative gives information to heirs and devisees, publishes notice to interested persons once, notifies the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority within 30 days of appointment, files an inventory within 90 days, works through a four-month creditor window and closes with a final account and a judgment of final distribution.

• Petition under ORS 113.035, filed in a county with venue under ORS 113.015
• Bond unless excused under ORS 113.105(2)
• Information to devisees, heirs and interested persons upon appointment (ORS 113.145(1))
• Notice to the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority, with a copy of the death record, within 30 days of appointment (ORS 113.145(6))
• Publication of the notice to interested persons once (ORS 113.155)
• Inventory within 90 days of appointment (ORS 113.165)
• Final account and petition for distribution, with 20 days' notice of the objection date (ORS 116.093)

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. This is the ordinary Oregon route wherever the simple estate affidavit is unavailable or unsuitable.

Typical duration:

9-18 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

The filing fee is graduated by the value of the estate. See the fees block: $278, $591, $882 or $1,176 under ORS 21.170(1), plus $35, $298, $591 or $1,176 for each annual or final accounting under ORS 21.170(2).

An interested person or the person nominated in the will petitions for appointment of a personal representative and for probate of the will (ORS 113.035). The court appoints a qualified and suitable person in the ORS 113.085 preference order, letters issue, and the personal representative gives information to heirs and devisees, publishes notice to interested persons once, notifies the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority within 30 days, searches for creditors over three months, files an inventory within 90 days, and closes with a final account and a judgment of final distribution.

• Petition under ORS 113.035 in a county with venue under ORS 113.015
• Bond unless excused under ORS 113.105(2)
• Information to devisees, heirs and interested persons upon appointment (ORS 113.145(1))
• Notice to DHS and OHA with a copy of the death record within 30 days of appointment (ORS 113.145(6))
• Publication of notice to interested persons once (ORS 113.155)
• Inventory within 90 days of appointment (ORS 113.165)
• Final account and petition for distribution, with 20 days' notice of the objection date (ORS 116.093)

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. This is the ordinary route wherever the simple estate affidavit is unavailable or unsuitable.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Oregon's simplified route, filed with the clerk of the probate court rather than administered out of court. It reaches BOTH real and personal property, which is unusual, and it puts manufactured homes with real property. The affiant is a fiduciary under ORS 114.545 with a duty to administer, preserve, settle and distribute the estate.

• At least 30 days must have passed since the death (ORS 114.515(3))
• The filer must be a claiming successor, a person named as personal representative in the will, or the state where assistance may be recoverable (ORS 114.515(1))
• The filer must not be disqualified under ORS 113.095 and must not have a felony conviction in Oregon or elsewhere (ORS 114.515(2))
• The affidavit must contain the information required by ORS 114.525, including the ORS 114.535 notice of duty to pay debt or turn over property in at least 14-point bold type
• A $124 fee under ORS 21.145 as applied by ORS 114.515(5)

Qualifies:

TWO CAPS THAT MUST BOTH HOLD: not more than $75,000 of the fair market value attributable to personal property other than manufactured homes, AND not more than $200,000 attributable to the combined fair market value of real property and manufactured homes. There is no $275,000 aggregate figure in current law.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Oregon's fast exit for a modest estate with a dependent family. Four months after the publication of the notice to interested persons, the court may order that the whole estate, after claims, taxes and the expenses of administration, be set apart for the support of the surviving spouse and dependent children. There is then no further proceeding and the estate is summarily closed. It is not an alternative to opening a probate: a personal representative must already have been appointed and notice already published, because the four months run from that publication.

• A personal representative must already be appointed and the notice to interested persons already published
• Four months must have run from the date of publication
• Reasonable provision for the support of the surviving spouse and dependent children must warrant setting apart the whole estate

Qualifies:

No dollar threshold. The gate is that reasonable provision for support warrants setting the whole estate apart.

Typical duration:

5 months

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Oregon does NOT use the Uniform Probate Code trio of a fixed family allowance, exempt property allowance and homestead allowance, and a file showing Oregon with one of those figures has imported another state's law. What Oregon has is this discretionary set-aside, the ORS 114.015 'necessary and reasonable provision' for support with no statutory figure at all, a one-year right to occupy the principal dwelling under ORS 114.005, and the ORS 114.065 cap of one-half the estimated estate value where the estate is insolvent.

Not a court proceeding at all. Where a deposit is $25,000 or less, an insured institution (ORS 708A.430) or a credit union (ORS 723.466) may pay it on an affidavit to a statutory priority list: the surviving spouse at any time; then the Oregon Health Authority or the Department of Human Services where they hold a preferred claim and demand between 46 and 75 days after the death; then adult children, a surviving parent, adult siblings, and any other heir. ORS 708A.430(7) says in terms that a probate proceeding is not necessary.

• An affidavit meeting ORS 708A.430(3), or an ORS 708A.430(4) declaration from DHS or OHA
• For anyone other than the surviving spouse, no payment earlier than 46 days after the death, and none earlier than 76 days without prior authorization from OHA and DHS

Qualifies:

A deposit of $25,000 or less at the institution

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one

Oregon enacted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act at ORS 93.948 to 93.979 (2011 Or. Laws ch. 212). The deed is revocable whatever it says, is nontestamentary, and takes effect only at death. A statutory form is provided at ORS 93.975.

• The essential elements and formalities of a properly recordable inter vivos deed
• A statement that the transfer to the designated beneficiary is to occur at the transferor's death
• The designated beneficiary identified BY NAME; a designation identifying beneficiaries only as members of a class is void
• RECORDED BEFORE THE TRANSFEROR'S DEATH in the deed records in the office of the county clerk for the county where the property is located

Qualifies:

Not applicable. A transfer on death deed recorded before the transferor's death passes the described real property at death without probate.

Attorney:

not required by law, though many families use one