Oregon Probate Deadlines

Oregon probate deadlines hang on the day the notice to interested persons is published. A claim against the estate is barred four months after that publication date (ORS 115.005(2)(a)), the will contest window closes on the same four months (ORS 113.075(3)), and the inventory is due 90 days after the court appoints a personal representative (ORS 113.165). Almost nothing runs from the death itself.

This page lists every dated duty an Oregon estate carries, groups each one under the day that starts its clock, and says what the statute does when the date passes. For how the filing process fits together, start with the Oregon probate guide. For how long the whole thing takes, the duration answer lives on its own page.

Oregon Runs Eleven Separate Clocks

Most wrong Oregon dates come from reading a period off the wrong event. Only some of these clocks start at the death, and several start on a day the personal representative picks.

Oregon Probate Deadlines at a Glance

Deadlines That Run From the Death

5 Days: The Report of Death

A report of death must go through the state electronic reporting system to the Center for Health Statistics within five calendar days after the death, and before final disposition (ORS 432.133(1)(a)). The funeral service practitioner who first takes custody of the body files it, and where there is no funeral service practitioner the medical examiner does (ORS 432.133(2)(a)).

This one is not the executor's job. It sits at the top of the list because the certified death certificate that everything else needs, including the copy of the death record that ORS 113.145(6) requires, comes out of this registration.

30 Days: Deliver the Will

Any person holding a will has to deliver it to a court having jurisdiction of the estate, or to a personal representative named in the will, within 30 days after receiving information that the testator has died (ORS 112.810(1)(f)). The clock runs from the day the custodian learns of the death, so a lawyer who hears late has correspondingly longer. Where the will sits in a safe deposit box, the financial institution that complies with ORS 708A.655 or ORS 723.844 is treated as having complied with this section (ORS 112.810(2)).

30 Days: The Simple Estate Affidavit Opens

A simple estate affidavit may not be filed until 30 days after the death (ORS 114.515(3)). Oregon renamed this route in 2023, so a page still calling it a small estate affidavit is quoting retired vocabulary. The estate qualifies only where both caps in ORS 114.510(1)(a) hold: not more than $75,000 of fair market value attributable to personal property other than manufactured homes, and not more than $200,000 attributable to real property and manufactured homes combined.

46 Days and 76 Days: Deposits Without a Probate

Where a deceased person's deposit at one insured institution is $25,000 or less, the institution may pay it out on an affidavit with no probate proceeding at all. A surviving spouse may demand payment at any time after the death (ORS 708A.430(1)(a)). Everyone else waits. An insured institution may not pay an adult child, a surviving parent, an adult sibling or any other heir earlier than 46 days after the death, and may not pay earlier than 76 days unless it first gets authorization from the Oregon Health Authority and the Department of Human Services (ORS 708A.430(2)). ORS 723.466(2) sets the same two dates for a credit union.

9 Months: The Elective Share Election

A surviving spouse claims the elective share only by filing, within nine months after the death, a petition for appointment of a personal representative together with a motion to elect, a motion to elect in the probate proceeding already open, or a petition under ORS 114.720(1) (ORS 114.610(1)). The amount scales with the length of the marriage, from 5 percent of the augmented estate under two years to 33 percent at 15 years or more (ORS 114.605(2)). Anything the spouse receives as support under ORS 114.015 comes on top of that share (ORS 114.600(2)).

Nine months runs from the death rather than from appointment or publication, so a spouse who waits for the probate to develop can lose the right outright. The Oregon surviving spouse rights page covers the augmented estate and the waiver rules.

12 Months, and 9 for the Federal Return

For a decedent who died on or after January 1, 2012, an Oregon estate tax return is not required unless the value of the gross estate is $1 million or more (ORS 118.160(1)(c)). The Department of Revenue adds the second half of the test: the estate also has to contain property taxable by Oregon. Where a return is required, the return and the payment are both due no later than 12 months following the date of death (ORS 118.100(1)). The Department of Revenue points executors to Form OR-706 EXT for a six-month extension of time to file and says plainly that an extension to file does not extend the time to pay.

Read the date of death before quoting the twelve months. For a decedent who died before January 1, 2022, the return and payment were due nine months after death, or on the date the federal estate tax was payable. 2021 Oregon Laws chapter 372 replaced that wording with the flat twelve months, and section 2 of the act applies the change to estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2022.

The federal return runs on a different calendar. Form 706 is due within nine months after the date of death, with Form 4768 available for an automatic six-month extension of time to file, per the IRS Instructions for Form 706. An executor of a large Oregon estate faces two returns three months apart.

One Year: The Family Stays in the House

The spouse and dependent children occupying the decedent's principal dwelling at the death may keep occupying it until one year after the death, or until the earlier end of the decedent's interest where that interest was a leasehold or something less than a fee (ORS 114.005(1)). During that year they may not commit waste or let liens attach, they insure the dwelling to the extent of the fair market value of the improvements with loss payable to the estate, and they pay taxes and improvement liens as they fall due (ORS 114.005(2)). The court may waive or alter the right for good cause (ORS 114.005(3)).

18 Months: Transfer on Death Deed Property

Property that passed by transfer on death deed is still reachable. Where the probate estate cannot satisfy an allowed claim or a statutory allowance to a surviving spouse or child under ORS 114.015, the estate may enforce that liability against the transferred property, apportioned by net value across multiple transferred properties (ORS 93.973(1), (2)). A proceeding to enforce it must be commenced not later than 18 months after the transferor's death (ORS 93.973(3)).

Oregon Sets No Deadline for Opening Probate

ORS 113.035 lets any interested person, or the person nominated as personal representative in the will, petition for appointment, and it names no time limit. Any source giving a number of days for opening an Oregon probate is quoting something other than the statute.

Delay still costs the family, because almost every clock on this page starts at appointment or at publication and neither happens until the court grants the petition. ORS 113.027 supplies the one outer bound worth knowing: a will may not be admitted to probate, and an estate may not be reopened to admit one, more than one year after the decedent's estate has been administered in Oregon and closed.

Deadlines That Run From Your Appointment

Information to Heirs, With Proof Filed in 30 Days

Upon appointment the personal representative delivers or mails to the devisees, heirs and the persons described in ORS 113.035(8) and (9) a package of information: the title of the court and the clerk's file number, the decedent's name and the place and date of death, whether a will has been admitted, the names and addresses of the personal representative and the attorney, the date of appointment, and a statement that the recipient's rights may be affected by the proceeding (ORS 113.145(1)). A person named because they contest the will also gets a warning that their rights may be barred unless they proceed under ORS 113.075 within four months, and a person named under ORS 113.035(9) gets the parallel warning about ORS 112.049.

Two things about this duty catch people out. The statute says "upon appointment" and attaches no number of days to the delivery, so there is no heir-notice day count to calendar. The dated half is the filing. Within 30 days after the date of appointment the personal representative files proof of the delivery or mailing, or a waiver of notice under ORS 111.225, and the proof has to include a copy of the information sent and the names of everyone it went to (ORS 113.145(4)).

The duty also keeps running after that. Where the personal representative learns before the final account that the petition left out a person described in ORS 113.035(4), (5), (7), (8) or (9), they make reasonable efforts to find the name and address, deliver the information promptly, and file proof of compliance on or before filing the final account (ORS 113.145(5)).

30 Days: The Notice That Needs a Death Record

Within 30 days after the appointment the personal representative mails or delivers the same ORS 113.145(1) information, plus a copy of the decedent's death record, to the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority (ORS 113.145(6)). This is the notice the state reads before deciding whether to present a Medicaid estate recovery claim. Order one more certified death certificate than the family thinks it needs, because the statute asks for the record itself rather than a recital of the death.

Publication, and Why It Sets the Rest of the Calendar

Upon appointment the personal representative causes a notice to interested persons to be published once, in a newspaper published in the county where the proceeding is pending, or in a newspaper the court designates where none is published there (ORS 113.155(1)). The notice carries the court, the decedent's name, the personal representative's name and the address for claims, the date of publication, and a statement requiring anyone with a claim to present it within four months after the date of publication (ORS 113.155(2)). Proof of publication, including a copy of the published notice, goes into the estate file (ORS 113.155(4)).

Publication is not optional in Oregon, and the day it runs is the single most consequential date in the estate. One exception exists: the section does not apply where the petition states that no assets are known and none have come to the personal representative. Where assets later appear, publication has to begin within 30 days after the filing of the inventory or supplemental inventory that first shows them (ORS 113.155(5)).

90 Days: The Inventory

Within 90 days after the date of appointment, unless the court grants longer, the personal representative files an inventory of all estate property that has come into their possession or knowledge, showing their own estimates of fair market value as of the date of death (ORS 113.165). A personal representative who has received nothing still files, stating exactly that.

Property that surfaces later has its own 30 days. Whenever estate property not on the inventory comes into the personal representative's possession or knowledge, they either file a supplemental inventory within 30 days of receiving possession or knowledge, or include the property in the next accounting (ORS 113.175(1)). Where the inventory said no assets were known, the supplemental inventory is mandatory within 30 days of assets appearing (ORS 113.175(2)).

Three Months, Then 30 Days, Then 60 Days

Oregon puts a search before the notice. During the three months following appointment the personal representative makes reasonably diligent efforts to investigate the decedent's financial records and affairs and to identify each person who has or asserts a claim, and the court must allow longer on request where the work cannot be finished in time (ORS 115.003(1)).

Two filings hang off the end of that period rather than off the appointment. Not later than 30 days after the period expires, including any extension, the personal representative delivers or mails a notice to each person known to have or assert a claim, warning that a claim not presented within 45 days of the date of the notice may be barred (ORS 115.003(2), (3)). Not later than 60 days after the same period expires, proof of compliance goes into the estate file: a copy of the form of each notice, the date each was sent, and the name and address of each recipient (ORS 115.003(4)). An extension of the search period moves both of those dates with it.

Every Year, Plus 60 Days

Unless the court orders otherwise, the personal representative files an account of the administration annually, within 60 days after the anniversary date of the appointment (ORS 116.083(1)(a)). An account is also due within 30 days after a resignation, and within 30 days after a removal or a revocation of letters (ORS 116.083(1)(b), (c)), when the estate is ready for final settlement, and at any other time the court orders. Each account states the period covered, the value charged to the personal representative, the money and property received and disbursed, what remains on hand, and a declaration under penalty of perjury (ORS 116.083(2)). The personal representative duties page covers what goes into each one.

The Four-Month Clocks All Run From Publication

Four separate clocks turn on the same date, three of them closing a right and one opening one, which is why the proof of publication is the piece of paper to keep at the front of the file.

1. The creditor bar. A claim is barred from payment out of the estate if it is not presented within its own statute of limitations and before the later of four months after the date of publication, or, for a creditor the personal representative was required to notify individually, 45 days after that notice was delivered or mailed (ORS 115.005(2)). Claims go to the personal representative: ORS 115.005(1)(a) says filing a claim with the court does not count as presenting it. The creditor bar and the narrow late-claim route in ORS 115.005(3) are covered in full on the creditor claims page.
2. The will contest. An action contesting the probate of the will, contesting its validity, or asserting an interest in the estate has to be commenced before the later of four months after the ORS 113.145 information was delivered or mailed to the contestant, and four months after the date of publication where the contestant was not required to be named in the petition (ORS 113.075(3)).
3. The parental forfeiture petition. A person who would benefit from forfeiting a parent's intestate share under ORS 112.047 files the petition not later than four months after the ORS 113.145 information, or four months after publication where they were not required to be named. Where nothing was published, the period is one year after the date of death (ORS 112.049(2)).
4. The whole-estate support order. After four months have run from the date of publication, where reasonable provision for the support of the spouse and dependent children warrants it, the court may order the whole estate set apart for that support after claims, taxes and expenses of administration. There is then no further proceeding and the estate is summarily closed (ORS 114.085).

A fifth date sits further out on the same anchor. A creditor whose claim has been allowed or established and who has not been paid within six months after the date of publication may apply for an order directing the personal representative to pay it, to the extent estate funds are available (ORS 115.185).

Deadlines That Answer Somebody Else's Move

Some Oregon clocks start when a piece of paper arrives, so they never appear on a calendar built at the start of the estate.

• 60 days to disallow a claim. A claim presented to the personal representative is allowed as presented unless a notice of disallowance is mailed or delivered to the claimant within 60 days after presentation (ORS 115.135(1)). Silence allows the claim, which is the opposite of what most people assume.
• 30 days to answer a disallowance. A claimant whose claim is disallowed in whole or in part has 30 days after the notice is mailed or delivered to file a request for summary determination in the estate proceeding or to commence a separate action, and the claim is barred to the extent disallowed if they do neither (ORS 115.145).
• 60 days to bring the separate action. Where the claimant asks for summary determination, the personal representative may notify them in writing that proving the claim requires a separate action, and the claimant then has 60 days after receiving that notice (ORS 115.155).
• 30 days before the final account, to rescind an allowance. A personal representative who allowed an unpaid claim through error, misinformation or excusable neglect may rescind the allowance, giving notice not less than 30 days before the date the final account is filed (ORS 115.135(3)).
• 20 days before the objection date. On filing the final account and the petition for a judgment of distribution, the personal representative sets a time for objections and, not less than 20 days before that time, mails the account, the petition and notice of the objection date to each distributee and to each creditor not paid in full whose claim is not barred (ORS 116.093(1)). Where a charitable trust, a public benefit corporation or a religious organization is a residuary beneficiary, or takes less than a specific devise to it, the Attorney General is served too (ORS 116.093(2)).
• One year after discharge. Filing the receipts gets the personal representative a supplemental judgment of discharge, which releases them and bars actions against them and their surety. Within one year after that judgment the court may, in its discretion, still permit an action where the discharge was taken through fraud or misrepresentation, or through the claimant's mistake, inadvertence, surprise or excusable neglect (ORS 116.213).

The Affidavit Route Has Its Own Calendar

A simple estate affidavit skips publication, so the four-month claim window runs from a different day. A creditor may present a claim to the affiant within four months after the affidavit was filed, and within four months after any amended affidavit (ORS 114.540(1)(a)). A claim presented later is barred except as ORS 114.550 or ORS 130.350 allows.

Three more duties ride on the filing date:

• Within 30 days after filing, the affiant mails or delivers each instrument the affidavit says will be mailed or delivered (ORS 114.545(1)(d)).
• Where nobody petitions to appoint a personal representative within four months after the affidavit was filed, the affiant transfers the decedent's interest in the remaining property, and only after the ORS 114.540 four-month period has run, after every unsecured creditor has been paid to the extent of the estate, and before the two-year period in ORS 114.550 ends (ORS 114.555(1)(a)). Property conveyed this way stays subject to creditors' rights until those two years expire (ORS 114.555(2)).
• The affiant, or a claiming successor who has not been paid in full, may petition for summary review of the administration within two years after the affidavit was filed, and may petition to compel distribution within 60 days after that two-year period ends (ORS 114.550(1)). Where somebody else files the petition, the affiant answers within 30 days (ORS 114.550(2)).

A creditor whose claim the affiant disallows has 30 days from the mailing or delivery of the disallowance to petition for summary determination, and a creditor listed in the affidavit as disputed has four months from the filing (ORS 114.542(1)).

What Happens When a Date Passes

• A late creditor. The ORS 115.005(2) bar stops payment out of the estate. ORS 115.005(3) is the only way back in, and it needs three things at once: the claim arrives before its own statute of limitations runs and before the final account is filed, the claimant did not receive an ORS 115.003 notice more than 30 days before presenting, and the claim would otherwise be allowable. Even then it is paid only after everything with priority under ORS 115.125 and every timely claim (ORS 115.005(4)).
• A claimant who does nothing. Thirty days after a disallowance, the disallowed part of the claim is barred (ORS 115.145(2)).
• A personal representative who says nothing. Sixty days after presentation the claim stands allowed (ORS 115.135(1)).
• No information to the heirs, or no publication. Each failure is a breach of duty to the persons concerned, and neither one invalidates the appointment, the duties, the powers or their exercise (ORS 113.145(3); ORS 113.155(3)).
• A personal representative who is unfaithful or neglectful. The court may remove them, and may do so for other good cause shown (ORS 113.195(2), (4)). Where the final account is disapproved in whole or in part, the court may surcharge the personal representative for a loss caused by a breach of duty and deny their compensation in whole or in part (ORS 116.123).
• A spouse who waits past nine months. The elective share is claimed only in the ways ORS 114.610(1) lists, and each one is capped at nine months from the death.

How an Oregon Estate Stays on Schedule

1. Write down three dates, not one. The death starts the affidavit wait, the bank waits, the elective share and both tax returns. Appointment starts the notices, the inventory and the creditor search. Publication starts every four-month clock.
2. Keep the proof of publication at the front of the file. ORS 113.155(4) puts a copy of the published notice into the estate record, and that copy carries the date four separate rights close on.
3. Publish quickly. ORS 113.155(1) says "upon appointment" rather than giving a number of days, so a delay here delays the close of the estate one day for one day.
4. Calendar the search period, then calendar off its end. The 30-day notices and the 60-day proof filing run from the end of the three months, not from appointment, and a court-granted extension moves all three.
5. Order a spare certified death certificate. ORS 113.145(6) wants the death record itself inside the first 30 days.
6. Diary every claim on the day it arrives. Sixty days of silence allows it (ORS 115.135(1)).
7. Check the date of death before quoting a tax deadline. Twelve months is right for a death on or after January 1, 2022, and wrong for anything earlier.
8. Ask before a date passes. Find the right court through the Oregon probate courts directory, and work the tasks behind each date from the Oregon executor duties guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does the creditor deadline start in Oregon?

At the date the notice to interested persons is published, not at the death and not at the appointment. ORS 113.155(1) requires the personal representative to publish that notice once upon appointment, and ORS 115.005(2)(a) bars a claim presented more than four months after the date of publication. A creditor who was entitled to an individual notice under ORS 115.003(2) gets the later of those four months and 45 days after the individual notice was delivered or mailed.

When is the Oregon estate inventory due?

Within 90 days after the date of appointment, unless the court grants longer (ORS 113.165). Oregon requires the inventory to be filed in the estate proceeding, and it must show the personal representative's own estimates of fair market value as of the date of death. A personal representative who has received nothing still files, stating that no property has come into their possession or knowledge.

Does an Oregon personal representative have to notify the heirs by a certain date?

ORS 113.145(1) says the information goes out to devisees, heirs and the other persons named in the petition upon appointment, and it sets no number of days for the delivery itself. The dated half of the duty is the filing: ORS 113.145(4) requires proof of that delivery or mailing, including a copy of what was sent and the names of everyone it went to, to be filed in the estate proceeding within 30 days after the date of appointment.

How long do I have to contest a will in Oregon?

Four months, running from one of two events. ORS 113.075(3) requires the action to be commenced before the later of four months after the ORS 113.145 information was delivered or mailed to the contestant, and four months after the date of publication of the notice to interested persons where the contestant was not required to be named in the petition.

Is there a deadline for opening probate in Oregon?

No. ORS 113.035 lets any interested person or the person nominated in the will petition for appointment and states no time limit. Waiting still costs something, because publication, the inventory, the creditor search and every four-month clock start only after the court appoints someone. ORS 113.027 sets a separate outer limit: a will may not be admitted, and an estate may not be reopened to admit one, more than one year after the estate was administered in Oregon and closed.

When is the Oregon estate tax return due?

Twelve months after the date of death for a decedent who died on or after January 1, 2022, with the payment due on the same date (ORS 118.100(1)). For a death before that date the return and payment were due nine months after death, or on the date the federal estate tax was payable. The change came from 2021 Oregon Laws chapter 372, and section 2 of that act applies it to estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2022.

What happens if an Oregon personal representative misses a deadline?

The statute usually names the consequence. Failing to give the ORS 113.145 information or to publish under ORS 113.155 is a breach of duty to the persons concerned, and neither failure invalidates the appointment or the powers. Silence on a presented claim for 60 days allows that claim under ORS 115.135(1). Late filings can support removal under ORS 113.195, and ORS 116.123 lets the court surcharge a personal representative and cut their compensation.

Related Guides

• Oregon Probate Guide: the filing process from the first petition to the judgment of final distribution.
• Oregon Probate Timeline: how long each route runs once letters issue.
• Oregon Creditor Claims: presentation, allowance, disallowance and the four-month bar.
• Oregon Executor Duties: the personal representative's job behind each date.
• Oregon Surviving Spouse Rights: the elective share and the augmented estate.
• Oregon Intestate Succession: who inherits where there is no will.
• Oregon Will Requirements: execution, witnesses and the harmless error rule.
• How to Avoid Probate in Oregon: the transfers that keep property out of the estate.
• Oregon Probate Courts: the circuit court in 30 counties and the county court in six.

Court practice and the facts of an estate change how these dates land. Confirm the ones that affect your family with the probate court or a licensed Oregon attorney, and work the rest of the series from the Oregon probate hub.

Sources:

• Title: ORS 112.810 Duties of custodian of will (Chapter 112, Intestate Succession and Wills, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: 2025 Edition, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
• Title: ORS 113.145 Information to devisees, heirs, interested persons, Department of Human Services and Oregon Health Authority (Chapter 113, Initiation of Estate Proceedings, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: 2025 Edition, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors113.html
• Title: ORS 114.510 Simple estate criteria and ORS 114.610 Manner of making election (Chapter 114, Administration of Estates Generally, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: 2025 Edition, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors114.html
• Title: ORS 115.005 Presentation of claims; time limitations (Chapter 115, Claims; Actions and Suits, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: 2025 Edition, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors115.html
• Title: ORS 116.083 Accounting by personal representative; statement in lieu of account; rules (Chapter 116, Accounting, Distribution and Closing, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: 2025 Edition, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors116.html
• Title: ORS 118.100 Time for filing return and paying tax (Chapter 118, Estate Tax, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: 2025 Edition, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors118.html
• Title: ORS 93.973 URPTDA 15. Liability for creditor claims and statutory allowances (Chapter 93, Conveyancing and Recording, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: 2025 Edition, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors093.html
• Title: ORS 432.133 Mandatory submission and registration of reports of death (Chapter 432, Vital Statistics, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: 2025 Edition, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors432.html
• Title: ORS 708A.430 Disposition of deposit on death of depositor (Chapter 708A, Regulation of Institutions Generally, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: 2025 Edition, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors708A.html
• Title: Oregon Laws 2021, Chapter 372 (HB 3138), Relating to due date of estate tax return. Publisher: Oregon State Legislature. Publication Date: Approved June 23, 2021, effective September 25, 2021, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/lawsstatutes/2021orLaw0372.pdf
• Title: Estate Transfer and Fiduciary Income Taxes. Publisher: Oregon Department of Revenue. Publication Date: Not listed, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.oregon.gov/dor/programs/businesses/Pages/estate.aspx
• Title: Instructions for Form 706 (09/2025). Publisher: Internal Revenue Service. Publication Date: Revised September 2025, accessed 2026-08-25. URL: https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i706

It is not legal advice.