Skip to main content
Oregon Will Contests
Support GuideOregon30 min read

Oregon Will Contests

An Oregon will contest runs on ORS 113.075: four months from the notice to interested persons or from publication, filed as a petition in the probate case.

By Settled Editorial

An Oregon will contest is a petition filed inside the probate case, and it is due four months after a piece of paper reaches you. ORS 113.075 carries the whole rule. Subsection (1) names three reasons an interested person may contest, subsection (2) says where the petition goes, and subsection (3) starts the clock on the later of two dates that both come from the personal representative's paperwork rather than from the death.

Oregon writes this differently from most states, and the difference matters before you read anything else. There is no statutory list of grounds. The words undue influence, duress and menace appear nowhere in ORS chapters 111 through 117, the seven chapters that hold Oregon probate law. What the statute gives you instead is a doorway phrase, "ineffective in whole or part," and the rest of chapter 112 supplies the rules that decide whether a will is effective.

This page walks the deadline, the standing test, the three statutory reasons, the filing fee, the notice a contestant owes, the no-contest clause rule, and what a win actually produces. Every rule was read on August 25, 2026 at the 2025 Edition of the Oregon Revised Statutes published by the Legislative Counsel Committee. This is general information about Oregon procedure and not advice about any estate. Whether a ground exists in a particular case turns on medical records, drafting files, and testimony that no article can weigh, so take that question to a licensed Oregon attorney and to the court holding the case.

Four Months, and the Clock Starts on Paper

ORS 113.075(3) says an action under subsection (1) "must be commenced before the later of" two dates.

The first is four months after the date of delivery or mailing of the information described in ORS 113.145, and it applies only if that information was required to be delivered or mailed to the person on whose behalf the action is filed. The second is four months after the date of publication of notice to interested persons, and it applies only if that person was not required to be named in the petition for probate as an interested person.

Read the two conditions as a sorting rule rather than as a menu. A devisee, an heir, or a person already named under ORS 113.035(8) sits in the first category and runs on the mailing date. A stranger to the petition sits in the second and runs on the publication date.

Both dates are findable. ORS 113.155(2)(e) requires the published notice to state its own date of publication, and ORS 113.145(4) requires the personal representative to file proof of the delivery or mailing within 30 days after the date of appointment, including a copy of what went out and the names of everyone it went to. The court file holds both.

StepClock startsDeadlineStatute
Contest by a person entitled to the ORS 113.145 informationDelivery or mailing of that information4 monthsORS 113.075(3)(a)
Contest by a person not required to be named in the petitionDate of publication of the notice to interested persons4 monthsORS 113.075(3)(b)
Personal representative files proof of the mailingDate of appointment30 daysORS 113.145(4)
Notice of a petition or motion to interested personsThe objection date or hearing date15 days before the earlier of themORS 111.215(4)(a)
Objections to the final accountThe time the personal representative setsMailed at least 20 days before that timeORS 116.093(1)

The wider schedule that these two rows sit inside runs at Oregon probate deadlines, where the four-month creditor bar starts from the same publication date.

The Warning That Tells You the Clock Has Started

Oregon builds a tripwire for the person who has already spoken up, and it runs through two sections working together.

ORS 113.035(8) makes the petition for appointment state the name and post-office address of any person asserting an interest in the estate, or on whose behalf an interest has been asserted, based on any of the same three contentions ORS 113.075(1) lists. Somebody who has told the family, the lawyer, or the nominated personal representative that the will is wrong belongs in that paragraph.

ORS 113.145(1)(g) then requires the information sent to that person to carry a statement "that the rights of the person in the estate may be barred unless the person proceeds as provided in ORS 113.075 within four months of the delivery or mailing of the information." A packet carrying that sentence is the notice that the four months are running.

One gap is worth naming plainly. ORS 113.075(3)(a) measures from the date of delivery or mailing. Where a person entitled to that information never received it, the statute names no substitute start for that person, and ORS 113.145(3) calls the failure a breach of duty to the persons concerned that does not affect the validity of the appointment or the powers of the personal representative. That is what the sections say. What a court does with a missed mailing is a question for counsel.

Need help with your probate case?

Answer a few questions to see whether Oregon probate is required and which process applies.

Take the 2-minute assessment

Who Counts as an Interested Person

ORS 113.075(1) opens with "Any interested person," and unlike many states Oregon defines the phrase in the code itself.

ORS 111.005(19)(a) says an interested person "means any person having a property right in or claim against the estate of a decedent that may be affected by the proceeding." Paragraph (b) adds that the term includes a decedent's heir, devisee, child, spouse or creditor where that person holds such a property right or claim. Paragraph (c) adds a fiduciary representing anyone in the first two paragraphs, and a person designated in writing by the decedent to control the decedent's gametes or embryos after death.

The test is a property right, not a relationship and not a feeling. An adult child cut out of a 2024 will usually qualifies, because ORS 112.015(1) would route the estate through intestate succession if the will failed and Oregon intestate succession would then pay that child a share. A beneficiary under an earlier will qualifies for the same reason. A caregiver who expected a gift and appears in no version of the document holds nothing the proceeding can affect.

The Three Reasons ORS 113.075 Names

Subsection (1) lets an interested person contest the probate of the will, contest the validity of the will, or assert an interest in the estate, for the reason that:

  1. "The will alleged in the petition for probate to be the will of the decedent is ineffective in whole or part";
  2. "There exists a will that has not been alleged in the petition to be the will of the decedent"; or
  3. "The decedent agreed, promised or represented that the decedent would make or revoke a will or devise, or not revoke a will or devise, or die intestate."

Ineffective in Whole or Part

Reason one is the broad one, and the phrase "in whole or part" is doing real work. An Oregon contest can reach a single provision rather than the entire document.

What makes a will effective lives in ORS chapter 112, so that is where a contest under this reason actually gets decided. Oregon will requirements covers the execution rules in full. The short version:

  • Capacity. ORS 112.225 lets any person 18 or older, or lawfully married, or emancipated under ORS 419B.550 to 419B.558, make a will, and adds "and who is of sound mind." Sound mind is measured at the signing.
  • Execution. ORS 112.235 requires a writing, the testator's signature or a signature made at the testator's direction in the presence of each witness, and at least two witnesses who each perceive that act and attest by signing within a reasonable time before the testator's death.
  • Revocation. ORS 112.275 says a will may be revoked or altered only as provided in ORS 112.238, 112.260 or 112.285 to 112.315. ORS 112.285(1) allows revocation or alteration by another will. ORS 112.285(2) covers revocation by burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating or destroying with the intent and purpose of revoking. ORS 112.285(3) makes a partial revocation by physical act invalid. ORS 112.305 revokes a will by a later marriage, subject to three exceptions, and ORS 112.315 wipes out provisions favoring a former spouse after a divorce or annulment.
  • Foreign execution. ORS 112.255(1) treats a will as lawfully executed where it is in writing, signed by or at the direction of the testator, and otherwise executed under the law of Oregon, of the testator's domicile, or of the place of execution. A document that misses Oregon's own formalities can still stand on one of those other bodies of law.

One route closes a specific door. ORS 112.238 lets a court admit a defective writing on clear and convincing evidence of the decedent's intent, and ORS 112.238(4)(b) says that determination "does not preclude the filing of a will contest under ORS 113.075, except that the will may not be contested on the grounds that the will was not executed in compliance with ORS 112.235." Capacity and influence theories survive a harmless-error ruling. The formalities argument does not.

There Exists Another Will

Reason two is the cleanest to plead and the easiest to lose track of. Someone holding a later original that the petition never mentioned brings it in under this paragraph.

Two related sections set the outer edges. ORS 112.295 says a revoked or invalid will can be revived only by re-executing it or by executing another will that incorporates it by reference, so a will the testator tore up is not restored by the invalidation of a later one. ORS 113.027 bars admitting a will to probate, or reopening an estate to admit one, "more than one year after the estate of the decedent has been administered in Oregon and closed."

A Promise About a Will

Reason three covers the person who was told they would inherit. ORS 113.075(2) treats this one differently from the other two: an action under subsection (1)(c) "may be commenced by the filing of a separate action in any court of competent jurisdiction" rather than only as a petition in the probate case.

ORS 112.270(1) then sets the proof bar for any contract executed after January 1, 1974. The contract is established only by provisions of a will stating its material provisions, by an express reference in a will to a contract plus extrinsic evidence of its terms, or by a writing signed by the decedent evidencing the contract. ORS 112.270(2) adds that joint wills and mutual wills raise no presumption of a contract not to revoke.

One more limit sits at the end of the section. ORS 113.075(5) says a cause of action described in subsection (1)(c) "may not be presented as a claim under ORS chapter 115," so the promise route does not run through the creditor claim process at Oregon creditor claims.

Oregon Does Not Print a List of Grounds

Search the seven probate chapters and the classic contest vocabulary is largely absent. Across ORS chapters 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 and 117, all 2025 Edition, the phrase "undue influence" occurs zero times, and so do "duress" and "menace." The word "forgery" appears once, inside the no-contest exception at ORS 112.272(2)(a)(A). The phrase "sound mind" appears once, inside ORS 112.225.

Two things follow for anyone reading a summary of Oregon law.

First, an article that lists undue influence, fraud, duress and forgery as "the four statutory grounds in Oregon" is describing another state's code. Those theories are argued in Oregon, and they are argued through the ORS 113.075(1)(a) phrase "ineffective in whole or part" plus Oregon case law, which the statutes do not restate.

Second, ORS 111.200(6) says nothing in that section "is intended to affect the burden of proof or standard of proof that is applied in probate proceedings." Oregon declines to allocate the burden in a will contest by statute, which is the opposite of what neighboring Washington does at RCW 11.24.030. Anybody quoting a burden rule to you is quoting case law, and that is a question for an Oregon attorney rather than for this page.

Where the Petition Goes and What It Costs

ORS 113.075(2) requires the contest to be "commenced by the filing of a petition in the probate proceedings." There is no separate cause number and no separate court, except for the promise route in subsection (1)(c).

Which courthouse depends on the county. ORS 111.075 vests probate jurisdiction in the county courts of Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler Counties, and in the circuit court for every other county. Oregon courts lists the filing office for each.

The fee is $281, and two official sources agree on it. ORS 21.170(4) says a person filing an appearance in a probate proceeding must pay the fee established under ORS 21.135, and ORS 21.135(1) sets that standard filing fee at $281. The Oregon Judicial Department circuit court fee schedule effective January 1, 2026 prints $281 on the row "Any other appearance in a probate proceeding," citing ORS 21.135(1), (2)(g) and ORS 21.170(4). The graduated bands that run from $278 to $1,176 under ORS 21.170(1) apply to the petition for appointment of a personal representative, not to a contest.

Notice a Contestant Has to Give

Filing is only half the job. ORS 113.075(4)(a) makes the person who commences the action give notice to the heirs and devisees identified in the petition for probate or amended petition, and to the State Treasurer if the personal representative has delivered or mailed information to the Treasurer under ORS 113.045.

ORS 113.075(4)(b) adds a charitable tripwire. Where any devisee under the contested will is a charitable trust as described in ORS 130.170, a public benefit corporation as defined in ORS 65.001, or a religious organization, the contestant must also give notice to the Attorney General.

The mechanics come from chapter 111. ORS 111.215(1) sets what a notice must contain, including the deadline for filing objections and a statement that an objection must include a plain and concise statement of its basis. ORS 111.215(3) lists the delivery methods, from first class mail to email where the recipient consented in writing. ORS 111.215(4)(a) sets the timing at no later than 15 days before the earlier of the objection deadline or the hearing date. ORS 111.235 governs the written objection itself, and ORS 111.241(2) requires a hearing once an objection is filed and not withdrawn.

No Jury, and the Rules That Switch On

ORS 111.205(3) is one sentence: "Actions in a probate proceeding are not triable by a jury except as otherwise provided by law." ORS 113.055(4) says the same thing from the evidence side, that on a contest of the will or a probate in solemn form, proof of any facts is made in the same manner as in an action tried without a jury.

A contest does turn on a different set of rules than the rest of the estate. ORS 111.200(2) keeps the Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure and the Oregon Evidence Code out of ordinary probate proceedings. ORS 111.200(5)(a)(A) then counts "a petition or motion for declaratory judgment, including a will contest" as a contested issue, and ORS 111.200(3) brings a long list of ORCP rules and the entire Oregon Evidence Code to bear on a contested issue. Discovery, summary judgment and the evidence rules arrive with the contest.

Two housekeeping notes on that section. Chapter 34, Oregon Laws 2025 amended ORS 111.200 through section 5 of that act, and section 6(3) of the act applies those amendments to contested issues first raised in a probate proceeding on or after its effective date of January 1, 2026, which has passed. Appeals run under ORS 111.105: from a circuit court to the Court of Appeals in the ordinary way, and from a county court exercising probate jurisdiction to the circuit court and Court of Appeals under ORS 5.120.

No-Contest Clauses Are Enforceable in Oregon

ORS 112.272(1) states the rule and then closes the usual escape hatch in the same breath. An in terrorem clause in a will "is valid and enforceable," and where a devisee contests a will containing a clause that applies to that devisee, "the court shall enforce the clause against the devisee even though the devisee establishes that there was probable cause for the contest."

Read that second half twice. In many states probable cause alone saves the gift. Oregon writes the opposite default and then lists narrow exits.

ORS 112.272(2) tells the court not to enforce the clause in two situations. One is where the contesting devisee establishes that the devisee has probable cause to believe the will is a forgery, or that the will has been revoked, or that the will is invalid in whole or in part. The other is where the devisee is only making objections to the acts of the personal representative in administering the estate. ORS 112.272(3) also blocks enforcement where the contest is brought by a fiduciary acting for a protected person under ORS chapter 125, by a guardian ad litem appointed for a minor, or by a guardian ad litem appointed for an incapacitated or financially incapable person.

ORS 112.272(4) defines the clause as a provision that reduces or eliminates a devise if the devisee contests the will in whole or in part, and ORS 112.272(5) says the section is not a complete codification, leaving the common law to govern where it does not conflict.

The arithmetic a devisee faces is worth stating. A person who is left something under a will carrying such a clause, and who then loses a contest that does not land inside one of the exceptions, can walk away with a reduced gift or with nothing. The size of an existing devise and the size of a claim are both part of the picture, and weighing one against the other on the facts of a particular estate is work for a licensed Oregon attorney.

What Winning Actually Produces

A contest that succeeds removes the will, or the offending part of it. It does not write a new one.

ORS 112.015(1) then routes whatever the will no longer disposes of: "Any part of the net estate of a decedent not effectively disposed of by the will of the decedent shall pass as provided in ORS 112.025 to 112.055." Where an earlier valid will survives, that document controls instead. Where none does, the intestate shares decide, and they can pay a challenger less than the contested will did, a difference that only becomes visible once the intestate arithmetic is worked out.

At the other end of the case, ORS 116.113(3) makes the judgment of final distribution "a conclusive determination of the persons who are the successors in interest to the estate and of the extent and character of their interest, subject only to the right of appeal and the power of the court to vacate the judgment." ORS 116.093(1) is the last routine warning before that judgment, since the personal representative must mail the final account and the objection deadline to each distributee at least 20 days ahead.

When There Is No Probate Case to Contest

Many Oregon estates never open a full probate. They travel the simple estate affidavit at ORS 114.505 to 114.560, and that route publishes no notice to interested persons and appoints no personal representative, so neither ORS 113.075(3) clock has anything to start from. Oregon simple estate affidavit covers the route itself.

The affidavit does put the will in front of the family. ORS 114.525(3) makes the affiant file the original will, plus proof of the will meeting the requirements of ORS 113.055, at the same time as the affidavit. ORS 114.525(1)(j) and (k) make the affiant state that a copy of the will and a copy of the filed affidavit will be delivered or mailed to each heir and each devisee.

The move that opens a contest is a different filing. ORS 114.555(1)(a) starts by assuming "a petition to appoint a personal representative is not filed within four months after the filing of a simple estate affidavit," which is the window in which someone can file one. A granted petition produces a personal representative, the ORS 113.145 information, publication under ORS 113.155, and with them an ORS 113.075 clock. ORS 114.560 also confirms that summary determination under ORS 114.542, summary review under ORS 114.550, and a petition for appointment within the ORS 114.555 window are the exclusive remedies for a person injured by an affiant's failure to follow the affidavit rules. Letters testamentary in Oregon covers what appointment involves.

Contesting a Revocable Trust Runs on a Different Clock

Where the assets sit in a revocable living trust, the will contest sections do not reach them. ORS 130.515(1) governs, and it sets the earlier of two periods rather than the later: three years after the settlor's death, or four months after the trustee sends the person a copy of the trust instrument and notice of the trust's existence, of the trustee's name and address, and of the time allowed for commencing a proceeding.

A trustee who wants the matter closed sends that packet, and four months later the door shuts. ORS 130.515(2) lets a trustee distribute after the settlor's death unless the trustee knows of a pending contest, or has been notified in writing that someone might file and that person files within 60 days of the notification. ORS 130.515(3) makes a beneficiary who received a distribution from a trust later held invalid liable to the person entitled to the property.

Capacity is measured the same way in both instruments. ORS 130.500(1) says a person who has capacity to make a will has capacity to create, amend, revoke or add property to a revocable trust.

Who Pays for the Fight

Oregon splits this asymmetrically, and the split is written into the code.

ORS 116.183(3) says a personal representative "who defends or prosecutes any proceeding in good faith and with just cause, whether successful or not, is entitled to receive from the estate necessary expenses and disbursements, including reasonable attorney fees, in the proceeding." A personal representative defending the will draws on estate money whatever the outcome, so long as the good faith and just cause conditions hold.

Chapters 111 through 117 contain no matching section entitling a contestant to fees from the estate. ORS 116.113(1)(k) does put attorney fees among the findings the judgment of final distribution must contain, and ORS 116.183(2)(a) lists the factors the court weighs on a fee award. Every dollar paid out of the estate is a dollar the residuary beneficiaries do not receive, which is why a contest often costs the winner as well as the loser.

What Is Not a Ground

  • An uneven split. ORS 112.415 says a person, including a child of the testator, may not take any portion of the estate disposed of by the will other than as the will provides. Leaving one child less is a choice the statute contemplates.
  • A gift to a witness. ORS 112.245 says a will attested by an interested witness "is not thereby invalidated," and Oregon writes no purging rule that strips the witness of the gift.
  • No notary. ORS 112.235 never asks for one. A missing notarization changes how the will is proved under ORS 113.055, not whether it is valid.
  • Disliking the personal representative. That objection attacks the appointment and travels a different route under ORS 113.195 and the powers listed in ORS 111.095(4)(g). Oregon executor duties covers the job itself.
  • A handwritten will, by itself. Oregon publishes no holographic will section, so an unwitnessed page fails ORS 112.235, and ORS 112.238 can still admit it on clear and convincing evidence of intent. The contest argument is the execution failure, not the handwriting.

Frequently Asked Questions

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

Four months, and ORS 113.075(3) measures them from paperwork rather than from the death. The action must be commenced before the later of four months after the date the personal representative delivered or mailed you the ORS 113.145 information, if you were entitled to receive it, or four months after the date of publication of the notice to interested persons, if you were not required to be named in the petition as an interested person. A funeral date, a will reading, or the day you first heard about the estate starts nothing.

What are the grounds to contest a will in Oregon?

ORS 113.075(1) gives three reasons an interested person may contest: the will alleged in the petition is ineffective in whole or part, there exists a will that has not been alleged in the petition, or the decedent agreed, promised or represented that the decedent would make or revoke a will or devise, or not revoke one, or die intestate. Oregon prints no list of named grounds. The phrase undue influence appears zero times in ORS chapters 111 through 117, so a capacity or influence theory travels through the first reason and the chapter 112 rules that make a will effective.

Who can contest a will in Oregon?

An interested person. ORS 111.005(19) defines that as any person having a property right in or claim against the estate that may be affected by the proceeding, and it names heirs, devisees, children, spouses and creditors who hold such a right, fiduciaries representing them, and a person designated in writing to control the decedent's gametes or embryos. Disappointment is not a property right. A relative who would inherit under intestate succession or under an earlier will has one.

How much does it cost to file a will contest in Oregon?

$281 at the counter. ORS 113.075(2) makes a contest a petition filed in the probate proceeding, ORS 21.170(4) says a person filing an appearance in a probate proceeding pays the fee established under ORS 21.135, and ORS 21.135(1) sets that fee at $281. The Oregon Judicial Department circuit court fee schedule effective January 1, 2026 prints the same figure on the row Any other appearance in a probate proceeding. Oregon does not band the contest fee by estate value the way it bands the personal representative petition.

Does an Oregon no-contest clause actually work?

Yes, subject to written exceptions. ORS 112.272(1) makes an in terrorem clause valid and enforceable and tells the court to enforce it against a contesting devisee even though the devisee establishes probable cause for the contest. ORS 112.272(2) then withholds enforcement where the devisee establishes probable cause to believe the will is a forgery, or that the will has been revoked, or that the will is invalid in whole or in part, or where the devisee is only objecting to the personal representative's acts. ORS 112.272(3) exempts a contest brought by a fiduciary for a protected person or by a guardian ad litem.

Is there a jury in an Oregon will contest?

No. ORS 111.205(3) says actions in a probate proceeding are not triable by a jury except as otherwise provided by law, and ORS 113.055(4) says that on a contest of the will, proof of any facts is made in the same manner as in an action tried without a jury. A contest does switch other machinery on: ORS 111.200(5)(a)(A) counts a petition for declaratory judgment, including a will contest, as a contested issue, which brings a long list of Oregon Rules of Civil Procedure and the whole Oregon Evidence Code into play.

How long do I have to contest an Oregon revocable trust?

ORS 130.515(1) sets the earlier of two periods: three years after the settlor's death, or four months after the trustee sends you a copy of the trust instrument plus notice of the trust's existence, the trustee's name and address, and the time allowed for commencing a proceeding. A trustee who wants finality sends that packet, which cuts three years down to four months. ORS 130.500(1) sets trust capacity at the same level as the capacity to make a will.

Related Guides

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Information current as of August 25, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Oregon can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

All Oregon guides← Back to all articles

More Oregon Resources

Explore the rest of the Oregon probate hub.

Do I need probate?5 pages
For the executor5 pages
Money and taxes5 pages
Family and inheritance4 pages
Transfer assets5 pages
File and learn5 pages