Oregon Will Requirements | Settled Estate

An Oregon will has to be in writing, signed by the testator or by another person at the testator's direction, and attested by at least two witnesses. ORS 112.235 sets every one of those steps. Oregon publishes no holographic will section, and the same statute has shut out an electronic record since January 1, 2016.

Two chapters hold the answers. ORS chapter 112 is titled Intestate Succession and Wills, and its WILLS group covers who may sign, how the signing works, and how a will is revoked. ORS chapter 113 is titled Initiation of Estate Proceedings, and it covers proving the document after the death. Every rule below was read on the Oregon Legislature's own 2025 Edition of the Oregon Revised Statutes, which prints each section's amendment history inline.

Read this page as a planning map rather than a signing kit. It is general information about Oregon law, not advice about your estate. Ask a licensed Oregon attorney to look at any plan that involves real property, a blended family, or a dispute you can already see forming.

This guide pairs with the Oregon probate guide for what happens after a death, and with Oregon intestate succession for who inherits when no valid will exists.

Who Can Make an Oregon Will

ORS 112.225 runs one sentence: "Any person who is 18 years of age or older or who has been lawfully married or who has been emancipated in accordance with ORS 419B.550 to 419B.558, and who is of sound mind, may make a will."

Oregon widens the age door where most states do not. Three doors open it.

Age 18. The ordinary route.
Lawful marriage. A person who has been lawfully married may make a will at any age.
Emancipation. A minor emancipated under ORS 419B.550 to 419B.558 may make one too.

Sound mind is the second half of the sentence, and it is tested at the signing. Capacity is one of the questions a court reaches later if someone moves to challenge an Oregon will, so the signing habits that document a clear mind are worth building in from the start.

What Makes an Oregon Will Valid

ORS 112.235(1) opens with "Except as provided in ORS 112.238, a will shall be in writing and shall be executed in accordance with the following formalities." Two halves follow.

The testator's half. ORS 112.235(1)(a) puts the testator in the presence of each of the witnesses, doing one of three things:

Sign the will.
Direct one of the witnesses, or some other person, to sign the name of the testator and the signer's own name on the will.
Acknowledge the signature previously made on the will by the testator or at the testator's direction.

The witnesses' half. ORS 112.235(1)(b) says at least two witnesses shall each do both of these:

See the testator sign the will, or hear the testator acknowledge the signature on the will, or hear or observe the testator direct some other person to sign the name of the testator; and
Attest the will by signing the witness' name to the will within a reasonable time before the testator's death.

Read the timing in that second limb. The witness signature is due within a reasonable time before the testator's death, not at the ceremony. Read the presence rule too. The statute places the testator in the presence of each witness. It does not place the witnesses in the testator's presence when they sign, and it does not ask the witnesses to sign in front of each other.

Notice what the section never asks for. No notary. No seal. No filing during the testator's lifetime. No witness age. No requirement that a witness take nothing under the will.

The Affidavit Signature Rule, and How to Read It

ORS 112.235(2) says a witness signature on an affidavit executed contemporaneously with execution of a will "is considered a signature by the witness on the will in compliance with subsection (1)(b)(A)(iii) of this section if necessary to prove the will was duly executed in compliance with this section."

Look at the cross-reference before leaning on it. Subsection (1)(b)(A)(iii) is the perception limb about hearing or observing the testator direct another person to sign. The limb that asks a witness to sign is (1)(b)(B). Have the witnesses sign the will itself as well as any affidavit, and the question never comes up.

An Interested Witness Does Not Void an Oregon Will

ORS 112.245 runs two sentences. The first says a will attested by an interested witness is not invalidated for that reason. The second defines the term: an interested witness is "one to whom is devised a personal and beneficial interest in the estate."

Oregon stops there. The section carries no purging rule that strips the witness of the gift, and it raises no presumption that the witness procured it. The habit that keeps the record clean is still cheap. Pick two adults who take nothing under the will.

Oregon Does Not Accept Electronic Wills

ORS 112.235(4) is the answer, and the statute says it outright rather than staying silent: "As used in this section and ORS 112.238, 'writing' does not include an electronic record, document or image."

The rule is older than the amendment history at the foot of the section makes it look, and two acts wrote it. Senate Bill 379 became chapter 387, Oregon Laws 2015. Section 11 of that act printed the whole of subsection (4) as new text, and the act carries an effective date of January 1, 2016, with section 36 applying the change to decedents dying and to wills and writings executed after that date. An electronic record has been outside ORS 112.235 ever since.

Senate Bill 168, chapter 34, Oregon Laws 2025, then stretched the same sentence. The Governor approved that act on May 7, 2025, the Secretary of State filed it on May 8, 2025, and it carries an effective date of January 1, 2026. Section 3 inserted four words, "and ORS 112.238", and left the rest of subsection (4) alone. What moved on January 1, 2026 is how far the exclusion reaches, not whether it exists: the harmless error rule at ORS 112.238 can no longer rescue an electronic file either.

Section 6(2) of the 2025 act sets the reach of that change, and it is unusual. It applies to a writing executed before, on or after January 1, 2026, so long as the writing was executed by or at the direction of a decedent dying on or after that date. The date that decides which text governs is the date of death, not the date of signing. For a death before January 1, 2026, the 2015 version of subsection (4) governs, which kept an electronic record out of ORS 112.235 and said nothing about ORS 112.238.

One neighboring section runs the other way. ORS 112.260 lets a will refer to a separate writing that disposes of household items, furniture, furnishings and personal effects, and ORS 112.260(5) says that as used in that section, "writing" includes an electronic record, document or image. The will has to be on paper. The list of who gets the furniture does not.

Oregon Has No Holographic Will Statute

ORS chapter 112 and ORS chapter 113 contain no holographic will section and no nuncupative will section. The word holographic appears zero times across both chapters, and so does nuncupative.

An unwitnessed handwritten page signed in Oregon misses ORS 112.235(1)(b), because nobody attested it. Two routes can still carry it.

ORS 112.238, the harmless error rule, covered next. It asks for a signature and clear and convincing evidence of intent, and it asks for no witnesses at all.
ORS 112.255(1), the validity rule. A will is lawfully executed if it is in writing, signed by or at the direction of the testator, and otherwise executed in accordance with the law of this state at the time of execution or at the time of death, or the law of the testator's domicile at either of those times, or the law of the place of execution at the time of execution. A holographic will valid where it was written can qualify through that door.

Oregon's Harmless Error Rule Can Rescue a Defective Will

ORS 112.238 keeps a missed formality from automatically ending the matter. Subsection (1) lets a court treat a writing as if it had been executed in compliance with ORS 112.235 when three things are true:

Requirement	ORS 112.238(1)
Timing	The writing was executed before the decedent's death
Signature	The decedent signed the writing, or another person signed the decedent's name and the signer's own name at the decedent's direction
Proof	The proponent establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended the writing to be the will, a partial or complete revocation of the will, or an addition to or alteration of the will

No witness requirement appears in that list. The proof standard carries the weight instead.

Check the date of death before applying that table, because two of its three rows are new. Section 4 of chapter 34, Oregon Laws 2025, added the timing row and the signature row, and section 6(2) of the same act reaches only a writing executed by or at the direction of a decedent dying on or after January 1, 2026. The version that governs an earlier death came from Senate Bill 221, chapter 390, Oregon Laws 2021, and it asked for clear and convincing evidence of testamentary intent and nothing else. Under that earlier text an unsigned writing could be admitted.

The procedure runs like this. The writing may be filed with the court for administration as the decedent's will under ORS 113.035, and the proponent gives notice to the persons named in ORS 113.035(5), (7), (8) and (9). Those persons then have 20 days after notice to file written objections. The court may decide intent after a hearing or on affidavits. Where the court finds clear and convincing evidence, ORS 112.238(4)(a) makes it prepare written findings of fact and enter a limited judgment admitting the writing.

Two limits are worth holding onto. A determination under ORS 112.238 does not block a will contest under ORS 113.075, except that the will can no longer be contested on the ground that it was not executed in compliance with ORS 112.235. And ORS 112.238(5) routes the filing fee to ORS 21.135, whose subsection (1) sets the standard circuit court filing fee at $281.

The 2025 act closed one door here as well. Because ORS 112.235(4) defines "writing" for ORS 112.238 too, a text message or a word processing file is outside the harmless error rule for any decedent dying on or after January 1, 2026.

A Will Signed in Another State, or Abroad

ORS 112.255(1) saves a lot of documents that arrive with a move. A will executed under the law of the place of execution, or under the law of the testator's domicile at execution or at death, is lawfully executed in Oregon. A will signed in Texas under Texas rules does not need re-signing after a move to Portland.

ORS 112.255(3) adds incorporation by reference. A writing already in existence when the will is executed may be incorporated if the will shows that intent and describes the writing well enough to identify it.

For a testator who died domiciled outside Oregon, ORS 113.065 gives the probate route. The will may be admitted on petition by filing a certified copy of the will together with a certified copy of the order admitting it to probate, or evidencing its establishment, in the jurisdiction of domicile. That will can still be contested on any ground that would defeat the will of an Oregon domiciliary.

Oregon also runs the Uniform International Wills Act at ORS 112.232. An international will is made in writing in any language, declared by the testator before two witnesses and an authorized person, signed or acknowledged in front of all three, and certified by the authorized person on the form ORS 112.232(5) prints. ORS 112.232(9) makes Oregon-licensed attorneys the authorized persons here. ORS 112.235(3) then deems a will executed under that act to have met the ordinary Oregon formalities.

Proving the Will Without the Witnesses in Court

Oregon reaches the self proving idea through ORS 113.055 rather than through a section titled "self-proved will." The phrase self-proving appears nowhere in chapter 113.

ORS 113.055(1) lets an affidavit of an attesting witness stand in for the witness in person on the ex parte review of a petition for probate. The witness attaches the affidavit to the will, or to a photographic or other facsimile copy, and may identify the signature of the testator and of the witnesses using the will or the copy. The court receives the affidavit in evidence and gives it the same weight as testimony given in open court. The last sentence of the subsection is the planning point: the affidavit "may be made at or after the time of execution of the will."

Three qualifications follow.

Someone can pull the witness back in. ORS 113.055(2) lets any person interested in the estate move, within 30 days from the date the personal representative first delivers or mails the information required by ORS 113.145(1), for an order requiring the affiant to appear. Where the witness sits outside subpoena range, the court may order a deposition.
A missing witness is survivable. ORS 113.055(3) says that if the evidence of none of the attesting witnesses is available, the court may allow proof of the will by testimony or other evidence that the signature of the testator or of at least one witness is genuine.
A contest changes the standard. ORS 113.055(4) sends proof in a contest, or on probate in solemn form, down the same road as any action tried without a jury.

Oregon prints no fill-in affidavit form for a paper will. The only blank form in chapter 112 is the international will certificate at ORS 112.232(5), and the only one in chapter 113 is the letters testamentary form at ORS 113.125. Any "Oregon self-proving affidavit form" sold online is somebody's rendering of ORS 113.055, not a state document.

Revoking or Changing an Oregon Will

ORS 112.275 closes the list before it opens it: a will may be revoked or altered only as provided in ORS 112.238, ORS 112.260 or ORS 112.285 to ORS 112.315.

ORS 112.285 carries the two ordinary methods and one hard limit.

By another will. ORS 112.285(1).
By a physical act. Burning, tearing, canceling, obliterating or destroying the will with the intent and purpose of revoking it, done by the testator or by another person at the testator's direction and in the testator's presence. Where another person does the act, at least two witnesses have to prove the direction and the destruction.
Not partly. ORS 112.285(3) says a partial revocation of a provision by physical act is not a valid revocation. Crossing out one paragraph changes nothing. Clear and convincing evidence may still show that the testator meant the marks to revoke the entire will.

Reviving a revoked or invalid will takes real paperwork. ORS 112.295 allows it only by re-executing the will, or by executing another will that incorporates the revoked or invalid one by reference.

Two life events move the document without anyone touching it.

Marriage. ORS 112.305 revokes a will by the testator's subsequent marriage where the testator is survived by a spouse. Three exceptions save it: the will shows an intent that marriage not revoke it or was drafted in contemplation of the marriage; the couple signed a written contract before the marriage that either provides for the spouse or gives the spouse no rights in the estate; or the testator executed the will after entering a registered domestic partnership under ORS 106.300 to 106.340 and later married that partner. Marriage after signing is the quiet way an Oregon will stops working, and it takes no paperwork at all.

Divorce. ORS 112.315 revokes all provisions in favor of a former spouse, and any provision naming the former spouse as personal representative, unless the will shows a different intent. The will then reads as though the former spouse had not survived.

Two more sections sit alongside. ORS 112.260 lets the separate personal effects memorandum be altered by the testator at any time, which is why furniture lists belong there rather than in the will. ORS 112.270 says a contract to make a will, not to revoke one, or to die intestate can be established only by material provisions stated in a will, an express reference in a will plus extrinsic evidence, or a writing signed by the decedent, and that joint or mutual wills raise no presumption of such a contract.

Who Holds the Will, and What Happens When the Testator Dies

Oregon puts no lifetime depository in chapters 112 or 113. There is no section that lets a living testator file an original will with a court for safekeeping. What the state supplies instead is a custody duty, and it binds whoever holds the paper.

ORS 112.805(1) makes ORS 112.800 to 112.830 the exclusive manner of disposing of a will. A person having custody has a duty to maintain custody, and may not destroy or discard the will, disclose its contents, or deliver it to anyone except as the testator authorizes or those sections permit.

ORS 112.810 then lists the deliveries. The custodian shall hand the will to the testator on demand, may deliver it to the testator at any time, shall deliver it to a conservator on demand, and shall deliver it to an attorney-in-fact acting under a durable power of attorney that expressly authorizes the demand. Where the custodian cannot find the testator after diligent inquiry, the will may go to any attorney licensed in Oregon who will accept it. The clock that matters most sits in ORS 112.810(1)(f): the custodian shall deliver the will 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 is dead.

An Oregon attorney holding an old will has a narrow disposal route, and it takes years to open. ORS 112.815 requires either five years since a known death, with no personal representative the attorney can reach or who will accept delivery, or 20 years since execution with no reachable testator. ORS 112.820 then requires notice, a 90 day wait, a complete digital copy, and a signed affidavit retained for at least 20 years. ORS 112.825 makes anyone who violates these sections liable to the person injured, and ORS 112.830 lets a court order a custodian to deliver a will it learns about.

Where an Oregon Will Gets Filed

Oregon does not have one probate forum, and that fact catches readers who follow generic advice. 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 other county." Thirty counties file in the circuit court. Six file in the county court, which is county government rather than part of the Oregon Judicial Department.

Two deadlines then bracket the document.

ORS 113.027 bars admission of a will to probate, or reopening an estate to admit one, more than one year after the decedent's estate has been administered in Oregon and closed.
ORS 113.075(3) gives a contest four months, running from the later of the delivery or mailing of the ORS 113.145 information, or publication of notice to interested persons for someone the petition did not have to name.

The Will Is One Piece of the Plan

A will is the instrument an Oregon probate court admits, so the property it governs travels through administration. Assets arranged to pass outside that process answer to different rules, and a valid will does nothing to shorten the queue. Read how to avoid probate in Oregon before assuming the document keeps an estate out of court, and read the Oregon simple estate affidavit for the shortcut that reaches smaller estates.

The signing document also sits beside others. Financial powers of attorney live in ORS 127.005 to ORS 127.045, and advance directives in ORS 127.505 to ORS 127.660. Start with Oregon estate planning basics for how the set fits together.

If the will fails, or never existed, the statute writes the distribution instead. That path runs through Oregon intestate succession.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many witnesses does an Oregon will need?

At least two. ORS 112.235(1)(b) says at least two witnesses shall each see the testator sign, or hear the testator acknowledge the signature, or hear or observe the testator direct another person to sign, and shall each attest the will by signing the witness' name to the will within a reasonable time before the testator's death. The section sets no age test and no disinterest test for a witness.

Does an Oregon will have to be notarized?

No. The word notary does not appear anywhere in ORS chapter 112 or ORS chapter 113. ORS 112.235 states the whole execution rule and never asks for one. A notary or other officer matters later, when an attesting witness swears the affidavit that ORS 113.055 lets the court accept instead of live testimony.

Is a handwritten will valid in Oregon?

Only if two witnesses attested it, or one of two rescue routes applies. ORS chapters 112 and 113 carry no holographic will section, so an unwitnessed handwritten page signed in Oregon fails ORS 112.235. ORS 112.238 can still admit it on clear and convincing evidence of testamentary intent, and ORS 112.255 recognizes a will that satisfied the law of the place of execution or of the testator's domicile.

Does Oregon accept electronic wills?

No. ORS 112.235(4) says that as used in ORS 112.235 and ORS 112.238, writing does not include an electronic record, document or image. Senate Bill 168, chapter 34, Oregon Laws 2025, added that subsection and took effect January 1, 2026. It reaches a writing executed at any time, so long as the decedent died on or after that date.

Can an Oregon will that misses a step still be admitted?

Sometimes. ORS 112.238 lets the court treat a writing as if it complied with ORS 112.235 when the decedent signed it before death, or directed someone to sign it, and the proponent proves by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent meant it as a will, a revocation, or an addition or alteration. Interested persons get 20 days after notice to object, and the filing fee follows ORS 21.135.

Who has to turn in the will after a death in Oregon?

Whoever holds it. ORS 112.810(1)(f) gives any person with custody of a will 30 days after receiving information that the testator has died to deliver it to a court having jurisdiction of the estate or to a personal representative named in the will. ORS 112.825 makes a violator liable to anyone the violation injures, and ORS 112.830 lets the court order the will handed over.

Sources:

Title: ORS 112.225 Who may make a will (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 112.232 Uniform International Wills Act (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 112.235 Execution of a will (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 112.238 Exception to will execution formalities; petition; notice; written objections; hearing; fee (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 112.245 Witness as beneficiary (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 112.255 Validity of execution of a will; incorporation by reference (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 112.260 Reference in will to statement or list disposing of certain effects; admissibility; alteration (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 112.285 Express revocation or alteration; partial revocation not valid (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 112.305 Revocation by marriage; exceptions (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 112.810 Duties of custodian of will (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 112, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors112.html
Title: ORS 113.055 Testimony of attesting witnesses to will (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 113, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors113.html
Title: ORS 113.065 Establishing foreign wills (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 113, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors113.html
Title: ORS 113.075 Will contest (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 113, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors113.html
Title: ORS 111.075 Probate jurisdiction vested (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 111, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors111.html
Title: ORS 21.135 Standard filing fee (Oregon Revised Statutes chapter 21, 2025 Edition). Publisher: Oregon State Legislature, Legislative Counsel Committee. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors021.html
Title: Senate Bill 168, Chapter 34, Oregon Laws 2025, Relating to estates. Publisher: Oregon State Legislature. Publication Date: May 8, 2025. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/lawsstatutes/2025orLaw0034.pdf
Title: Senate Bill 379, Chapter 387, Oregon Laws 2015, Relating to estates. Publisher: Oregon State Legislature. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/lawsstatutes/2015orLaw0387.pdf
Title: Fees. Publisher: Oregon Judicial Department. Publication Date: Not listed. URL: https://www.courts.oregon.gov/Pages/fees.aspx

It is not legal advice.