Title 12, Probate Law

A will may not be admitted to probate or an estate reopened to admit a will to probate more than one year after the estate of the decedent has been administered in Oregon and closed. [1973 c.506 §21]

Any interested person or the person nominated as personal representative named in the will may petition for the appointment of a personal representative and for the probate of a will. The petition must include the following information, so far as known: (1) The name, age, domicil…

(1) A petition for the appointment of a personal representative under ORS 113.035 may include a request for the compensation of the personal representative to be determined by a different method than as provided in ORS 116.173 (3). The petition must set forth specific facts showi…

(1) Upon appointment, a personal representative shall deliver or mail to the State Treasurer a copy of the petition filed under ORS 113.035, and a copy of any last will of the decedent, if the personal representative has not identified and found all heirs and devisees of the dece…

(1) Upon the ex parte review of a petition for the probate of a will, an affidavit of an attesting witness may be used instead of the personal presence of the witness in court. The witness may give evidence of the execution of the will by attaching the affidavit to the will or to…

(1) The written will of a testator who died domiciled outside this state, which upon probate may operate upon property in this state, may be admitted to probate upon petition, by filing a certified copy of the will and a certified copy of the order admitting the will to probate o…

(1) Any interested person may contest the probate of the will or the validity of the will or assert an interest in the estate for the reason that: (a) The will alleged in the petition for probate to be the will of the decedent is ineffective in whole or part; (b) There exists a w…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (3) of this section, upon the filing of the petition under ORS 113.035, if there is no will or if there is a will and it has been proved, the court shall appoint a qualified person the court finds suitable as personal representative, giving pr…

The Director of Human Services, or the director’s designated representative, or the Director of the Oregon Health Authority, or the director’s designated representative, may approve in writing attorneys who are eligible to be appointed as personal representatives under ORS 113.08…

(1) By accepting appointment, a personal representative, whether a resident or nonresident of this state, submits personally to the jurisdiction of the court in any proceeding relating to the estate that may be instituted by any interested person. (2) Notice of any proceeding sha…

(1) A person nominated as personal representative who has been convicted of a felony shall inform the court of the conviction. The conviction shall not disqualify the nominee from acting as personal representative unless the court finds that the facts underlying the conviction ar…

A person is not qualified to act as personal representative if the person is: (1) Incapacitated or financially incapable, as those terms are defined in ORS 125.005. (2) A minor. (3) A person suspended for misconduct or disbarred from the practice of law, during the period of susp…

(1)(a) Except as provided in subsections (2) to (5) of this section, the personal representative may not act, and letters may not be issued to the personal representative, until the personal representative provides a bond to the clerk of the court in an amount set by the court. T…

The court may increase or reduce the amount of the bond of a personal representative, or require a new bond, if it appears to the court that the bond was inadequate or excessive or a new bond is necessary. The surety on the bond may be discharged from liability by an order made p…

(1) The court shall issue letters testamentary or letters of administration to the personal representative appointed by the court upon the filing with the clerk of the court the bond, if any, required by the court. (2) The letters testamentary or letters of administration must re…

If the personal representative has employed an attorney to represent the personal representative in the administration of the estate, the personal representative shall file in the estate proceeding the name and post-office address of the attorney unless that information appears i…

(1) Upon appointment a personal representative shall deliver or mail to the devisees, heirs and the persons described in ORS 113.035 (8) and (9) who were required to be named in the petition for appointment of a personal representative, at the addresses shown in the petition, inf…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (5) of this section, upon appointment a personal representative shall cause a notice to interested persons to be published once in: (a) A newspaper published in the county in which the estate proceeding is pending; or (b) If no newspaper is pu…

Within 90 days after the date of appointment, unless a longer time is granted by the court, a personal representative shall file in the estate proceeding an inventory of all property of the estate that has come into the possession or knowledge of the personal representative. The …

(1) Whenever any property of the estate not included in the inventory comes into the possession or knowledge of the personal representative, the personal representative shall either file in the estate proceeding a supplemental inventory within 30 days after the date of receiving …

(1) The personal representative may employ a qualified and disinterested appraiser to assist the personal representative in the appraisal of any property of the estate the value of which may be subject to reasonable doubt. Different persons may be employed to appraise different k…

(1) When a personal representative ceases to be qualified as provided in ORS 113.095, or becomes incapable of discharging duties, the court shall remove the personal representative. (2) When a personal representative has been unfaithful to or neglectful of the trust, the court ma…

(1) Every power exercisable by copersonal representatives may be exercised by the survivors or survivor of them when the appointment of one is terminated, unless the will provides otherwise. (2) Where one of two or more persons named as copersonal representatives is not appointed…

(1) When a personal representative dies, is removed by the court, or resigns and the resignation is accepted by the court, the court may appoint, and, if the personal representative was the sole or the last surviving personal representative and administration is not completed, th…

(1) If the personal representative dies, is removed by the court or resigns after the notice to interested persons required by ORS 113.155 has been published but before the expiration of four months from the date of publication, the successor personal representative shall cause n…

The State Treasurer shall appoint one or more estate administrators to administer any estate in which the State Treasurer is appointed personal representative. An estate administrator appointed under this section is an employee of the State Treasurer. [2003 c.395 §7; 2019 c.678 §…

(1) A person who has knowledge that a decedent died wholly intestate, that the decedent owned property subject to probate in Oregon and that the decedent died without a known heir shall give notice of the death within 48 hours after acquiring that knowledge to the State Treasurer…

(1) An estate administrator of the State Treasurer appointed under ORS 113.235 may take custody of the property of a decedent who died owning property subject to probate in Oregon upon the State Treasurer receiving notice that: (a) The decedent died wholly intestate and without a…