Title 12, Probate Law

(1) Unless the will otherwise provides and subject to subsection (2) of this section, all expenses incurred in connection with the settlement of a decedent’s estate, including debts, funeral expenses, estate taxes, interest and penalties concerning taxes, family allowances, fees …

Upon petition by the personal representative or other interested person, and after such notice and hearing as the court may prescribe, the court may order the personal representative to distribute, prior to final settlement and distribution, property of the estate to the person o…

The court may require a bond or other security of any distributee for the protection of creditors and other interested persons who might suffer loss or injury because of the distribution of property under ORS 116.013. [1969 c.591 §170]

The distribution of property in accordance with the order of the court under ORS 116.013 is a full discharge of the personal representative in respect to all property embraced in the order, except as otherwise provided in ORS chapters 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116 and 117. [1969 c…

If, after the distribution of property under ORS 116.013, it appears that all or any part of the property distributed is required for the payment of claims and expenses of administration, including determined and undetermined state and federal tax liability, the personal represen…

A personal representative may be liable for and is chargeable in the accounts of the personal representative with: (1) All of the estate of the decedent that comes into the possession of the personal representative at any time, including the income therefrom. (2) All property not…

A personal representative is not liable for or chargeable in the accounts of the personal representative with: (1) Debts due the decedent or other assets of the estate that remain uncollected without the fault of the personal representative. (2) Loss by the decrease in value or d…

(1) A personal representative shall make and file in the estate proceeding an account of the personal representative’s administration: (a) Unless the court orders otherwise, annually within 60 days after the anniversary date of the personal representative’s appointment. (b) Withi…

(1) Upon filing the final account and petition for a judgment of distribution, the personal representative shall set a time for filing objections to the account and petition. Not less than 20 days before the time set, the personal representative shall mail a copy of the final acc…

Any person entitled to notice under ORS 116.093 may, within the time fixed for the filing, file in the estate proceeding objections to the final account and petition for distribution, specifying the particulars of the objections. Upon the filing of objections the court shall fix …

(1) If no objections to the final account and petition for distribution are filed, or if objections are filed, upon the hearing or upon the filing of a statement in lieu of the final account under ORS 116.083 (5), the court shall enter a general judgment of final distribution. In…

To the extent that the final account is approved, the personal representative and the surety of the personal representative, subject to the right of appeal, to the power of the court to vacate its final orders and to the provisions of ORS 116.213, are relieved from liability for …

(1) If the will expresses an order of abatement, or the testamentary plan or the express or implied purpose of the devise would be defeated by the order of abatement stated in subsection (2) of this section, the shares of the distributees abate as may be found necessary to give e…

(1) As used in this section, “discount rate” means the auction average rate on 91-day United States Treasury bills, as established by the most recent auction of these Treasury bills and as reported by the United States Department of the Treasury, Bureau of the Public Debt. The di…

The amount of the indebtedness of a distributee to the estate if due, or its present worth if not due, shall be offset against the interest of the distributee in the estate; but the distributee has the benefit of any defense that would be available to the distributee in a direct …

When administration of an estate in this state has been completed and the estate is in a condition to be distributed, the court, upon application by the personal representative, may authorize the delivery to the personal representative of an estate of a decedent pending in a fore…

(1) As used in this section, “property subject to the jurisdiction of the court” means: (a) All property owned by the decedent at the time of death that is subject to administration, including but not limited to amounts recovered on a personal injury claim, as defined in ORS 114.…

(1) A personal representative shall be allowed in the settlement of the final account all necessary expenses incurred in the care, management and settlement of the estate, including reasonable fees of appraisers, attorneys and other qualified persons employed by the personal repr…

If it appears to the court, at any time after the expiration of four months after the date of publication of notice to interested persons, that there is no known person to take by descent the net intestate estate, the court shall order that the estate escheat to the State of Oreg…

If a personal representative cannot make payment or delivery of property in the personal representative’s possession to the distributee entitled thereto within 30 days after the date of entry of the judgment of distribution, either because the distributee refuses to accept the pr…

(1) A personal representative shall use best efforts to sell or otherwise liquidate any real or personal property, or portion thereof, that escheats pursuant to ORS 112.055, 116.193 or 116.203. If the personal representative is unable to sell or otherwise liquidate such property,…

(1) If the petition for appointment of the personal representative states that no assets of the estate are known to the petitioner and no assets of the estate have come into the possession or knowledge of the personal representative, the personal representative may move to close …

Upon the filing of receipts or other evidence satisfactory to the court that distribution has been made as ordered in the general judgment, the court shall enter a supplemental judgment of discharge. Except as provided in ORS 115.004, the discharge so entered operates as a releas…

The personal representative shall cause to be recorded in the deed records of any county in which real property belonging to the estate is situated, a deed from the personal representative executed in the manner required by ORS chapter 93. The execution of the bargain and sale de…

Upon the petition of any interested person, the court, with such notice as it may prescribe, may order the estate of a decedent reopened if other property is discovered, if any necessary act remains unperformed or for any other proper cause appearing to the court. The court may r…

A court clerk of any county in which the county court has judicial functions, the clerk of any county court that has jurisdiction over probate matters under ORS 111.075 or a court administrator, upon request, shall furnish to the State Treasurer the titles of estates of decedents…

(1) Within 10 years after the death of a decedent whose estate escheated in whole or in part to the state, or within eight years after the entry of a judgment or order escheating property of an estate to the state, a claim may be made for the property escheated, or the proceeds t…

(1) Three months or more after the death of a nonresident decedent, any person indebted to the estate of the nonresident decedent or having possession of personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or right to sue belonging to the estate of the nonresi…

As used in ORS 116.303 to 116.383: (1) “Estate” means the gross estate of a decedent as determined for the purpose of federal estate tax and the estate tax payable to this state under ORS 118.005 to 118.540. (2) “Person” means any individual, partnership, association, joint stock…

Unless the will, or a revocable trust of which the decedent is settlor, otherwise provides, the tax shall be apportioned among all persons interested in the estate. The apportionment shall be made in the proportion that the value of the interest of each person interested in the e…

(1) The court in which the administration of the estate is proceeding may on petition for the purpose determine the apportionment of the tax. (2) If the court finds that it is inequitable to apportion interest and penalties in the manner provided in ORS 116.313 because of special…

(1) The personal representative or other person who is in possession of the property of the decedent and who is required to pay the tax may withhold from any property distributable to any person interested in the estate, upon its distribution to the person, the amount of tax attr…

(1) In making an apportionment, allowances shall be made for any exemptions granted, any classification made of persons interested in the estate and any deductions and credits allowed by the law imposing the tax. (2) Any exemption or deduction allowed by reason of the relationshi…

No interest in income and no estate for years or for life or other temporary interest in any property or fund is subject to apportionment as between the temporary interest and the remainder. The tax on the temporary interest and the tax, if any, on the remainder is chargeable aga…

Neither the personal representative nor other person required to pay the tax is under any duty to institute any suit or proceeding to recover from any person interested in the estate the amount of the tax apportioned to that person until the expiration of three months next follow…

A personal representative acting in another state or a person required to pay the tax who is domiciled in another state may institute an action in the courts of this state and may recover a proportionate amount of the federal estate tax, of an estate tax payable to another state …

ORS 116.303 to 116.383 embody the Uniform Estate Tax Apportionment Act and shall be construed to effectuate its general purpose to make uniform the law of those states which enact it. [1969 c.591 §202]