Oregon Probate and Intestate Succession: What Happens Without a Will (2026)

Oregon probate cases are heard in the probate department of the Circuit Court in most counties, except six eastern Oregon counties where the County Court has jurisdiction instead. Oregon is also one of the few states that still levies its own estate tax, with an unusually low exemption.

Information last verified on 2026-07-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Probate Works in Oregon

Oregon probate proceeds in the probate department of the Circuit Court for the county where the decedent lived, under jurisdiction set out in ORS 111.085; the probate court holds the general legal and equitable powers of a circuit court under ORS 111.095. Six eastern Oregon counties, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman, and Wheeler, vest probate jurisdiction in the County Court instead, confirmed on the Oregon Judicial Department's own county probate pages. Oregon has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code. It maintains its own independent probate code, ORS Chapters 111 through 117, originally enacted in 1969 and reviewed by an Oregon Law Commission Probate Modernization Work Group beginning in 2013, which looked to UPC provisions for ideas without adopting the UPC wholesale. Oregon's actual procedure runs on two tracks: a simple estate affidavit for smaller estates, and regular administration, a single supervised track. Oregon does not offer a separate unsupervised or informal election the way true UPC states do, though many uncontested steps can proceed without a hearing. For a comparison of how other states structure this same process, see Probate by State.

Creditor claims must be presented within four months after the first publication of notice to interested persons, or within 45 days after direct notice is mailed to a claimant who is entitled to it, under ORS 115.005. A creditor whose allowed claim remains unpaid six months after the notice publication date can petition the court to compel payment. Combined with the required inventory and accounting steps, this four-month floor means ordinary Oregon probate commonly takes roughly five to twelve months. Estates that qualify for the simple estate affidavit can resolve considerably faster, since no personal representative or court administration is required.

Intestate Succession in Oregon: Who Inherits Without a Will

Oregon's intestate succession rules appear at ORS 112.025 through ORS 112.045. The share a surviving spouse receives depends specifically on whether the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of that spouse.

If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse and all surviving descendants are also descendants of that spouse, the spouse takes the entire net intestate estate under ORS 112.025.

If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse and one or more surviving descendants who are not descendants of the surviving spouse, the spouse takes one-half of the net intestate estate, and the descendants take the rest per stirpes, also under ORS 112.025.

If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse and no descendants at all, the spouse takes the entire net intestate estate under ORS 112.035.

If there is no surviving spouse, the estate passes to descendants by representation. If there are none, it passes to surviving parents. If there are no parents, it passes equally to siblings, with a deceased sibling's share passing by representation to that sibling's descendants, under ORS 112.045. If no qualifying relative can be found after a diligent search, the estate escheats to the State of Oregon.

One way to make sure your property goes to the people you actually choose, rather than following Oregon's intestate succession order, is to have a valid will in place. recordinglaw.com's free Oregon Last Will and Testament Generator can help you create one, with no account required.

Small Estate and Simplified Probate in Oregon

Oregon's simple estate affidavit, under ORS 114.510 and ORS 114.515, lets heirs collect and transfer assets without a personal representative or full court administration. It is available when the total estate value does not exceed $275,000, split into two simultaneous caps: no more than $75,000 attributable to personal property and no more than $200,000 attributable to real property. Both limits apply at the same time, and the values are measured gross, without any reduction for liens or mortgages against the property. The affidavit cannot be filed until at least 30 days after the date of death, a waiting period meant to give creditors and other interested parties a minimum window before assets move.

Oregon's Estate Tax: A Low Exemption, After Failed Reform Efforts

Oregon has no inheritance tax, but it does levy its own Oregon Estate Transfer Tax, separate from the federal estate tax and administered by the Oregon Department of Revenue. Oregon's exemption is unusually low: $1,000,000, a figure that has not been raised or indexed for inflation in roughly 25 years, according to the Department of Revenue's own Estate Transfer Tax statistics. Tax rates run from 10 percent to 16 percent on the value above that threshold, and unlike the federal estate tax, Oregon's exemption does not carry over between spouses.

That $1,000,000 threshold drew active legislative attention in 2026, but both reform efforts have since concluded without changing the law. Senate Bill 1511, which passed the Oregon Senate in February 2026, would have raised the exemption to $2.5 million and indexed it to inflation going forward, but it died in the House Committee on Revenue without a floor vote after the committee never reconvened before the 2026 legislative session ended. Separately, a ballot initiative known as Initiative Petition 51, titled "End the Death Tax," sought to repeal the Oregon estate tax outright, but its sponsor, the End the Death Tax PAC, did not gather enough signatures to qualify for the November 2026 ballot by the July 2026 deadline. The $1,000,000 exemption remains current, in-force law, and an Oregon estate above that amount is still subject to the tax. Either effort could be reintroduced in a future session or election cycle, so readers should check the Oregon Department of Revenue's current guidance before relying on this figure.

Do You Need a Probate Attorney?

A probate attorney is worth engaging when a will contest or dispute among heirs is likely, when the estate includes a business interest, when the family is blended in a way that creates gaps Oregon's intestate succession statute does not cover well, or when the estate is large enough to raise Oregon's own estate tax. Given the state's unusually low $1,000,000 exemption, that last situation comes up in Oregon more often than in most other states. For a straightforward estate that qualifies for the simple estate affidavit, many people navigate the process without one.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about probate and intestate succession in Oregon as of the verification date above. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not a substitute for advice from a probate attorney licensed in Oregon, particularly for a contested estate, a business interest, a blended family, or an estate large enough to raise Oregon estate tax questions. Oregon's estate tax exemption was the subject of 2026 legislation and a ballot measure effort that both failed and could resurface in a future session or election; verify the current threshold directly with the Oregon Department of Revenue before relying on any figure here.

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Last updated: 2026-07-16. Figures and statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-16.

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