How to Fill Out and File the Oregon Small Estate Affidavit

Oregon’s small estate affidavit is a sworn court filing that lets you settle a deceased person’s estate without opening full probate, provided the estate’s personal property is worth no more than $75,000, its real property no more than $200,000, and the combined total no more than $275,000. Once the circuit court accepts the affidavit, you have legal authority to collect assets, pay debts, and distribute what remains to the heirs or devisees. The process lives in ORS 114.505 through 114.560, and the official form is a free download from the Oregon Judicial Department.¹

Does the Estate Qualify

Two caps apply at the same time, and both have to be met. Personal property can total no more than $75,000 in fair market value. Real property can total no more than $200,000. The whole estate cannot exceed $275,000.² Manufactured homes count as real property, not personal property.

Use full fair market value. Do not subtract mortgages, liens, or any other debt against the asset. A house worth $195,000 with a $150,000 mortgage still counts as $195,000 toward the real property cap.¹ This is the detail that most often disqualifies an estate people assumed was small.

The valuation date depends on when you file. Within one year of the death, you value as of the date of death. After one year, you must use a valuation date within 45 days before you file.¹ Real estate that was comfortably under $200,000 two years ago may push the estate over the line at today’s prices.

If the estate exceeds any of the three caps, the small estate affidavit is not available and someone will need to open a full probate case.

Who Can File

ORS 114.515 limits the “affiant” to three categories.³

A claiming successor. If there was no will, any heir qualifies. If there was a will, any devisee named in it qualifies. An unpaid creditor also qualifies, but only if the debt has gone unpaid for 60 days after the death.
A personal representative named in the will, whether or not that person is also an heir or devisee.
The Director of Human Services or the Director of the Oregon Health Authority, when the deceased received public assistance, medical assistance, or institutional care that the state may be entitled to recover.

You also have to confirm on the form that you are at least 18, have not been convicted of a felony, have not been found incapacitated by a court, and are not a suspended member of the Oregon State Bar or a licensed funeral service practitioner handling the decedent’s arrangements.³ If the deceased died without a will and without heirs, you need authorization from the State Treasurer before filing.

What to Gather First

Collect everything below before you sit down with the form. One missing item sends you back out again.

A certified death certificate from the Oregon Center for Health Statistics or the county vital records office where the death occurred.
The original will, if there is one, along with an affidavit of attesting witness or an affidavit of genuine signature confirming its authenticity.
A complete inventory of estate property with fair market values. For real property, you need the legal description from the deed or county recorder, not just the street address. For manufactured homes, include year, make, and serial number. For personal property, identify each asset specifically enough that a bank or the DMV can match it: account numbers, VINs, serial numbers.
Full names and last known addresses of every heir (people who would inherit under intestacy law) and every devisee (people named in the will).
Names, addresses, and amounts for all known creditors. The form requires you to state that you made reasonable efforts to identify them.⁴
Confirmation that no other probate case has been filed for this estate. Check through the Oregon eCourt Case Information system or call the circuit court clerk.

The form itself walks you through header information, decedent details (including the last four digits of the Social Security number), the asset lists, the heir and devisee lists, the distribution plan, and an undisputed and disputed claims section with a contact address for creditors to send claims to you.

Filing the Affidavit

You cannot file before the 30th day after the death. If you are filing as a creditor, the waiting period is 60 days.³

Do not sign the affidavit until you are in front of a notary public or court clerk, and bring photo identification. Signing at home before notarization invalidates the document, and this is the step people most often have to redo.¹

File the notarized affidavit, the certified death certificate, and the original will (if any) with the circuit court clerk in the county where a personal representative would be appointed, which is normally the county where the deceased lived. The filing fee is $124.⁵ Request several certified copies while you are at the clerk’s window. Banks, the DMV, and other institutions will each want their own copy before releasing assets or transferring titles.

Required Notices Within 30 Days

Filing starts a 30-day clock. You must mail or deliver copies to everyone the affidavit identifies as entitled to notice.⁶

Each heir gets a copy of the affidavit showing the filing date. If there was a will, each heir and each devisee also gets a copy of the will. If you cannot locate someone, send their copies to the Oregon Estate Administration Program at the State Treasurer’s office.
Every creditor listed in the affidavit, undisputed or disputed, gets a copy showing the filing date.
The Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority each get a copy of the affidavit and a copy of the death certificate so they can determine whether the state has a reimbursement claim.
If the deceased was imprisoned in an Oregon state prison at any time in the 15 years before death, send a copy of the affidavit and death certificate to the Department of Corrections – Central Trust.

Skipping a required notice can expose you to personal liability and give an interested party grounds to petition for summary review of your administration.

Using the Affidavit to Collect Assets

A certified copy of the filed affidavit is what unlocks accounts and property. Banks, credit unions, and brokerages will ask for the certified copy, a certified death certificate, and your photo ID before releasing funds. Some institutions also want a recent statement proving the deceased owned the account.

The affidavit carries a prominent notice, required by ORS 114.525, warning that anyone holding the deceased’s money or property must turn it over to you and that you can ask the court to compel them if they refuse.⁴ Point hesitating staff to that notice. Occasionally a bank will insist on court-issued Letters, the authority document used in full probate; escalating to a manager or the institution’s legal department and citing ORS 114.535 usually resolves it.

Paying Creditors

Creditors have four months from the affidavit’s filing date to present claims. Claims go directly to you at the contact address in the affidavit, not to the court.⁷ Claims presented after the four-month window are barred, with limited exceptions tied to summary review.

If a creditor presents a claim you did not list in the affidavit, you have 60 days to mail or deliver a notice of disallowance. Miss that window and the claim is treated as allowed. Your disallowance notice must state the reason and tell the creditor they can petition the court for a summary determination under ORS 114.542.

Priority Order

If the estate cannot cover every debt, ORS 115.125 dictates the order of payment, and paying out of order can make you personally responsible to the higher-priority creditors who should have been paid first.⁸ The sequence:

Spousal and dependent support allowances
Administration expenses, including filing and certified copy fees
A plain and decent funeral
Debts and taxes with federal priority
Reasonable last-illness medical and hospital expenses
Oregon taxes due during administration
Wages owed to employees for the 90 days before death
Child support arrearages
Department of Veterans’ Affairs claims
DHS and Oregon Health Authority claims for public assistance and Medicaid reimbursement, in the order the statute specifies
Department of Corrections claims for care and maintenance
All other claims

Distributing What Is Left

Two things must be true before you hand out any assets to heirs or devisees: at least four months must have passed since the affidavit (or the most recent amended affidavit) was filed, and all valid claims, expenses, and taxes must be paid.¹ Then distribute according to the will or, if there was none, Oregon’s intestacy rules.

As affiant you are a fiduciary. ORS 114.545 requires you to administer, preserve, and distribute the estate as quickly and with as little loss of value as circumstances reasonably allow.⁶ Keep detailed records of every payment, transfer, and decision, and retain them for at least two years after filing, or longer if a summary review proceeding is pending.

Amending the Affidavit

If you discover a material error, an omission, or additional assets, file an amended affidavit. There is no additional filing fee.³ An amendment restarts the four-month claims window, so creditors get a new period to present claims.

If corrected values push the estate above the $75,000 personal property cap, the $200,000 real property cap, or the $275,000 total, your authority ends immediately. You must notify the court and everyone entitled to a required notice, and someone will need to open full probate.¹

Summary Review

Any claiming successor who has not been paid what they are owed, or the affiant, can petition the probate court for a summary review of the administration within two years of the original filing.⁹ A separate 60-day extension exists solely for petitions seeking to compel the affiant to distribute property after the two-year window closes.

At a summary review hearing the court can order you to sell estate property, pay creditors, or distribute assets. If it finds you failed to follow the rules, it can remove you, appoint a replacement, and surcharge you for any losses your mismanagement caused. That is why the record-keeping matters from day one.

1
Oregon Judicial Department. Instructions for Simple Estate Affidavit
2
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 114.510 – Simple Estate Criteria
3
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 114.515 – Simple Estate Affidavit; Who May File; Fee
4
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 114.525 – Content of Affidavit; Rules
5
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 21.145 – Simple Proceeding Filing Fee
6
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 114.545 – Affiant as Fiduciary; Duties, Functions and Powers of Affiant
7
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 114 – Administration of Estates Generally – Section: Simple Estates
8
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Code 115.125 – Order of Payment of Expenses and Claims
9
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 114.550 – Summary Review of Administration of Estate