Oregon route screening
Oregon's simple (small) estate affidavit has TWO distinct fair-market-value caps that must both be satisfied: not more than $75,000 attributable to personal property (other than manufactured homes) AND not more than $200,000 attributable to the combined value of real property and manufactured homes. Value is fair market value of the entire interest without reduction for liens or debts (gross), measured as of the date of death. The affidavit may not be filed until 30 days after death. Filing fee is $124 (ORS 21.145).
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.
Threshold evidence and currency
Currency: Creditor correction applied: the prior 'outer limit measured from date of death' was unsupported by ORS 115.005; the bar is the LATER of four months from publication (ORS 115.005(2)(a)) or 45 days from actual notice (ORS 115.005(2)(b)), each subject to the claim's own statute of limitations. There is no independent nonclaim period running from death.
Controlling citation: ORS 114.505 to 114.560 — 2025 EDITION.
Verbatim threshold text from that source:
Not more than $75,000 of the fair market value of the estate is attributable to personal property other than manufactured homes
The headline limit is not a count of everything the person owned. It is a test of the property and deductions named by this procedure. Classify title and beneficiary status first; property that transfers by a valid survivorship right, beneficiary designation, or funded trust follows its own transfer path.
This screen counts the probate estate within the statute’s stated scope, not merely cash accounts. Solely owned real property can therefore affect the amount test. That does not necessarily mean the same simplified procedure transfers the house; counting scope and transfer authority are separate questions.
The reviewed value basis is gross for this route. The tool does not subtract a mortgage or other lien from the amount test unless the cited rule says to do so.
The reviewed route requires 30 days after death before the affidavit or petition can be used. That is a minimum timing condition, not a promise that the institution or court completes the transfer on that day.
Assemble the death date, will status, asset titles, beneficiary confirmations, values, enforceable liens, family facts, and any prior court filing before signing anything. Then use the court publisher’s current artifact for the selected route.
Oregon probate is generally handled by the Circuit Court in each county, EXCEPT that under ORS 111.075 jurisdiction of all probate matters is vested in the COUNTY COURTS of Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler Counties; ORS 111.115 lets an estate proceeding be transferred from a county court to the circuit court. The Oregon Judicial Department publishes a statewide estate/small-estate affidavit form set. (The previously listed /forms/Pages/probate.aspx and /courts/Pages/probate.aspx URLs return the OJD 404 page and were replaced with the working estate-forms and courts-directory pages.)
If the state publishes no statewide form, that is a finding—not a missing link. Contact the Circuit Court (county court in Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler Counties) or clerk in the proper county for its packet and current filing instructions rather than borrowing an unofficial form from another county.
This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.
Oregon’s simple estate affidavit is governed by ORS 114.510 and 114.515. The criteria are not a single ceiling: not more than $75,000 of the fair market value of the estate may be attributable to personal property other than manufactured homes, and not more than $200,000 may be attributable to the combined fair market value of real property and manufactured homes.
Both limits must be satisfied, and the classification of a manufactured home matters. A manufactured home is counted against the $200,000 real-property limit rather than the $75,000 personal-property limit, which is the opposite of how most states treat a chattel.
Timing of the valuation is fixed by ORS 114.510(2)(a): fair market value is determined as of the date of death, or, if the date of death is more than one year before the affidavit is filed, as of a date within 45 days before filing. A testate estate has an additional route under subsection (1)(b), which measures the two limits against property specifically devised to devisees other than the trustee of a qualifying pre-death trust, with the balance passing to that trustee.
ORS 114.515 sets who may file: one or more claiming successors; where the decedent died testate, any person named as personal representative in the will; and the Director of Human Services, the Director of the Oregon Health Authority, or an attorney approved under ORS 114.517, where the decedent received public assistance or medical assistance. The affidavit is filed with the clerk of the probate court in a county where venue would lie for appointing a personal representative.
Source: ORS 114.510, 114.515, read from the enacting state’s own published code on 2026-09-17. Quoted wording is the statute’s; the surrounding explanation is this site’s reading of it and is not legal advice.
Oregon eligibility map
The Oregon threshold is one screen, not a complete legal conclusion. This map pairs the recorded ceiling with the property scope, deductions, date, and court artifact that have to be checked before relying on a likely-qualifies result.
| Question | Recorded Oregon answer | Carry into the case |
|---|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Simple estate affidavit | Confirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route. |
| What property and basis count? | probate property within the rule's stated scope; gross value for this route. | Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately. |
| What is the amount screen? | $75,000 | Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut. |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; Oregon bars a claim under ORS 115.005(2) if it is not presented within the statute of limitations applicable to the claim and before the LATER of (a) four months after the date of publication of notice to interested persons, or (b) 45 days after actual notice is delivered or mailed to a known claimant under ORS 115.003. There is no independent nonclaim period measured from death: the underlying limitations period on each claim continues to apply, so the four-month/45-day bars are the estate-specific clocks and cannot be collapsed into one figure. | Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number. |
| What does the cost record establish? | 1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total. | Ask the Circuit Court (county court in Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler Counties) about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings. |
| What does compensation use? | ORS 116.173 sets a percentage commission on the property subject to the jurisdiction of the court (property owned at death subject to administration, plus income received, gains, and certain other amounts): 7% of the first $1,000; 4% of the next amount up to $10,000; 3% of the next up to $50,000; and 2% of all above $50,000. A SEPARATE 1% applies to property not subject to the jurisdiction of the court but reportable for Oregon or federal estate-tax purposes, so the tiered schedule does NOT apply to a single accounting figure. Additional compensation is allowed for extraordinary/unusual services, and a will provision on compensation controls. The relevant base is the estate accounting. | Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate. |
Eligibility inputs
A threshold is useful only when the amount is measured the way the source describes. Keep this table with the asset worksheet so an empty or misclassified field cannot look like a confirmed qualification.
| Input | Registry record |
|---|---|
| Threshold | $75,000 |
| Property scope | probate property within the rule's stated scope |
| Value basis | gross value for this route |
| Waiting period | 30 days after death |
| Required extra facts | None listed in the registry |
Case-file context
A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Oregon descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.
For a petition for appointment of a personal representative (full probate) the statewide circuit-court filing fee is banded by estate value: $278 if the estate is under $50,000; $591 if $50,000 to under $1 million; $882 if $1 million to under $10 million; $1,176 if $10 million or more (ORS 21.170). A simple (small) estate affidavit costs a flat $124 (ORS 21.145).
1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.
ORS 116.173 sets a percentage commission on the property subject to the jurisdiction of the court (property owned at death subject to administration, plus income received, gains, and certain other amounts): 7% of the first $1,000; 4% of the next amount up to $10,000; 3% of the next up to $50,000; and 2% of all above $50,000. A SEPARATE 1% applies to property not subject to the jurisdiction of the court but reportable for Oregon or federal estate-tax purposes, so the tiered schedule does NOT apply to a single accounting figure. Additional compensation is allowed for extraordinary/unusual services, and a will provision on compensation controls.
ORS 116.173 sets a percentage commission on the property subject to the jurisdiction of the court (property owned at death subject to administration, plus income received, gains, and certain other amounts): 7% of the first $1,000; 4% of the next amount up to $10,000; 3% of the next up to $50,000; and 2% of all above $50,000. A SEPARATE 1% applies to property not subject to the jurisdiction of the court but reportable for Oregon or federal estate-tax purposes, so the tiered schedule does NOT apply to a single accounting figure. Additional compensation is allowed for extraordinary/unusual services, and a will provision on compensation controls. The relevant base is the estate accounting.
Oregon bars a claim under ORS 115.005(2) if it is not presented within the statute of limitations applicable to the claim and before the LATER of (a) four months after the date of publication of notice to interested persons, or (b) 45 days after actual notice is delivered or mailed to a known claimant under ORS 115.003. There is no independent nonclaim period measured from death: the underlying limitations period on each claim continues to apply, so the four-month/45-day bars are the estate-specific clocks and cannot be collapsed into one figure.
Court-material note: Oregon probate is generally handled by the Circuit Court in each county, EXCEPT that under ORS 111.075 jurisdiction of all probate matters is vested in the COUNTY COURTS of Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler Counties; ORS 111.115 lets an estate proceeding be transferred from a county court to the circuit court. The Oregon Judicial Department publishes a statewide estate/small-estate affidavit form set. (The previously listed /forms/Pages/probate.aspx and /courts/Pages/probate.aspx URLs return the OJD 404 page and were replaced with the working estate-forms and courts-directory pages.)
Arithmetic illustration
The recorded Oregon ceiling is $75,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as gross value for this route. Counted that way, $56,300 sits below the Oregon figure and $93,800 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Oregon counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.
| Illustrative counted amount | Comparison to the Oregon ceiling | What it does not decide |
|---|---|---|
| $56,300 | Below $75,000 | Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties |
| $93,800 | Above $75,000 | Whether another statutory route or court process applies |
Next evidence to collect
Official material
Oregon probate is generally handled by the Circuit Court in each county, EXCEPT that under ORS 111.075 jurisdiction of all probate matters is vested in the COUNTY COURTS of Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler Counties; ORS 111.115 lets an estate proceeding be transferred from a county court to the circuit court. The Oregon Judicial Department publishes a statewide estate/small-estate affidavit form set. (The previously listed /forms/Pages/probate.aspx and /courts/Pages/probate.aspx URLs return the OJD 404 page and were replaced with the working estate-forms and courts-directory pages.)
Source trail
Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.
Reviewed source note: Not more than $75,000 of the fair market value of the estate is attributable to personal property other than manufactured homes