Oregon Small Estate Affidavit

Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: Oregon lets a small estate be settled with a sworn affidavit, usable 30 days after death, and it is filed with the clerk of the probate court, after which a certified copy is delivered to each holder of the decedent’s property. Real estate: yes.

The verdicts

What the statute actually says

Under ORS 114.515(3), a simple estate affidavit may not be filed until 30 days after the death of the decedent. Under ORS 114.515(1), a claiming successor may file a simple estate affidavit with the clerk of the probate court in any county where there is venue for a proceeding seeking the appointment of a personal representative for the estate. Under ORS 114.547(1)(a), before the completion of the two-year period established in ORS 114.550, and in exchange for adequate consideration, the affiant may transfer or sell any real property if each heir or devisee who would succeed to the interest conveyed joins in the conveyance.

The dollar limit

Simple estate affidavit: no more than $75,000 of fair market value in personal property other than manufactured homes AND no more than $200,000 in real property and manufactured homes combined, valued without reduction for liens or other debts (ORS 114.510; the procedure was renamed from small estate affidavit to simple estate affidavit by 2023 SB 308).

All 51 limits, compared.

The form

There is an official free form. Simple Estate Affidavit, with instructions, published by the Oregon Judicial Department, free to download. You should not pay anyone for this form.

The waiting period is the part that voids transfers

Using the instrument before its waiting period has run is the most common way one of these fails. A bank can refuse it, and a transfer made on a defective affidavit can be unwound — with the person who signed it personally exposed, because these are sworn statements made under penalty of perjury. Wait the full period and count from the date of death.

What could not be verified

We read the official sources: the Oregon Legislature’s ORS chapter 114 (oregonlegislature.gov) and the Oregon Judicial Department’s Simple Estate Affidavit instructions (courts.oregon.gov). The statute lets the probate court clerk acknowledge the affidavit upon presentation of the affiant’s identification and statement under penalty of perjury (ORS 114.515(8)), and the Oregon Judicial Department’s official instructions state that the affiant’s signature must be notarized by a court clerk or notary public. One honest gap: the 2023 SB 308 rename of the procedure was confirmed only through a secondary legislative summary, not the session law text.

When this route is the wrong one

• The estate is over the limit. Full administration applies, and using the small-estate route anyway does not make it valid.
• There is real estate and this route does not reach it. A house needs the instrument that can actually transfer title.
• Someone disputes it. These procedures assume agreement; a contested estate belongs in front of a judge.
• Debts exceed assets. Paying the wrong creditor first can make you personally liable.

Related: how the process works, step by step · affidavit versus summary administration.

General information drawn from state statutes and official court materials, not legal advice. Probate and small-estate procedure is STATE law and differs in every state; thresholds, waiting periods and forms change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. Using the wrong instrument, or using one before its waiting period has run, can make a transfer ineffective and can expose the person who signs the affidavit to personal liability. We are not a law firm and we sell no forms.