Oregon: Petition to Probate a Will Requirements

Requirements one by one

Proceeding, court, and venue

Oregon combines the ordinary request to admit a domestic will with the request
to appoint a personal representative in the petition governed by ORS 113.035.
Probate jurisdiction sits in county court in Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur,
Sherman, and Wheeler Counties and in circuit court in every other county
(§ 111.075).

Venue is broader than domicile alone. ORS § 113.015 permits the county of the
decedent's domicile or place of abode, any county with decedent property, the
county of death, or a county where a qualifying personal-injury or wrongful-
death claim could be maintained. Filing in the wrong county is not a
jurisdictional defect.

Who may petition and what the petition contains

Section 113.035 authorizes any interested person or the will-nominated
personal representative to petition. Filing eligibility is therefore broader
than the nominee's first preference for appointment under § 113.085.

The petition must provide, so far as known, the decedent's identity, age,
domicile, address, death details, testacy, and venue facts. It must identify the
nominee and qualification facts; heirs and the efforts made to find them;
devisees, failed devises, and possible omissions; and persons asserting a
competing will, an ineffective will, a will contract, or a parental-forfeiture
claim. It also states the original will's status, the extent and nature of
estate assets for bond, and the filing purpose if no assets are known. The
statute does not state a verification or notarization requirement.

Original will, unavailable wills, and electronic records

For the ordinary paper-will route, § 113.035(10) requires the petition to say
that the original is already with the court or accompanies the petition. An
authenticated copy of a will probated in another jurisdiction is a recognized
alternative. Without either, the petition must state the will's contents and
say that it is lost, destroyed, or otherwise unavailable and was not revoked;
that evidentiary issue is not the ordinary original-will path.

Oregon's current execution statute expressly says that “writing” does not
include an electronic record, document, or image (§ 112.235(4)). A court that
learns a custodian holds the will may order delivery under § 112.830.

Filing and production clocks

The numeric delivery clock belongs to the custodian. Under § 112.810(1)(f),
the custodian must deliver the will to the probate court or a personal
representative named in the will within 30 days after learning that the testator
is dead. That is not a universal 30-day petition deadline.

Section 113.027 supplies a different outer limit: after an Oregon estate has
been administered and closed, the will cannot be admitted, and the estate cannot
be reopened to admit it, more than one year after closing.

Proof and ex parte review

Oregon does not require a separate notarial “self-proving” certificate for the
ordinary proof route described in § 113.055. On ex parte review, the court may
use an attesting witness's affidavit instead of an in-court appearance. The
affidavit may have been made when the will was executed or later and may be
attached to the will or a facsimile copy.

If evidence from every attesting witness is unavailable, the court may accept
testimony or other evidence that the testator's signature or at least one
witness's signature is genuine. A contest or solemn-form probate changes the
proof posture: facts are proved as in a nonjury action.

Notice, objections, and contest period

Section 113.055 expressly contemplates ex parte review, so the ordinary
petition does not carry a routine statewide pre-admission notice or hearing
requirement. Once appointed, however, the personal representative must deliver
or mail the information listed in § 113.145 to the heirs, devisees, and specified
claimants named in the petition. Proof of delivery, mailing, or waiver must be
filed within 30 days after appointment.

ORS § 113.075 generally gives an interested person four months from the
required delivery or mailing of that information, or four months from
publication for a person who was not required to be named, to file a will
contest. An interested person may also move within 30 days after the first
§ 113.145 mailing to require the witness-affiant's appearance or deposition
(§ 113.055(2)).

Nominee, qualifications, bond, and letters

The will-named personal representative receives first preference, but § 113.085
still requires the court to find the appointee qualified and suitable. ORS
§ 113.095 disqualifies a minor, a person who is incapacitated or financially
incapable, specified lawyers under discipline, and some funeral service
practitioners. A felony is not an automatic bar, but the nominee must disclose
it and the court applies the findings in § 113.092.

Bond is the default. ORS § 113.105 recognizes exceptions when the will waives
bond, the personal representative is the sole heir or devisee, a listed public
fiduciary serves, or no assets are known; it also permits court waiver or
reduction on specified safeguards. Under § 113.125, letters issue after the
court appoints the representative and any required bond is filed, and the
letters must state court-imposed conditions or limits.

What trips people up

The 30-day rule is a custodian-delivery clock, not a deadline imposed on every
interested person to open probate. The one-year limit has a different trigger:
it runs after the Oregon estate was administered and closed.

The nominee has priority, not an automatic entitlement. The court still decides
qualification and suitability, and a required bond must be filed before letters
issue.

Oregon's notice sequence is mostly post-appointment. Ex parte admission does not
erase later rights: the statutory information and publication dates start the
four-month contest periods.

Common questions

Can someone other than the executor named in the will file the petition?

Yes. Section 113.035 allows any interested person to petition. The nominee's
advantage is first preference for appointment under § 113.085, not exclusive
filing authority.

Does a photocopy replace the original Oregon will?

Not on the ordinary domestic route. The petition must say the original is with
the court or accompanies it. A will probated elsewhere has an authenticated-copy
route; a missing domestic original requires the petition to state its contents,
unavailability, and nonrevocation (§ 113.035(10)).

Must an attesting witness appear in court?

Not ordinarily. Section 113.055 permits an affidavit on ex parte review. The
court may later require the witness's appearance or deposition on a timely
motion, and signature evidence is available if no attesting-witness evidence can
be obtained.

Statutes and sources

• ORS §§ 111.075 and 113.015 — probate court and venue, including the rule that wrong-county filing is not jurisdictional. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapters 111 and 113 (accessed 2026-08-08).
• ORS §§ 113.027 and 113.035 — post-closing admission limit, eligible petitioners, mandatory petition facts, and original/unavailable-will treatment. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 113 (accessed 2026-08-08).
• ORS §§ 112.235(4), 112.810, and 112.830 — electronic records excluded from “writing,” 30-day custodian delivery, and court-ordered production. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 112 (accessed 2026-08-08).
• ORS §§ 113.055, 113.075, and 113.145 — ex parte witness-affidavit proof, fallback evidence, mailed information, witness motion, and contest periods. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 113 (accessed 2026-08-08).
• ORS §§ 113.085, 113.092, 113.095, 113.105, and 113.125 — appointment preference, felony disclosure, disqualifications, bond, and issuance of letters. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 113 (accessed 2026-08-08).
• 2026 Oregon Laws amendments-and-repeals table — no 2026 amendment or repeal of Chapters 111, 112, or 113. Official Oregon Legislature table (accessed 2026-08-08).