Probate Estate Closing and Representative Discharge in Oregon

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Account and substitute statement

When the estate is ready for final settlement and distribution, the representative files a final account. It reports the accounting period, property and money received, disbursements and property on hand, and includes a declaration; evidence of disbursements ordinarily accompanies the account. The final account also addresses required tax returns and taxes due, any requested reserve, representative compensation, and a petition for authority to distribute. (ORS § 116.083.)

The representative may instead file a final statement if the required distributees consent in writing and all creditors other than those owed court-approved administrative expenses have been paid in full. The statement includes the reporting period, paid-creditor statement, final-account statements and petition, any reserve request, and a declaration. Notice of a time to object to that statement is not required. (ORS § 116.083.)

Notice, judgment and discharge

For a final account and petition, the representative mails the filings and objection-date notice at least 20 days before the objection deadline to each distributee and each creditor whose claim remains unpaid and unbarred. The statute also requires notice to the Attorney General for specified charitable interests and proof of mailing in the estate proceeding. A notified person may object by the fixed date, in which case the court sets a hearing. (ORS § 116.093; § 116.103.)

The court enters a general judgment of final distribution after the objection process or on the qualifying statement. That judgment determines the successors and their shares and approves the account or statement in whole or part. After distribution under the judgment, receipts or other satisfactory evidence support a separate supplemental judgment of discharge. (ORS § 116.113; § 116.213.)

What trips people up

Approval of the final account relieves the representative and surety from administration liability only to the approved extent, subject to appeal, vacation and the later discharge provision. The supplemental judgment releases further duties and bars actions subject to the missed-creditor remedy in ORS § 115.004; the court can permit specified fraud, misrepresentation or excusable-error actions within one year. Later discovered property or unfinished acts may justify reopening on an interested person's petition. (ORS § 116.123; § 116.213; § 116.233.)

Common questions

Can an estate opened with no known assets use the ordinary final-account path? A special motion is available when the appointment petition said no assets were known and none later came to the representative's knowledge. The representative must wait at least four months after the specified opening information was delivered or mailed; if granted after notice, the court closes the estate and discharges the representative. (ORS § 116.208.)

Can an interested person later seek administration of newly discovered property? Yes. The court may reopen and appoint a representative, but an already adjudicated or barred claim remains unavailable in the reopened administration. (ORS § 116.233.)

Statutes and sources

The cited sections were checked in the Oregon Revised Statutes, 2025 Edition, Chapter 116 on October 4, 2026.