Probate Family Allowance Requirements in Oregon

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Necessary and reasonable support after a hearing

ORS § 114.015 requires the court to make necessary and reasonable support provision for a surviving spouse, dependent children, or any of them. The claimant—or someone acting for the claimant—must petition. The personal representative receives the petition and hearing notice unless serving as the petitioner, and persons whose distributive shares may be reduced receive notice unless the court orders otherwise. A hearing is required.

The petition must describe nonestate property available to support the spouse and children and estimate their anticipated support expenses. If the personal representative petitions, the petition also states, so far as known, the nature and estimated value of estate property and the nature and estimated amount of claims, taxes, and administration expenses. If someone else petitions, the personal representative supplies that estate information in an answer.

Pending the hearing, ORS § 114.035 lets the court order temporary support in an amount and form it considers reasonably necessary for the welfare of a spouse or dependent child. The court may later modify or terminate support by further order. The statutes state no separate calendar deadline for filing the petition.

Property, cash, duration, and insolvency

The court may transfer title to personal property, transfer title to real property, order periodic cash payments during administration, or combine those forms. The court considers estate solvency, other property available for support, and estate property inherited by or devised to the spouse and children.

Periodic payments ordinarily may continue no longer than two years after death. If the support award would leave the estate insolvent, two tighter limits apply:

• the total provision may not exceed one-half of the estate property's estimated value; and
• periodic cash may continue no longer than one year after death.

Subject to those insolvency limits, ORS § 114.075 gives the support provision priority over claims and administration expenses. The award is treated as an administration expense but not as an estate-tax deduction, and it is not charged against the recipient's distributive share.

Four months after publication of notice to interested persons, the court has a separate whole-estate option. If reasonable support warrants it, the court may set apart the entire remainder after claims, taxes, and administration expenses, end further administration, and summarily close the estate. That four-month wait is a condition on the whole-estate order, not a support-petition deadline.

Principal-dwelling occupancy

A spouse or dependent child who occupied the decedent's principal dwelling at death may continue there for up to one year. If the decedent held a leasehold or other less-than-fee interest, occupancy ends at the earlier of one year after death or termination of that interest. The court may waive or alter the occupancy period for good cause.

During occupancy, the occupants must prevent waste and new construction or other liens, insure the improvements against covered hazards with the estate as loss payee, and pay taxes and improvement liens as they become due. Existing security interests remain effective. The dwelling keeps only the execution exemption it had while the decedent was living.

What trips people up

• The ordinary and insolvent-estate limits differ. Two years is the ordinary cash-payment ceiling; an award that would make the estate insolvent is capped at one-half of estimated estate value and one year of periodic cash.
• Priority and the whole-estate route are different rules. An ordinary support order has statutory priority, while the whole-estate route sets apart what remains after claims, taxes, and administration expenses.
• The occupancy right has a residence condition. A spouse or dependent child must have occupied the principal dwelling at the decedent's death.
• Occupancy carries ongoing costs. The occupants pay insurance, taxes, and improvement liens and may not allow waste or new liens.
• The four-month period is not the petition deadline. It delays only the order that sets apart the whole remaining estate and closes administration.

Common questions

Must a child be a minor to receive support?

The operative sections use “dependent child,” not “minor child.” Dependency is the statutory eligibility condition; the support provisions do not state a separate age cutoff.

Can the court provide property instead of monthly money?

Yes. ORS § 114.055 permits title to personal property, title to real property, periodic money, or a combination.

Can support be ordered before the hearing?

Yes. ORS § 114.035 permits temporary support pending the hearing when the court finds the amount and form reasonably necessary for the claimant's welfare.

Does receiving support reduce the claimant's inheritance?

No. ORS § 114.075 says the provision is not charged against the recipient's distributive share, although inherited or devised estate property is one factor the court considers when setting support.

Statutes and sources

• ORS § 114.005 — qualifying occupants, one-year or earlier-interest limit, occupancy duties, lien and execution rules, and good-cause court power. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 114 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• ORS §§ 114.015, 114.025, 114.035, and 114.045 — petition, service, diminished-share notice, hearing, petition and answer contents, temporary support, and later modification or termination. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 114 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• ORS §§ 114.055 and 114.065 — property and cash forms, two-year ordinary duration, required amount factors, and the half-estate/one-year insolvency limits. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 114 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• ORS § 114.075 — priority, administration-expense treatment, estate-tax treatment, and no distributive-share charge. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 114 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• ORS § 114.085 — four-month whole-estate support order and summary closing. Official Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 114 (accessed 2026-08-03).
• 2026 Oregon Laws amendments-and-repeals table — confirms no 2026 amendment or repeal of the Chapter 114 support sections. Official Oregon Legislature table (accessed 2026-08-03).