Small Estate Affidavit Thresholds & Procedure in Oregon

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Oregon's version of this procedure lives in ORS 114.505 to 114.560, a block of the probate code captioned "Simple Estates." ORS 114.510 sets the dollar and eligibility criteria; 114.515 governs who can file and how; 114.525 lists everything the affidavit itself must contain; and 114.535, 114.545, 114.547, 114.549, 114.555, and 114.560 cover transferring property, the affiant's fiduciary duties, sales to third parties, the affiant's own liability, and the remedies available to anyone harmed by noncompliance. The chapter was called "small estate affidavit" until 2021 legislation renamed it "simple estate affidavit" — anything describing a "small estate affidavit" under an older Oregon statute number is describing the same thing under its former name.

Dollar threshold

Two separate flat caps, not one combined number: $75,000 for personal property other than manufactured homes, and $200,000 for the combined value of real property and manufactured homes (ORS 114.510(1)(a)). Both figures are valued at full fair market value as of the date of death, with no subtraction for liens, mortgages, or other debts — and if the affidavit is filed more than a year after death, the property is instead valued as of a date within 45 days before filing. Neither figure is adjusted for inflation. A 2025 bill's original committee draft would have added automatic annual inflation indexing of both caps, but that provision was dropped before the bill's final passage — the figures actually in force today are flat, unindexed numbers. A testate estate with a residual trust gets a variant of the same test: the $75,000/$200,000 caps apply only to property specifically devised to individual people, while anything left to the decedent's own pre-existing trust passes with no dollar limit at all.

Court filing required?

Yes, but it's an administrative filing rather than a hearing. The affiant files the affidavit with the clerk of the probate court in a county with venue over the estate, and the clerk "may acknowledge" it simply by checking the affiant's identification and sworn statement — there's no judge's hearing unless a dispute later comes up. A certified copy of the filed, clerk-acknowledged affidavit is what the affiant then presents to banks and other holders.

Waiting period after death

30 days. The statute is direct about this: "A simple estate affidavit may not be filed until 30 days after the death of the decedent."

Works with a will, intestacy, or both?

Both. The main eligibility path (ORS 114.510(1)(a)) covers intestate estates and ordinary testate estates alike. A second, testate-only path (114.510(1)(b)) exists specifically for a decedent who left specific bequests within the dollar caps plus a residual estate passing to their own inter vivos trust.

Does it cover real property?

Yes, up to $200,000 combined with any manufactured homes — but with a real condition on transferring it. Before the affiant can sell or transfer a specific piece of real property, every heir or devisee who would succeed to that particular interest has to join in the conveyance. If one of them won't cooperate, the general rule is that the property simply can't be sold this way — the one exception is an affiant who's a Medicaid or public-assistance recovery attorney approved under a separate section, who can convey the property to a third party for value even without that consent.

Signature formalities

Lighter than in many other states — no notary and no witnesses at all. The affiant's own statement is made under penalty of perjury, and the clerk of the probate court checks the affiant's photo identification before acknowledging the filing. That clerk check is an identity verification, not a notarial act.

Protection for the bank/holder

Strong, and it covers more than one kind of holder. ORS 114.535(4) discharges a person that pays a debt or delivers property under the procedure to the same extent as payment or delivery to a personal representative. A financial institution that opens a deposit account for the affiant is separately protected from liability for opening it or permitting withdrawals, and a good-faith purchaser for value takes free of a claiming successor's interest. The affiant, by contrast, is a fiduciary and remains accountable to creditors and to a later-appointed personal representative for property received.

What trips people up

Do not combine the two caps: Oregon tests no more than $75,000 of personal property other than manufactured homes and, separately, no more than $200,000 of real property plus manufactured homes. The 2025 indexing proposal did not survive enactment, so both remain flat amounts. Qualifying by value also does not itself authorize a real-property sale; every heir or devisee succeeding to that interest ordinarily must join the conveyance.

Common questions

Who may file? A claiming successor may file. If there is a will, the person named as personal representative may also file, and ORS 114.515 lists additional limited categories.

What happens if the affiant mishandles the property? The affiant remains a fiduciary and personally accountable within the statute's limits. An injured person may seek summary determination, review of the administration, or timely appointment of a personal representative under ORS 114.560.

Statutes and sources

• ORS 114.510 — "(1) A person who meets the requirements of ORS 114.515 may file a simple estate affidavit only with regard to an estate in which: (a)(A) Not more than $75,000 of the fair market value of the estate is attributable to personal property other than manufactured homes; and (B) Not more than $200,000 of the fair market value of the estate is attributable to the combined fair market value of real property and manufactured homes; or (b) The decedent died testate and: (A) Not more than $75,000 of the fair market value of the estate is attributable to personal property other than manufactured homes that is specifically devised to devisees other than the trustee of a trust described in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph; (B) Not more than $200,000 of the fair market value of the estate is attributable to real property and manufactured homes that is specifically devised to devisees other than the trustee of a trust described in subparagraph (C) of this paragraph; and (C) The balance of the fair market value of the estate is attributable to property that is devised to the trustee of a trust of which the decedent was a settlor... (2)(a) The fair market value of the estate under subsection (1) of this section shall be determined: (A) As of the date of death; or (B) If the date of death is more than one year before the date of filing of the affidavit, as of a date within 45 days before the filing of the affidavit. (b) In determining fair market value under this subsection, the fair market value of the entire interest in the property included in the estate shall be used without reduction for liens or other debts." — https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors114.html (accessed 2026-08-22)
• ORS 114.515 — "(1) If the estate of a decedent meets the requirements of ORS 114.510, any of the following persons 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: (a) One or more of the claiming successors of the decedent. (b) If the decedent died testate, any person named as personal representative in the decedent's will... (3) A simple estate affidavit may not be filed until 30 days after the death of the decedent... (8) The clerk of the probate court may acknowledge a simple estate affidavit upon presentation of the identification of the affiant and the affiant's statement under penalty of perjury." — https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors114.html (accessed 2026-08-22)
• ORS 114.535 — "(4) Any person that pays a debt owing to the decedent or transfers, delivers, provides access to or allows possession of property of a decedent in the manner provided by this section is discharged and released from any liability or responsibility for the debt or property in the same manner and with the same effect as if the debt had been paid or the property had been transferred or delivered to a personal representative of the estate of the decedent." — https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors114.html (accessed 2026-08-22)
• ORS 114.545 — "(1) The affiant: (a) Is a fiduciary who is under a general duty to administer, preserve, settle and distribute the estate in accordance with the terms of the will, the law of intestate succession and ORS 114.505 to 114.560 as expeditiously and with as little sacrifice of value as is reasonable under the circumstances... (2) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section or ORS 114.547, when an heir or devisee entitled to succeed to a conveyance fails or refuses to join in the conveyance as required by ORS 114.547, an affiant approved under ORS 114.517 may convey any real or personal property that is part of the estate at any time to a third party for a valuable consideration... (4) Any claiming successor to whom property of the estate is delivered or transferred under ORS 114.505 to 114.560 is personally answerable and accountable: (a) To the extent of the value of the property received, to creditors of the estate to the extent such creditors are entitled to payment under subsection (1) of this section; and (b) To any personal representative of the estate of the decedent appointed after the payment, delivery or transfer is made. (5) A financial institution as defined in ORS 706.008 that opens one or more deposit accounts for an affiant pursuant to subsection (1)(e) of this section is not liable to any other person for opening the account or accounts or for permitting the affiant to withdraw funds from the account or accounts by means of checks, drafts, negotiable orders of withdrawal or otherwise. The financial institution is not required to ensure that the funds of the decedent that are paid out by the affiant are properly applied." — https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors114.html (accessed 2026-08-22)
• ORS 114.547 — "(1) ...in exchange for adequate consideration: (a) 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... (6) Any transfer or conveyance under this section to a purchaser in good faith and for a valuable consideration transfers or conveys the interest stated in the transfer or conveyance free of any interest of the claiming successors, and the purchaser has no duty with respect to application of the consideration paid for the transfer or conveyance." — https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors114.html (accessed 2026-08-22)
• ORS 114.555 — "(3) When the affiant transfers an interest in real property under this section, the affiant shall cause to be recorded in the deed records of the county in which the real property is situated a bargain and sale deed conveying the property to the person entitled to the property, executed in the manner required by ORS chapter 93." — https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors114.html (accessed 2026-08-22)
• ORS 114.560 — "The exclusive remedy of a person injured by the failure of the affiant or any claiming successor to comply with the requirements of ORS 114.505 to 114.560 is a summary determination under ORS 114.542, a summary review of administration under ORS 114.550 or the filing of a petition for appointment of a personal representative for the estate within the time allowed by ORS 114.555." — https://www.oregonlegislature.gov/bills_laws/ors/ors114.html (accessed 2026-08-22)