Oregon: Self-Proving Affidavit for Wills Requirements

Requirements one by one

Availability and governing law

Oregon uses a written-testimony route rather than the classic self-proving form.
ORS 113.055(1) says an attesting witness's affidavit “may be used instead of the
personal presence of the witness in court” when the court reviews a probate
petition without the parties appearing.

Who signs or swears

The affiant is an attesting witness. The section speaks in the singular and does
not require the testator or every attesting witness to join. That differs from
the common form in which the testator acknowledges the will and both witnesses
swear to the execution facts.

When it may be made

The affidavit may be made “at or after the time of execution of the will.” The
statute does not impose a testator-lifetime deadline or require the testator to
participate in the later affidavit.

Required recitals and form

ORS 113.055 supplies no statutory form. It says the witness may give evidence of
the will's execution and may use the will or copy to identify the signatures of
the testator and witnesses. The affidavit has the same weight as live testimony
only as to the matters it actually contains.

Attachment to the will

The witness gives the execution evidence by attaching the affidavit to the will
or to a photographic or other facsimile copy. Oregon therefore expressly permits
the witness to use a copy for identifying the signatures.

Electronic, remote and out-of-state rules

ORS 112.235(4) excludes an electronic record, document, or image from the
“writing” that can serve as an Oregon will. ORS 112.255 recognizes a written will
executed under the law of Oregon, the testator's domicile, or the place of
execution in the circumstances the section lists. Neither section grants
automatic Oregon effect to another state's self-proving clause, and ORS 113.055
states no special remote-affidavit procedure.

Probate effect and exceptions

On ex parte review, the affidavit must be received and carries the same weight on
its contents as if the witness testified in open court. It is not conclusive. An
interested person may move within the statutory 30-day window to require the
witness to appear; if a subpoena cannot reach the witness, the court may order a
deposition. A will contest or solemn-form probate uses proof in the same manner as
an action tried without a jury.

If there is no affidavit

The ordinary route is the attesting witness's personal presence and testimony. If
no attesting witness's evidence is available, ORS 113.055(3) lets the court accept
testimony or other evidence that the testator's signature or at least one
witness's signature is genuine.

What trips people up

Calling it “self-proved” can overstate what Oregon provides

The affidavit replaces one witness's courtroom testimony on the initial review;
it does not create an irrebuttable certificate of due execution. The statute
preserves the court's power to call or depose the affiant and sends contested and
solemn-form proceedings through ordinary proof.

Common questions

Can a contemporaneous affidavit signature count as signing the will?

Yes, in the narrow circumstance stated in ORS 112.235(2). A witness's signature
on an affidavit executed contemporaneously with the will is treated as the
witness's signature on the will when necessary to prove due execution under that
section.

Does missing the 30-day witness-motion window prevent a will contest?

Section 113.055 treats those as different matters. Subsection (2) sets the motion
window for requiring the affidavit witness to appear or be deposed, while
subsection (4) separately states how facts are proved in a will contest or
solemn-form probate.

Statutes and sources

• ORS 113.055 — attesting-witness affidavit, timing, attachment to the will
  or a facsimile, evidentiary weight, witness-motion procedure, unavailable-
  witness fallback, and contested proof: official Oregon Legislature chapter
  (accessed 2026-08-01)
• ORS 112.235(2), (4) — contemporaneous-affidavit signature spillover and
  exclusion of electronic records from an Oregon will: official Oregon Legislature chapter
  (accessed 2026-08-01)
• ORS 112.255(1) — execution under Oregon, domicile, or place-of-execution
  law: official Oregon Legislature chapter
  (accessed 2026-08-01)