Estate Administration

We represent personal representatives, trustees and beneficiaries in settling an estate or a trust after a death.

In a probate, we open the case in the circuit court of the county where the person lived, have the personal representative appointed, give notice to heirs and creditors, prepare the inventory, deal with creditor claims, sell or distribute the property, and prepare the accounting that closes the estate. Where an estate is small enough, we prepare a simple estate affidavit in place of a full probate.

For a trust, we advise the successor trustee on notice to the beneficiaries, collecting the assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing under the trust’s terms. We also prepare the documents for property that passes outside probate by a survivorship deed, a transfer on death deed or a beneficiary designation.

Services we provide

• Probate
• Simple estate affidavits
• Trust administration
• Property that passes outside probate

Statutes and rules

• ORS chapters 111 to 117, Probatethe probate code: the personal representative, notice to heirs and creditors, claims (ORS 115.005), the inventory, the sale of property, the accounting and the closing of the estate.
• ORS 114.505 to 114.560, Simple estate affidavitthe affidavit that settles a small estate without a full probate.
• ORS chapter 130, Uniform Trust Codethe successor trustee's duties after a death, including the duty to inform and report to beneficiaries (ORS 130.710).
• ORS 93.180 and ORS 93.948 to 93.979, Survivorship and transfer on death deedsland that passes to the survivor or the named beneficiary by the deed itself.

Resources

• Probate forms, Oregon Judicial Departmentthe court's forms index; the probate and simple estate affidavit forms are under Probate.
• Oregon State Bar, legal information for the publicthe Bar's plain-language pages on probate and estate administration.