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Deschutes County, OR Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | The Circuit Court in Deschutes County, Oregon's general-jurisdiction trial court and the Eleventh Judicial District, which consists of Deschutes County alone and has nine judges (ORS 3.012(1)(k)). Oregon has no separate probate court as an institution; probate jurisdiction in Deschutes County is vested in the circuit court (ORS 111.075), which handles estates under Title 12 of the Oregon Revised Statutes |
| Filing office | The court's Office of the Trial Court Administrator at the Deschutes County Courthouse. It takes the petition, holds the original will, issues letters testamentary and letters of administration, and keeps the estate file. The court's own telephone directory lists a Probate and Guardianships department, and its local rules name a Probate Department as the office where a fiduciary files a certificate of completion for the court-required education class (Deschutes County SLR 9.076(6)) |
| Courthouse | Deschutes County Courthouse, 1100 NW Bond Street, Bend, OR 97703. This is the court's Main Address and the building where new cases are filed; the court states that the courtrooms and the jury assembly room are there and that you may file a new case there, and that you must pass through a security check point to enter. The court opened a courthouse expansion of more than 50,000 square feet on April 27, 2026, with a new entrance, open lobby, transaction windows and staff offices on the first floor and four meeting rooms, two courtrooms and judicial offices on the second. Court records are obtained at the First Floor Information Kiosk, and the family law facilitator's office is on the first floor. The court's only secondary facility is the Juvenile Community Justice Building at 63360 NW Britta Street, Building 1, Bend, which handles juvenile matters and not probate |
| Mailing address | Deschutes County Circuit Court, 1100 NW Bond Street, Bend, OR 97703. The court publishes no post office box. A mailed request for copies from a case file is addressed to the same street with the routing line the court publishes for it, Attention File Room Department |
| Phone | 541-388-5300, extension 28103, which is the Probate and Guardianships department. The court publishes 541-388-5300 as its main number and instructs callers that if you know which department you want you may enter the extension directly rather than following the telephone tree. Case file viewing and copies is extension 71497 and the family law facilitator is extension 71967 |
| None published. Unlike some Oregon circuit courts, Deschutes publishes no contacts page with per-department mailboxes and no probate mailbox, so use the department extension or the statewide Records Request form rather than email | |
| Fax | None published. No fax number appears anywhere on this court's own pages, so file electronically, at the counter, or by mail |
| Hours | The court publishes one hours line, labelled Courthouse Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. It publishes no separate filing counter window and no narrower phone-service window, so those are not assumed here. Two nearby offices keep their own hours: the Deschutes County Clerk's recording counter, which is where a deed is recorded and is not part of the court, is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each business day, and the family law facilitator works by appointment |
| Filing fee | The filing fee to open a probate is set by statute and is the same in every Oregon county, tiered by the value of the estate: $278 if the estate is worth less than $50,000, $591 from $50,000 to just under $1,000,000, $882 from $1,000,000 to just under $10,000,000, and $1,176 at $10,000,000 or more (ORS 21.170(1); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026). A simple estate affidavit is $124 (ORS 21.145(4)). The caption must state the value of the estate (ORS 21.105). Fees are payable in advance and are not refundable (ORS 21.100), and Oregon counties add no local filing surcharge. Fee waivers and deferrals are available. Confirm the current schedule with the Probate and Guardianships department |
| Local forms | Fourteen local probate forms, and every one of them is guardianship or conservatorship side. In the Oregon Judicial Department forms library the Deschutes-scoped probate set is the Acknowledgement of Restriction of Assets, the Conservator's Report, the Conservatorship Accounting and Exhibits, the Receipt of Funds, the Visitor's Itemization of Time Utilized, the Respondent's Objection, the guardian and conservator mediation request and order, the Guardian criminal history authorization, the Guardian's Report for a minor protected person, the Minor Guardianship packet, the guardianship release of information, and the SLR Appendix 5 Guardian's Annual Report and Appendix 6 Objection to Petition for Appointment of Guardian. There is NO local decedent's estate form and no local petition, and the Probate Simple Estate category on the court's own forms page lists only the statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet. Oregon publishes no statewide petition form either, so the petition itself is drafted by the filer or the attorney. Where a form exists in both a statewide and a Deschutes version, the court's forms page directs you to use the Deschutes version |
| E-filing | Mandatory for attorneys, optional for everyone else. An active licensee of the Oregon State Bar must file through the statewide electronic filing system, OJD eFile, which is Odyssey File and Serve and covers Oregon's circuit courts and the Oregon Tax Court, unless the document must be filed conventionally or the filer has a waiver (UTCR 21.140(1)). A self-represented filer is an authorized filer who may register and e-file but is not required to, and may file at the counter or by mail instead (UTCR 21.030(1)). Deschutes adds nothing to that: the Eleventh Judicial District publishes no SLR 2.501 and no chapter 2 at all, so nothing is pulled out of the electronic filing system by local rule here and the only conventional-filing requirements are the statewide ones in UTCR 21.070(3). The original will is the one that matters in an estate and must go in on paper |
| Case search | Through the statewide Oregon Judicial Department Records and Calendar Search, which gives free access to basic case information for Oregon's circuit courts. It is an index and register of actions, not a document library: the Oregon Judicial Department states that results provide basic case information, party information, event entries and dispositions, that the display is not the official register record under ORS 7.020, and that documents are not available through the service. Document images come from a court kiosk or a paid OJCIN OnLine subscription. Copies from a Deschutes case file are ordered at the First Floor Information Kiosk, through the statewide Records Request form, or by mail, and this court delivers copies only electronically by email, in person or by mail |
| Remote appearance | By motion on the court's own form, not by default. The court conducts remote hearings by telephone and video on Cisco Webex, and it publishes conference lines for the dockets that allow telephonic appearances; no probate docket appears on that list. To change the mode of appearance the court publishes a Motion Regarding Mode of Appearance and a matching proposed order, both under Presiding Judge Order No. 2024-10, and the motion states that a separate motion must be filed in each case. Confirm the format with the Probate and Guardianships department when the matter is set |
| Website | https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/deschutes/Pages/default.aspx |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
The first Deschutes County question is not which form to use, it is what the estate holds and who is entitled to what. Oregon prescribes no pleading forms for probate, because "No particular pleadings or forms of pleadings are required in the exercise of jurisdiction of probate courts" (ORS 111.205(2)), and Deschutes County publishes no local decedent's estate form to fill in. So the petition is a document you or your attorney draft, and it has to state the facts relied on to establish venue, the decedent's name, age, domicile, address and date and place of death, whether the decedent died testate or intestate, the heirs and devisees with addresses and the ages of any minors, a statement that reasonable efforts have been made to identify and locate all heirs, and the extent and nature of the estate's assets so the court can set the bond (ORS 113.035).
So before you file, identify every bank and credit union account, brokerage and retirement account, life insurance policy, vehicle, business interest and parcel of Deschutes County real estate, from Bend and Redmond out to Sisters, La Pine and Sunriver, along with every debt, and identify each heir and devisee by name, address and age. That inventory decides three things at once: which Oregon route fits, which fee tier the caption must state (ORS 21.105), and whether the court will waive a bond. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The Circuit Court in Deschutes County serves all of Deschutes County, from Bend and Redmond through Sisters, La Pine, Sunriver, Terrebonne and the unincorporated high desert, and it hears probate for a Deschutes County decedent. There is one filing building. The court publishes a single Main Address, the Deschutes County Courthouse at 1100 NW Bond Street, Bend, OR 97703, and states that the courtrooms and the jury assembly room are there and that you may file a new case there. Its only secondary facility is the Juvenile Community Justice Building at 63360 NW Britta Street, Building 1, in Bend, which handles juvenile matters, not probate. The Eleventh Judicial District covers this county alone, so there is no sister county sharing the courthouse and no second location to sort out.
The building changed in 2026 and the filing location did not. The court's own notice reads that it opened its front doors to a courthouse expansion of more than 50,000 square feet on Monday, April 27, 2026, that the first floor of the expansion has a new entrance, an open lobby, transaction windows and staff offices, and that the second floor holds four new meeting rooms, two courtrooms and judicial offices. Everything a family needs is still at 1100 NW Bond Street: records are obtained at the First Floor Information Kiosk, the family law facilitator's office is on the first floor, an oral objection in a protective proceeding is made to a clerk at the information counter in that building (Deschutes County SLR 9.081(1)), and public access media coverage is confined to the second floor common area (SLR 3.181). One office a probate touches is not the court at all: the Deschutes County Clerk, who records deeds, is at the Deschutes Services Building, 1300 NW Wall Street, Suite 202, Bend.
Oregon's venue rule is unusually broad, so it is worth knowing what it does and does not permit. Oregon law allows a probate to be filed in the county where the decedent was domiciled or had a place of abode at the time of death, in any county where the decedent's property was located at death or is located when the proceeding is commenced, in the county where the decedent died, or in the county where a personal injury or wrongful death claim could be maintained (ORS 113.015(1)); filing in another county is not a jurisdictional defect (ORS 113.015(2)). In practice you file in the county where the decedent lived, because that is where the notice to interested persons is published (ORS 113.155(1)). If proceedings are commenced in more than one county, all but the first are stayed until venue is determined, and the court may transfer a proceeding where the best interest of the estate requires it (ORS 113.025).
The jurisdiction process
- Confirm that Deschutes County is the right county. Deschutes is the practical county when the decedent was domiciled or kept a place of abode here at death, and the other statutory grounds are property located here, death here, or a personal injury or wrongful death claim that could be brought here (ORS 113.015(1)). Probate is filed at the Deschutes County Courthouse, 1100 NW Bond Street, Bend, which is the court's only filing location; the Juvenile Community Justice Building on NW Britta Street handles juvenile matters and does not take probate.
- Choose the route. A probate proceeding is commenced by filing a petition (ORS 111.205(1)): with a will, the petitioner asks the court to admit the will and appoint a personal representative, who receives letters testamentary; with no will, the petition asks for appointment and letters of administration, and the court appoints in the statutory preference order, beginning with the personal representative named in the will and then the surviving spouse or the spouse's nominee where the spouse is a distributee (ORS 113.085(1)). For a modest estate there is the simple estate affidavit route under ORS 114.505 to 114.560, which reaches real property as well as personal property but appoints no personal representative and produces no letters. The routes and their value caps are covered on the Oregon state page.
- Draft the documents, because neither Oregon nor Deschutes County supplies them. "No particular pleadings or forms of pleadings are required in the exercise of jurisdiction of probate courts" (ORS 111.205(2)), and there is no statewide petition, inventory or letters form. Deschutes County's own probate forms are all guardianship and conservatorship forms, so there is no local estate petition to fill in either. Every petition, inventory, report and accounting must be in writing and carry a declaration under penalty of perjury in the form required by ORCP 1 E.
- File with the court. An Oregon State Bar licensee must file electronically through OJD eFile, the statewide Odyssey File and Serve system, unless the document must be filed conventionally or a waiver has been granted (UTCR 21.140(1)). A self-represented filer may register and e-file, or may file at the counter or by mail at 1100 NW Bond Street. Either way the original will goes in on paper, because a document required by law to be filed in original form cannot be e-filed (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)); where an original must accompany an e-filed document, e-file an image, note it in Filing Comments, and deliver the original within seven business days, and the original is treated as filed on the date the image was e-filed. Nothing else is pulled out of the system by local rule here, because the Eleventh Judicial District publishes no SLR 2.501 list.
- Pay the fee. The fee to open a probate is tiered by the value of the estate: $278 under $50,000, $591 from $50,000 to just under $1,000,000, $882 from $1,000,000 to just under $10,000,000, and $1,176 at $10,000,000 or more (ORS 21.170(1); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026). The caption must state the value of the estate, and if an amended pleading raises the value the court collects the difference (ORS 21.105). A simple estate affidavit is $124 (ORS 21.145(4)). Fees are payable in advance and are not refundable (ORS 21.100). If you cannot afford the fee, apply for a deferral or waiver using the Oregon Judicial Department fee waiver and deferral packet.
- Give notice, then let the court set the matter. Deschutes County publishes no probate docket and no probate hearing day: chapter 9 of the Eleventh Judicial District local rules sets no probate calendar, and the scheduling rules in chapter 7 cover criminal, civil and dissolution settings. So ask the Probate and Guardianships department at 541-388-5300 extension 28103 how your matter will be handled and whether an appearance is needed. Where the statute permits an oral objection in a protective proceeding, the objector tells a court clerk at the information counter at 1100 NW Bond Street, the clerk provides the court's own objection form, and the court then schedules a hearing and notifies the parties (SLR 9.081).
- If you need to appear from a distance, move for it. The court conducts remote hearings by telephone and video on Cisco Webex and publishes conference lines for the dockets that allow telephonic appearances, and no probate docket is on that list. What the court does publish for everyone is a Motion Regarding Mode of Appearance and a proposed order, both issued under Presiding Judge Order No. 2024-10, on which you state the currently scheduled mode, the mode you are asking for, remote video, remote telephonic or in person, and the reason. A separate motion must be filed in each case.
- Receive the letters. The court appoints the personal representative and then issues letters testamentary or letters of administration once any required bond is filed with the clerk of the court (ORS 113.125). Certified copies of letters, the document a bank or title company asks for, cost $5 plus 25 cents per page in paper form and nothing when delivered electronically (ORS 21.258; Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026). Copies from the file are obtained at the First Floor Information Kiosk, through the statewide Records Request form, or by mail to the File Room Department; this court delivers copies only electronically by email, in person or by mail, so do not ask for a disc.
- Administer and close. Deliver the required information to the devisees, heirs and the other persons named in the petition, file proof of that delivery within 30 days of appointment, and send the same information and a copy of the death record to the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority (ORS 113.145). Publish the notice to interested persons once in a newspaper published in the county (ORS 113.155). File the inventory within 90 days of appointment, valued as of the date of death (ORS 113.165). Make reasonably diligent efforts during the three months after appointment to identify claimants, mail the notice to each known claimant, and file proof of compliance (ORS 115.003). Claims are presented to the personal representative, not filed with the court, and are barred if not presented before the later of four months after publication or 45 days after a required notice was mailed (ORS 115.005). File accountings, which carry their own tiered fee of $35, $298, $591 or $1,176 on the same value bands (ORS 21.170(2); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026), substantially in Form 9.160, which this district requires (SLR 9.161). Then file the final account and petition for a judgment of distribution (ORS 116.083), give notice of the time to object at least 20 days out (ORS 116.093), and take the general judgment of final distribution (ORS 116.113).
Executor duties
A Deschutes County personal representative carries the statewide Oregon duties, which are covered on the Oregon state page: the information to devisees, heirs and state agencies with proof filed within 30 days of appointment (ORS 113.145), publication of the notice to interested persons once in a newspaper published in the county (ORS 113.155), the inventory within 90 days valued as of the date of death (ORS 113.165), the diligent search for creditors and the notice to known claimants with proof of compliance (ORS 115.003), the claim rules (ORS 115.005), annual and final accountings (ORS 116.083), and the general judgment of final distribution (ORS 116.113). The Eleventh Judicial District adds two local obligations on top of those, and they are the ones that catch a Deschutes fiduciary.
Take the fiduciary class, and take it on the clock. Deschutes County's non-professional fiduciary education program reaches personal representatives, not just guardians and conservators: SLR 9.076(1)(b) covers any personal representative appointed under ORS chapter 113 on or after the rule's effective date, and a fiduciary cited for a deficiency in handling fiduciary duties through the show cause process is pulled in as well. Register no later than 15 days from appointment, successfully complete a class with a curriculum prescribed by the Presiding Judge of Deschutes County within 90 days of appointment, and file the certificate of completion with the Probate Department stating the date, the time and the provider. The fee is a cost of administration of the estate and may be waived or deferred in the court's discretion. A waiver of the requirement itself takes a motion supported by affidavit within 15 days of receiving the court's notice. The court may require a retake, and failure to comply on time may result in removal of the fiduciary.
File the accountings in the format this district requires. Accountings in estates and conservatorships must be substantially in Form 9.160 provided at the Oregon Judicial Department Forms Center (SLR 9.161). That is the statewide probate accounting packet, and UTCR 9.160 already makes the format acceptable in every judicial district while letting a district require it; Deschutes requires it. Remember that Oregon charges to file an accounting: the fee is tiered by the value of the estate at $35, $298, $591 or $1,176 for each annual or final accounting (ORS 21.170(2); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026). Each account must state the period covered, the value chargeable per the inventory or the prior account's balance, all money and property received, all disbursements with evidence, the property on hand, and an ORCP 1 E declaration (ORS 116.083(2)).
Know which office you are dealing with for each step, because two different counters are involved and only one of them is the court. The petition, the inventory, the accountings and the final account go to the Circuit Court at 1100 NW Bond Street. A deed transferring the decedent's Deschutes County real estate is recorded with the Deschutes County Clerk at the Deschutes Services Building, 1300 NW Wall Street, Suite 202, Bend, or by mail to the Clerk at P.O. Box 6005, Bend, OR 97708, with recording hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each business day. The Clerk's office publishes plainly that it cannot give legal advice, help fill out documents or suggest which type of document to use, and it charges a $20 non-conforming fee on top of the recording fee where a document does not meet the statutory first-page requirements (ORS 205.327; Deschutes County Clerk Recording Fees page, current as of July 1, 2026).
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Deschutes County
Oregon publishes no statewide petition to open a probate, and that surprises people who expect a fill-in packet. It follows from the statute: "No particular pleadings or forms of pleadings are required in the exercise of jurisdiction of probate courts" (ORS 111.205(2)). The Oregon Judicial Department Forms Center's Estate page publishes the Simple Estate Affidavit packet with its instructions, in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, and a single Claim Against Estate form covering presentation of a claim to a personal representative under ORS 115.005, to a simple estate affiant under ORS 114.540, to a conservator, or to a trustee. A separate statewide page publishes the probate accounting packet, a generic probate motion and order, and an acknowledgment of restriction of assets. There is no statewide petition, no statewide inventory and no statewide letters form. The Forms Center states its own rule, that any statewide form will be accepted in all circuit courts but statewide forms are not available for all circumstances, and that additional forms may be available through local courts. Note that the Oregon Judicial Department's Guide and File interactive forms service does not cover probate or simple estates.
Deschutes County publishes a real local probate set, and the useful thing to know is what is in it and what is not. The court's own forms page has three probate categories, Probate Conservatorship, Probate Guardianship and Probate Simple Estate, and in the Oregon Judicial Department forms library the Deschutes-scoped probate files are the Acknowledgement of Restriction of Assets, the Conservator's Report, the Conservatorship Accounting and Exhibits, the Receipt of Funds, the Visitor's Itemization of Time Utilized, the Respondent's Objection, the request for and order for mediation in a guardianship or conservatorship, the Guardian criminal history authorization, the Guardian's Report for a minor protected person, the Minor Guardianship packet, the guardianship release of information, and the two forms the local rules themselves prescribe, Appendix 5, the Guardian's Annual Report required within 30 days after each anniversary of appointment (SLR 9.075), and Appendix 6, the Objection to Petition for Appointment of Guardian or Conservator that a clerk hands over on request (SLR 9.081(2)). Every one of those is guardianship or conservatorship side. There is no Deschutes County decedent's estate form and no local estate petition, and the Probate Simple Estate category on the court's page lists only the statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet.
Two practical points about Deschutes forms. First, the court's forms page carries a tie breaker worth following: "If there are two versions of any form, select the Deschutes version." The acknowledgement of restriction of assets is the form where that matters in an estate, because it exists in both a statewide and a Deschutes version. The court's local rules also name the forms page as the place where forms required by the rules are published (SLR 1.171). Second, the one accounting requirement this district imposes is a format requirement, not a local form: accountings in estates and conservatorships must be substantially in Form 9.160 provided at the Oregon Judicial Department Forms Center (SLR 9.161), which is the statewide accounting packet. For a decedent's estate the petition, the inventory and the proposed orders are drafted by the filer or the attorney.
Timeline
- Start by knowing what the court does not publish. The Eleventh Judicial District sets no probate docket, no probate short matters calendar and no probate hearing day: chapter 9 of its local rules contains four rules, on minor guardianship reports, fiduciary education, oral objections in protective proceedings and the form of accountings, and the scheduling rules in chapter 7 address criminal, civil and dissolution settings. No filing-to-hearing window and no counter wait time is published for this court. Call the Probate and Guardianships department at 541-388-5300 extension 28103 and ask how your matter will be handled.
- The fiduciary education clock is the local deadline pair that catches Deschutes personal representatives, and it runs 15 days and 90 days. A non-professional fiduciary must register for the court-required education class no later than 15 days from appointment and must successfully complete it within 90 days of appointment (Deschutes County SLR 9.076(2)). The class curriculum is prescribed by the Presiding Judge of Deschutes County. A request to waive the requirement must be made by motion, supported by affidavit, and filed within 15 days of receipt of the court's notice (SLR 9.076(7)).
- The certificate of completion is its own step. On completing the class the fiduciary files a certificate with the Probate Department stating the date and time the class was taken and the provider (SLR 9.076(6)). The court may require a fiduciary to retake the class, and failure to comply on time may result in removal of the fiduciary by the court (SLR 9.076(8) and (9)).
- Accountings run on the statutory clock in the district's required format. An account is due annually within 60 days after the anniversary date of appointment unless the court orders otherwise, and again when the estate is ready for final settlement and distribution (ORS 116.083(1)), and each one must be substantially in Form 9.160 (SLR 9.161) and carries its own tiered filing fee (ORS 21.170(2); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026).
- If you need a different mode of appearance, move early. The court's own Motion Regarding Mode of Appearance, issued under Presiding Judge Order No. 2024-10, asks for the date of the next scheduled proceeding, the currently scheduled mode and the mode requested, and it states that a separate motion must be filed in each case. Filing it before the hearing notice date is the point of the form.
- Allow lead time on the two administrative requests the court does put a clock on. A contact information update submitted on the court's web form may take up to five days to process, and the court asks that you contact it directly where the change is urgent. An appointment with the family law facilitator, which is a family law service and not probate help, runs on a message the facilitator tries to return within two working days.
Local nuance
Deschutes County-specific considerations
Deschutes County's first distinctive is that its local probate rulebook is deliberately short, and knowing that saves a filer from hunting for rules that are not there. Chapter 9 of the Eleventh Judicial District Supplementary Local Rules, revised and effective February 1, 2026, contains exactly four rules: SLR 9.075 on the minor guardian's annual report, SLR 9.076 on non-professional fiduciary education, SLR 9.081 on oral objections to a petition in a protective proceeding, and SLR 9.161 on the form of accountings. There is no local probate docket rule, no local rule on the content of an estate petition, no local rule requiring a self-represented personal representative to prove competency to the court, and no local rule sending a contested estate to mediation. Some other Oregon metro courts have all four. In Deschutes County the statutes, the Uniform Trial Court Rules and the court's own staff carry that weight instead, which is exactly why the Probate and Guardianships extension is the number to call before you file.
The second is the fiduciary education class, and it reaches decedents' estates rather than only guardianships. SLR 9.076(1) lists the court-appointed non-professional fiduciaries subject to the rule and paragraph (b) is "Any personal representative appointed pursuant to ORS Chapter 113 on or after the effective date of the rule," alongside guardians and conservators appointed under ORS chapter 125, trustees appointed under ORS chapter 130, and any non-professional fiduciary cited for a deficiency in handling fiduciary duties through the show cause process. Registration is due no later than 15 days from appointment and completion within 90 days, a longer runway than some Oregon districts allow. A professional fiduciary as defined in ORS 125.240(5), and an attorney appointed as fiduciary, are exempt. The court sends notice and instructions at the time of appointment, the fee is a cost of administration of the estate and may be waived or deferred in the court's discretion, and the certificate of completion goes to the Probate Department. Failure to comply on time may result in removal.
The third is that electronic filing in Deschutes County is purely the statewide rule, with no local overlay. UTCR 21.140(1) makes electronic filing mandatory for active licensees of the Oregon State Bar and UTCR 21.070(3)(m) lets a judicial district pull stipulated and ex parte matters back out of the system by listing them in its own SLR 2.501. The Eleventh Judicial District has no SLR 2.501, and no chapter 2 in its local rules at all, so there is no local conventional-filing list to check. UTCR 21.020 bars a circuit court from making its own electronic filing rules except through an SLR 21.011 adopted under a Chief Justice Order, and this district has none. What survives is statutory and applies everywhere in Oregon: an original will is a document required by law to be filed in original form and must be filed conventionally (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)), with an image e-filed and the paper original delivered within seven business days where it accompanies an e-filed document.
The fourth is how you ask to appear remotely. The court runs remote hearings on Cisco Webex and publishes telephone conference lines for the dockets that allow telephonic appearances, and probate is not among them: the published lines cover criminal, civil and domestic relations long and short matters, aid and assist and mental health review, civil commitment, family law, juvenile delinquency and dependency, shelter hearings, landlord tenant, small claims, remote child support, traffic, trial readiness and the trial calendars, plus per-judge lines used only for hearings set outside the normal docket sessions at a judge's direction. The court's instruction is to join in the manner stated on your hearing notice, and to call the court a day or two ahead if you are unsure which calendar your case is on. To change the mode, file the court's own Motion Regarding Mode of Appearance and proposed order under Presiding Judge Order No. 2024-10, separately in each case.
Two smaller Deschutes facts complete the picture, and both are about the building and the file. Records are a first-floor, in-person or electronic-only service: copies are obtained at the First Floor Information Kiosk at 1100 NW Bond Street, or by mail to the File Room Department with a check payable to the State of Oregon, and the court accepts not-to-exceed checks up to $30.00 when you do not know the exact amount (Case File Copies page, Deschutes County Circuit Court). The court then adds a warning worth heeding: although the statewide Records Request page offers delivery on a disc or other media, Deschutes Circuit Court provides copies only electronically by email, in person at the courthouse, or by mail, so do not select any other delivery method on the statewide form. And media coverage of a proceeding, if it comes up in a contested estate, is confined to the common area on the second floor of the courthouse (SLR 3.181).
Small-estate Alternatives
Two Deschutes County specifics are worth knowing before you choose the simple estate affidavit route under ORS 114.505 to 114.560. First, this court publishes no local version of the affidavit. Its forms page has a Probate Simple Estate category, and what that category lists is the statewide Oregon Judicial Department Simple Estate Affidavit packet, which comes with its own instructions. Every local probate form Deschutes County publishes is a guardianship or conservatorship form, so on this route you are working from the statewide packet and filing it with the clerk of the court at 1100 NW Bond Street, Bend. The value caps, the waiting period, the four-month claim window and the two-year summary review period are statewide and are covered on the Oregon state page (ORS 114.510; ORS 114.515).
Second, the real property step lands at a different office and it has a current price. An affiant transfers real property by recording a bargain and sale deed in the county's deed records (ORS 114.555(3)), and in Deschutes County that means the County Clerk, not the court: in person at the Deschutes Services Building, 1300 NW Wall Street, Suite 202, Bend, or by mail to Deschutes County Clerk, P.O. Box 6005, Bend, OR 97708, with recording hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each business day. The Clerk raised its deed and mortgage recording fee to $102 for the first page plus $5 for each additional page effective July 1, 2026, an increase from $97 driven by the county's Land Corner Preservation fee under Ordinance 2026-003, and from the same date a death certificate records at $77 for the first page plus $5 for each additional page (Deschutes County Clerk Recording page and Recording Fees page). A cover page that complies with the first-page requirements adds $5, a document that does not meet those requirements draws a $20 non-conforming fee (ORS 205.327), and certified copies are $7.75 plus 25 cents for each additional page. The Clerk also accepts electronic recording through commercial submitter services, and publishes that it cannot give legal advice or help fill out documents.
Recent updates
| Date | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|
| April 27, 2026 | The Deschutes County Circuit Court opened a courthouse expansion of more than 50,000 square feet at 1100 NW Bond Street in Bend. The court's own notice describes a new entrance, an open lobby, transaction windows and staff offices on the first floor and four new meeting rooms, two courtrooms and judicial offices on the second floor. The filing location did not change: the court still publishes 1100 NW Bond Street as its one Main Address and states that you may file a new case in that building, and court records remain at the First Floor Information Kiosk. | Deschutes County Circuit Court home page, courts.oregon.gov/courts/deschutes |
| February 1, 2026 | The current Eleventh Judicial District Supplementary Local Rules took effect for Deschutes County, certified December 31, 2025. Chapter 9 carries the probate practice a filer meets, and it is short: the minor guardian's annual report within 30 days after each anniversary of appointment (SLR 9.075), the non-professional fiduciary education program that reaches personal representatives appointed under ORS chapter 113 with registration in 15 days and completion in 90 (SLR 9.076), the oral objection to a protective-proceeding petition made to a clerk at the courthouse information counter (SLR 9.081), and the requirement that accountings in estates and conservatorships be substantially in Form 9.160 (SLR 9.161). The rules still contain no chapter 2 and therefore no SLR 2.501 conventional-filing list. | Supplementary Local Rules, Eleventh Judicial District, courts.oregon.gov/rules |
| July 1, 2026 | The Deschutes County Clerk's recording fee for deed and mortgage documents rose from $97 to $102 for the first page, plus $5 for each additional page, because of an increase in the county's Land Corner Preservation fee under Ordinance 2026-003. From the same date the county stopped applying its GIS and Land Corner Preservation fees to death certificates, which now record at $77 for the first page plus $5 for each additional page. This is the office where a deed transferring the decedent's Deschutes County real estate is recorded, including the bargain and sale deed on the simple estate affidavit route (ORS 114.555(3)). | Deschutes County Clerk, Recording and Recording Fees pages, deschutes.org |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Deschutes County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | A Bend, Redmond or Sisters home held with a right of survivorship passes to the survivor outside probate, and title is cleared through the Deschutes County Clerk's recording counter at 1300 NW Wall Street, Suite 202, rather than the Circuit Court. Accounts and property in the decedent's sole name may still need probate. Where they do, the surviving spouse petitions the Circuit Court in Deschutes County at 1100 NW Bond Street; the spouse or the spouse's nominee has priority for appointment where the spouse is a distributee (ORS 113.085(1)(b)). A spouse appointed as a non-professional personal representative must register for the court-required fiduciary education class within 15 days and complete it within 90 days of appointment (Deschutes County SLR 9.076). If the sole-name property is modest, the simple estate affidavit may reach it instead, including real property, but it produces no letters testamentary. | Asset discovery to separate survivorship property from sole-name assets, which is also what sets the fee tier the caption must state. Packet generation for the simple estate affidavit or for the petition and proposed orders. Guidance on recording the deed with the Deschutes County Clerk, including the first-page requirements that avoid the non-conforming fee. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | If the parent lived in Deschutes County and the estate is modest, a claiming successor may be able to file a simple estate affidavit with the clerk of the court in a county with venue, which reaches real property as well as personal property, with real property transferred afterward by recording a bargain and sale deed (ORS 114.555(3)). Where a full probate is needed, the child drafts the petition, files it electronically as a registered self-represented filer or by mail to 1100 NW Bond Street, and gets the original will to the court on paper. To appear from out of state, file the court's own Motion Regarding Mode of Appearance under Presiding Judge Order No. 2024-10, separately in each case; the court hears remote appearances on Cisco Webex but publishes no probate docket conference line and no default remote rule for probate. Copies from the file come by email, in person or by mail only. | Asset discovery to confirm what the estate holds and whether the affidavit route reaches it. Packet generation for the affidavit or for the petition and proposed orders, ready to mail or e-file. Attorney referral if the estate turns out to be larger, if a will is contested, or if an appearance in Bend cannot be avoided. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Probate in the Circuit Court in Deschutes County. With no will, the parent petitions for appointment and letters of administration and the court appoints in the ORS 113.085(1) preference order. The parent files the inventory within 90 days (ORS 113.165), publishes notice once (ORS 113.155), works the creditor search and notice (ORS 115.003), sells the child's Deschutes County real estate under the authority the letters give, records the deed with the County Clerk, and files the accountings substantially in Form 9.160 as this district requires (SLR 9.161). A non-professional parent serving as personal representative must also register for the court-required fiduciary class within 15 days and complete it within 90 days of appointment (SLR 9.076). | Asset discovery for the child's accounts, policies, vehicles and Deschutes County real estate, and for the debts that decide whether the estate is solvent. Packet generation for the petition, the inventory and the accountings, in the Form 9.160 format the district requires. Attorney referral for a disputed sale, an heirship question, or a contested accounting. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Deschutes County Circuit Court home page (courts.oregon.gov/courts/deschutes) | The court's own primary page, and the only place it publishes its main address, mailing address, courthouse hours of 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, main number 541-388-5300, secondary facility, Trial Court Administrator and the April 27, 2026 courthouse expansion notice. This court publishes no probate page, so this is the starting point |
| Telephone Directory, Deschutes County Circuit Court (courts.oregon.gov/courts/deschutes/resources/Pages/phone-directory.aspx) | The per-department extension list, which is where the probate line comes from: Probate and Guardianships is extension 28103 off the main number 541-388-5300, case file viewing and copies is extension 71497, audio copies and transcripts is 28066, and the family law facilitator is 71967. The court tells callers they may enter an extension directly instead of following the telephone tree. The table renders with JavaScript, so open the page in a browser |
| Case File Copies, Deschutes County Circuit Court (courts.oregon.gov/courts/deschutes/records/Pages/case-file-copies.aspx) | How to get documents out of an estate file: in person at the First Floor Information Kiosk at 1100 NW Bond Street, online through the statewide Records Request form, or by mail to the File Room Department with a check payable to the State of Oregon and a not-to-exceed amount of up to $30.00 where you do not know the exact fee. The page also carries the court's own limit: it provides copies only electronically by email, in person, or by mail |
| Deschutes County local forms page (courts.oregon.gov/courts/deschutes/help/Pages/forms.aspx) | The court's own form library, with Probate Conservatorship, Probate Guardianship, Probate Simple Estate and Mode of Appearance categories, and the instruction that where two versions of a form exist you should select the Deschutes version. This is the page the local rules name for forms required by the rules (SLR 1.171) |
| Eleventh Judicial District Supplementary Local Rules, revised and effective February 1, 2026 (courts.oregon.gov/rules) | The rules that actually govern a Deschutes probate, and they are short: chapter 9 has SLR 9.075 on the minor guardian's annual report, SLR 9.076 on non-professional fiduciary education, SLR 9.081 on oral objections in protective proceedings and SLR 9.161 on the form of accountings, plus SLR 1.171 on where forms live and SLR 3.181 on media coverage. There is no SLR 2.501 conventional-filing list and no local probate docket rule |
| Remote Hearings, Deschutes County Circuit Court (courts.oregon.gov/courts/deschutes/go/Pages/Remote-Hearings.aspx) | The court's Cisco Webex conference lines by docket, the instruction to join in the manner stated on your hearing notice, and the note that per-judge lines are used only for hearings set outside the normal docket sessions. No probate docket line is published, so call the court a day or two ahead if you are unsure how your matter will be heard. The court's Motion Regarding Mode of Appearance and proposed order, issued under Presiding Judge Order No. 2024-10, are on the local forms page |
| Oregon Judicial Department Forms Center, Estate page (courts.oregon.gov/forms/Pages/estate.aspx) | The statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet with instructions, in English, Spanish and Vietnamese, and the Claim Against Estate form, plus the separate statewide probate accounting packet that carries the Form 9.160 format this district requires. There is no statewide petition to open a probate. The page renders its file list with JavaScript, so open it in a browser |
| Oregon Judicial Department Court Fees and the Circuit Court Fee Schedule effective January 1, 2026 (courts.oregon.gov/Pages/fees.aspx) | The statutory probate filing and accounting fee tiers, the simple estate affidavit fee, appearance and motion fees, and copy and certification charges, with the ORS authority printed beside each line. The Fee Deferral and Waiver packet is in the same Forms Center |
| OJD eFile, Odyssey File and Serve (courts.oregon.gov/services/online/Pages/efile.aspx) | Oregon's statewide electronic filing system for the circuit courts and the Oregon Tax Court. Filing is mandatory for Oregon State Bar licensees (UTCR 21.140(1)) and open to self-represented filers who register, and the Oregon Judicial Department states that e-filing kiosks are available in most courts during regular business hours |
| OJD Records and Calendar Search (courts.oregon.gov/services/online/Pages/records-calendars.aspx) | Free access to basic case information and calendars for Oregon's circuit courts. The Oregon Judicial Department states that results give basic case, party, event and disposition information, that the display is not the official ORS 7.020 register record, and that documents are not available through the service; document access is through a court kiosk or a paid OJCIN OnLine subscription. Deschutes County calendars are also published each afternoon on the court's own Calendars page |
| Deschutes County Clerk, recording (deschutes.org, 1300 NW Wall Street, Suite 202, Bend) | The office that records a deed transferring the decedent's real estate, including the bargain and sale deed on the simple estate affidavit route (ORS 114.555(3)). Recording hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. each business day, mail goes to P.O. Box 6005, Bend, OR 97708, deed and mortgage records are $102 for the first page plus $5 for each additional page as of July 1, 2026, and the office publishes that it cannot give legal advice or help fill out documents. Its Divorce and Other Court Related Services page routes all court business back to the Circuit Court at 541-388-5300 |
| Oregon State Bar (osbar.org, 503-620-0222 or 800-452-8260) | The Bar's public "What is Probate?" page and its Wills, Trusts and Elder Law resources, plus the Lawyer Referral Service and Modest Means Program at 503-684-3763 or 800-452-7636. The Oregon Judicial Department's own simple estate instructions send readers here. The Bar is not a government agency |
| Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Central Oregon Regional Office (42 NW Greeley Avenue, Bend; 541-385-6944 or 1-800-678-6944) | The legal aid program that covers this county: the office serves Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties and the Warm Springs Reservation, with outreach to Prineville, Madras and Warm Springs by appointment. Telephone intake runs Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., with Tuesday afternoons listed to 5:00 p.m., and walk-in intake is Tuesdays and Thursdays in the same windows. Income should be at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level. Its listed subject areas are housing, consumer, family law where the applicant is fleeing domestic violence, education, employment, government benefits, bankruptcy and expungement, so estates are not a listed area: ask first. Confirm the current intake hours and service area on the office's own page |
| Family Law Facilitator and the Greater Oregon Facilitation Initiative, Deschutes County Circuit Court | Useful to know about, and useful to know its limits. The facilitator's office is on the first floor of the courthouse and helps self-represented people with divorce, custody and legal separation paperwork only; the facilitator is not an attorney, cannot give legal advice, and does not handle probate. Deschutes participates in the statewide Greater Oregon Facilitation Initiative, which is also a family law service. The facilitator tries to return calls within two working days |
| Oregon Law Help (oregonlawhelp.org) | Oregon's plain-language legal aid site, linked from the Oregon Judicial Department Self-Help Center. It publishes no probate or estate topic, so use it to confirm which legal aid program serves Deschutes County rather than as a probate guide. The site returns errors to automated fetchers, so open it in a browser |
When to hire an attorney
Deschutes County gives a self-represented personal representative less scaffolding than some Oregon metro courts, and that is the practical reason to think about counsel here. The Eleventh Judicial District publishes no probate docket and no probate self-help service: the courthouse's facilitator program is a family law service that does not handle probate, the county's legal aid office does not list estates among its subject areas, and the court publishes no local estate petition or instruction packet, because Oregon requires no particular pleadings (ORS 111.205(2)). Counsel makes particular sense in Deschutes County when the estate is insolvent or its solvency is in doubt; when a will is contested, a bequest fails, or heirship is unclear; when a bond waiver is sought and distributee consents have to be assembled; when the estate holds a business interest, out-of-state property, or Bend, Redmond or Sisters real estate whose sale terms are disputed; when a claim is disallowed and the claimant asks for a summary determination; when an accounting has to be built to the Form 9.160 standard this district requires (SLR 9.161); or when you live out of state and would have to move for a different mode of appearance under Presiding Judge Order No. 2024-10 to take part. An attorney also brings e-filing with them, since Oregon State Bar licensees must e-file under UTCR 21.140(1). Sunset can connect families to a vetted Deschutes County probate attorney when the situation calls for counsel.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Deschutes County real estate, business interests and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value before you file. In Oregon that number does real work: it decides the filing fee tier the caption must state (ORS 21.105), it is what the petition must describe so the court can set the bond (ORS 113.035), and it is the basis of the inventory due within 90 days of appointment (ORS 113.165).
Generate the probate packet. Oregon publishes no statewide petition form and every local probate form Deschutes County publishes is a guardianship or conservatorship form, so the paperwork is drafted, not filled in. Sunset assembles the Deschutes filing: the simple estate affidavit where the estate qualifies, or the petition, the proposed order and the proposed letters, with the ORCP 1 E declaration, ready to file at 1100 NW Bond Street, to mail, or to e-file through OJD eFile.
Find a local probate attorney. When estate settlement involves an insolvent or contested estate, when a Bend or Redmond property sale is disputed, or when you would otherwise have to move for a different mode of appearance to take part from out of state, Sunset connects families to a vetted Deschutes County probate attorney to file, e-file and appear.
Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).
Frequently asked questions
Where do I file probate in Deschutes County, Oregon?
With the Office of the Trial Court Administrator for the Circuit Court in Deschutes County, at the Deschutes County Courthouse, 1100 NW Bond Street, Bend, OR 97703. Oregon has no separate probate court as an institution; probate jurisdiction in Deschutes County is vested in the circuit court (ORS 111.075). That one building is the filing location: the court publishes it as its Main Address and states that the courtrooms and jury assembly room are there and that you may file a new case there, and its only secondary facility, the Juvenile Community Justice Building on NW Britta Street, handles juvenile matters. Oregon venue is broad, allowing filing where the decedent was domiciled or had a place of abode, in any county where the decedent's property was or is located, where the decedent died, or where a personal injury or wrongful death claim could be brought (ORS 113.015(1)), and filing elsewhere is not a jurisdictional defect (ORS 113.015(2)); in practice you file where the decedent lived, because that is where the notice to interested persons is published (ORS 113.155(1)).
Did the Deschutes County courthouse expansion change where I file?
No. The court opened a courthouse expansion of more than 50,000 square feet on Monday, April 27, 2026, and its own notice describes a new entrance, an open lobby, transaction windows and staff offices on the first floor and four meeting rooms, two courtrooms and judicial offices on the second. The address did not change: the court still publishes one Main Address, the Deschutes County Courthouse at 1100 NW Bond Street, Bend, and still states that you may file a new case in that building. The services a family uses are on the first floor, with court records at the First Floor Information Kiosk and the facilitator's office also on the first floor. You must pass through a security check point to enter.
What is the probate phone number for the Deschutes County Circuit Court?
541-388-5300, extension 28103. The court publishes 541-388-5300 as its main number and then publishes a telephone directory of department extensions, telling callers that if you know which department you want you may enter the extension rather than following the telephone tree. The entry for estates and protective proceedings is Probate and Guardianships at extension 28103. Case file viewing and copies is extension 71497. This court publishes no fax number and no department email mailbox, so the extension or the counter is how you reach staff.
Do I have to e-file a probate case in Deschutes County?
Only if you are a lawyer. An active licensee of the Oregon State Bar must file through the statewide electronic filing system, OJD eFile, which is Odyssey File and Serve, unless the document must be filed conventionally or the filer has a waiver (UTCR 21.140(1)). A self-represented filer may register and e-file but is not required to, and may file at the counter at 1100 NW Bond Street or by mail. Deschutes adds nothing to the statewide rule: the Eleventh Judicial District has no SLR 2.501 and no chapter 2 in its local rules, so no probate document is pulled out of the electronic filing system by local rule here, and UTCR 21.020 would require a Chief Justice Order for a local e-filing rule. The original will is the statutory exception and must be filed on paper (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)); where it accompanies an e-filed document you may e-file an image, note it in Filing Comments, and deliver the paper original within seven business days.
When are probate hearings held in Deschutes County?
The court publishes no probate hearing day and no probate docket, and that is worth knowing rather than guessing at. Chapter 9 of the Eleventh Judicial District local rules sets no probate calendar, its four rules cover the minor guardian's annual report, fiduciary education, oral objections in protective proceedings and the form of accountings, and the scheduling rules in chapter 7 address criminal, civil and dissolution settings. The court's Remote Hearings page lists conference lines by docket, and probate is not one of them. So call the Probate and Guardianships department at 541-388-5300 extension 28103 to ask how your matter will be handled, and follow the hearing notice you receive. No filing-to-hearing window and no counter wait time is published for this court.
How much does it cost to file probate in Deschutes County?
The fee is statutory and identical in every Oregon county, tiered by the value of the estate: $278 if the estate is worth less than $50,000, $591 from $50,000 to just under $1,000,000, $882 from $1,000,000 to just under $10,000,000, and $1,176 at $10,000,000 or more (ORS 21.170(1); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026). The caption must state the value of the estate, and if an amended pleading raises it the court collects the difference (ORS 21.105). A simple estate affidavit is $124 (ORS 21.145(4)). Accountings carry their own tiered fee of $35, $298, $591 or $1,176 on the same bands (ORS 21.170(2)), any other appearance in a probate proceeding is $281 (ORS 21.135(1) and (2)(g); ORS 21.170(4)), and a $111 fee attaches to the specific motions listed in ORS 21.200(1). Fees are payable in advance and are not refundable (ORS 21.100), and Oregon counties add no local filing surcharge. Fee deferrals and waivers are available through the Oregon Judicial Department packet.
Do I have to take a class to serve as personal representative in Deschutes County?
If you are a non-professional fiduciary, yes, and this is the local rule that most often catches a Deschutes personal representative. SLR 9.076(1) lists the court-appointed non-professional fiduciaries subject to the rule, and paragraph (b) is any personal representative appointed under ORS chapter 113 on or after the rule's effective date, alongside guardians and conservators under ORS chapter 125 and trustees under ORS chapter 130. You must register for the class no later than 15 days from appointment and successfully complete it within 90 days of appointment, with a curriculum prescribed by the Presiding Judge of Deschutes County, then file the certificate of completion with the Probate Department stating the date, the time and the provider. A professional fiduciary as defined in ORS 125.240(5) and an attorney appointed as fiduciary are exempt. The fee is a cost of administration and may be waived or deferred, a waiver of the requirement takes a motion and affidavit within 15 days of the court's notice, and failure to comply on time may result in removal.
How do I look up a Deschutes County probate case?
Use the Oregon Judicial Department Records and Calendar Search, the free statewide tool for Oregon's circuit courts. It is an index and register of actions, not a document library: the Oregon Judicial Department states that results provide basic case information, party information, event entries and dispositions, that the display is not the official register record under ORS 7.020, and that documents are not available through the service. Deschutes County calendars are also published each afternoon on the court's own Calendars page. For documents, order copies in person at the First Floor Information Kiosk at 1100 NW Bond Street, through the statewide Records Request form, or by mail to the File Room Department with a check payable to the State of Oregon and a not-to-exceed amount of up to $30.00. This court provides copies only electronically by email, in person, or by mail, so do not select disc or other media on the statewide form. Location and inspection of court records is free (ORS 21.258(2); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026), and broader document access is through a court kiosk or a paid OJCIN OnLine subscription.
What probate forms does Deschutes County provide?
Fourteen, and every one of them is a guardianship or conservatorship form. The court's forms page has Probate Conservatorship, Probate Guardianship and Probate Simple Estate categories, and in the Oregon Judicial Department forms library the Deschutes-scoped probate files are the Acknowledgement of Restriction of Assets, the Conservator's Report, the Conservatorship Accounting and Exhibits, the Receipt of Funds, the Visitor's Itemization of Time Utilized, the Respondent's Objection, the guardianship and conservatorship mediation request and order, the Guardian criminal history authorization, the Guardian's Report for a minor protected person, the Minor Guardianship packet, the guardianship release of information, and the two forms the local rules prescribe, the Appendix 5 Guardian's Annual Report and the Appendix 6 Objection to Petition for Appointment of Guardian or Conservator. There is no local decedent's estate form and no local petition, and the Probate Simple Estate category lists only the statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet. Oregon publishes no statewide petition, inventory or letters form either, because no particular pleadings or forms of pleadings are required (ORS 111.205(2)), so the petition is drafted. Where a form exists in both a statewide and a Deschutes version, the court's forms page tells you to use the Deschutes version.
Can I appear remotely, or do I have to travel to Bend?
Remote appearance is available, but it runs through a motion rather than a default. The court conducts remote hearings by telephone and video on Cisco Webex and publishes conference lines for the dockets that allow telephonic appearances; probate is not one of the published dockets, and the per-judge lines are used only for hearings set outside the normal docket sessions at a judge's direction. The court's instruction is to join in the manner stated on your hearing notice and to call a day or two ahead if you are unsure which calendar your case is on. To change the mode, file the court's own Motion Regarding Mode of Appearance and the matching proposed order, both issued under Presiding Judge Order No. 2024-10, stating the currently scheduled mode, the mode you want, and the reason; a separate motion must be filed in each case. Filing itself can be done at a distance by mail or by registering to e-file, with one paper step that cannot be avoided: the original will has to reach the court (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)).
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.