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Jefferson County, OR Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | The Jefferson County Circuit Court, Oregon's general-jurisdiction trial court for this county and a state court funded and administered by the Oregon Judicial Department. Jefferson is not one of the six counties where probate sits in a county court, so probate jurisdiction here is in the circuit court (ORS 111.075), governed by Title 12 of the Oregon Revised Statutes (ORS chapters 111 to 118). The court is half of the 22nd Judicial District, which it shares with Crook County, and the district's three circuit judges and single court administrator serve both counties (ORS 3.012). Sharing a district is an administrative arrangement only: you file in the county, at the Madras courthouse |
| Filing office | The court's Office of the Trial Court Administrator, in Suite 101 of the Jefferson County Courthouse. Jefferson publishes no separate probate department, no probate unit and no probate clerk, unlike the metro Oregon courts, and it publishes no probate page on the Oregon Judicial Department site. Filings and payments go to the customer service windows in the courthouse lobby or to the drop box beside them; copy requests go to the same windows, online, by mail or by fax |
| Courthouse address | Jefferson County Courthouse, 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras, OR 97741. The court's home page gives the building and street; SLR 1.173(2) gives the Jefferson office of the 22nd Judicial District as 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, and SLR 9.081 gives the same address as the counter for an oral objection in a protective proceeding. There is one filing location for the county, no branch courthouse, and the Oregon Judicial Department's own court directory records no alternate location |
| Mailing address | Jefferson County Circuit Court, 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras, OR 97741. The mailing address is the street address; this court publishes no post office box, so nothing needs to be addressed differently for mail, and the court's payments page uses the same address for a check sent by post |
| Phone | 541-475-3317. This is the court's only published number and it is a general court line: Jefferson publishes no probate line, no probate extension and no telephone directory page, so a filing question about an estate goes here (verified July 2026). One extension is published and it is not for filings: 541-475-3317 extension 70696 is the contact for questions about a remote hearing. Note that the court's own copy-request page carries a line telling readers to contact Crook County Circuit Court at 541-447-6541; that is the other county in the district, not this one |
| Fax and email | No fax number and no probate email address is published on the court's own pages, so call 541-475-3317 rather than assuming a filing can be faxed or emailed. The court's records page does say a printed copy request may be submitted by fax, but publishes no number for it. Two department mailboxes are published and neither is for probate: [email protected], which the court says is monitored for notices of appeal only, and [email protected] for courtroom technology and setting up an approved video appearance |
| Hours | 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, which the court publishes as its court hours (verified July 2026). No lunch closure and no separate phone-service window is published, and this district has no local rule stating courthouse hours. Oregon courts are closed on legal holidays. Two cutoffs run later than the counter: the courthouse lobby drop box files a document the same day if it is deposited before 5:00 p.m. on a day the court is open, and an electronic filing is timely if submitted by 11:59:59 p.m. in the court's time zone (UTCR 21.080(2)) |
| 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). Fee waivers and deferrals are available. Confirm the current schedule with the court at 541-475-3317. If you use the lobby drop box, attach the fee: the court says a document without the appropriate filing fee attached will not be accepted and will be returned |
| Local forms | Yes, five, all filed under guardianship in the Oregon Judicial Department's forms library, but one of them reaches a decedent's estate. The five are a guardianship authorization to release information and a guardian's report, both issued for the 22nd Judicial District as a whole, a Jefferson accounting form with exhibits, a court visitor report and a court visitor itemization. The accounting form is captioned for the County of Jefferson and offers a choice on its face between a conservatorship and an estate, describing the filer throughout as the fiduciary, so a personal representative can use it; ask the court whether to file on it or on the statewide accounting form, because SLR 9.161 separately requires an accounting to be substantially in the statewide Form 9.160. The court's forms page also shows a simple estate section, but what it lists there is the statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet. The court's own instruction: if there are two versions of any form, select the Jefferson version. There is no local or statewide petition to open a probate |
| E-filing | Available and used, mandatory for attorneys. 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 holds 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, in the lobby drop box, or by mail instead. The original will still goes in on paper, because a document required by law to be filed in original form must be filed conventionally (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)). The 22nd Judicial District has adopted no SLR 2.501, so it adds nothing to the statewide conventional-filing list |
| Case search | Through the free Oregon Judicial Department Records and Calendar Search, which covers Oregon's circuit courts and therefore covers Jefferson County. 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 ORS 7.020 register record, and that documents are not available through the service. For documents, the court provides an OJCIN computer in the lobby on the main floor of the courthouse, open to the public, where statewide circuit court case information and most filed documents can be reviewed for most cases; a paid OJCIN OnLine subscription is the remote equivalent. Decedents' estate cases are public |
| Remote appearance | Possible, but ask, and ask early. SLR 3.051 requires attorneys, litigants and witnesses appearing remotely to follow the Oregon Judicial Department's remote hearings guides, and sets no default mode for any case type. The court's technology page adds the local mechanics: a request to appear by telephone must be preapproved by a judge, a request to appear by video must be filed no later than five days before the hearing, and each courtroom is restricted to two incoming phone lines. The court publishes Webex conference lines for its three courtrooms. Questions about a remote hearing go to 541-475-3317 extension 70696. Nothing published makes a probate hearing remote by default |
| Website | https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/jefferson/Pages/default.aspx (the court's home page, with its address, hours and main number), https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/jefferson/help/Pages/forms.aspx (the Jefferson County forms, including the probate group), https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/jefferson/resources/Pages/courthouse-resources.aspx (the lobby drop box, the OJCIN computer and the self-help center), and https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/jefferson/records/Pages/default.aspx (court records and copy requests) |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you file anything in Madras, know exactly what the estate holds. Which Oregon route fits depends on whether there is a will, on who is entitled to be appointed, and on the value and type of the assets, because a full probate that ends in letters testamentary or letters of administration and a simple estate affidavit under ORS 114.505 to 114.560 are different filings with different fees, different waiting periods and different consequences. Those routes and their dollar caps are statewide and are explained on the Oregon state page. Two Jefferson specifics make the homework worth doing first: this court publishes no probate line and no probate department, so there is no specialist counter to walk a correction through, and a document left in the courthouse lobby drop box without the correct filing fee attached is returned to you rather than held.
Identify every bank and credit union account, retirement plan, brokerage holding, life insurance policy, vehicle and parcel of real property, along with every debt, before you file. In Oregon that is a filing requirement rather than good practice: the petition must state the extent and nature of the estate's assets so the court can set the bond (ORS 113.035), and the caption must state the value of the estate because the filing fee is tiered by that value (ORS 21.105(1); ORS 21.170(1)). If an amended pleading raises the value, the court collects the difference (ORS 21.105(2)), and the same figure carries into the inventory and the accountings. Sunset's asset discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step, so the petition you file in Suite 101 states the estate accurately the first time.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The Jefferson County Circuit Court, in Suite 101 of the Jefferson County Courthouse at 129 SW E Street in Madras, is the only probate filing location for the county. There is no branch courthouse and no second counter, and the Oregon Judicial Department's own court directory records no alternate location for this county. The court serves all of Jefferson County, including Madras, the county seat, and the neighboring communities of Culver and Metolius, which the court's own history of the county's courthouses names as the three towns that contended for the county seat in 1914 before the November 1916 election settled it on Madras, along with the ranch and irrigated farm country between them. The courthouse is the newest part of that story: the Oregon Legislature established the Oregon Courthouse Capital Construction Improvement Fund in 2013, and the court states that in July 2016 the state's first courthouse built with money from that fund was completed in Jefferson County, with $6.5 million in state funding, $8.5 million in county funding and a land donation from the City of Madras.
Jefferson shares the 22nd Judicial District with Crook County, and it is worth understanding what that does and does not mean (ORS 3.012 groups Oregon's circuit courts into 27 judicial districts, six of which cover more than one county). The two counties have the same three circuit judges, the same court administrator and one combined set of supplementary local rules, issued for both counties over a single signature. They do not share a courthouse, a counter, a phone number or a case file. Jefferson County filings go to 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras, at 541-475-3317; Crook County filings go to 260 NW 2nd Street, Suite 300, Prineville, at 541-447-6541. You never file in the district: you file in the county. Watch for the two counties' materials bleeding into each other, because the court's own copy-request page tells readers to contact Crook County Circuit Court for case information, and two of the five Jefferson probate forms are issued for the district as a whole.
Probate here sits in the circuit court, not a county court. ORS 111.075 vests probate jurisdiction in the county courts of Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Sherman and Wheeler Counties and in the circuit court for each other county, and Jefferson is one of the others. The practical consequence is that everything statewide applies here, including OJD eFile and the Oregon Judicial Department's online case search, neither of which reaches those six county courts. The Jefferson County Clerk is not the probate office; the Clerk is the county's recording officer, and records the deeds, mortgages, powers of attorney and contracts affecting title to real property that an estate generates, along with certified copies of death records for anyone who appears in the county records as owning or claiming an interest in land (ORS 205.130). Certified copies of the estate's own court records are received and recorded the same way (ORS 205.220).
Venue is broad. 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 starts, in the county where the decedent died, or in the county where a personal injury or wrongful death claim could be brought (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)). So if the person who died lived in Jefferson County, file in Madras. If proceedings are started in more than one county, all but the first are stayed until venue is settled, and the court may transfer the matter for the best interest of the estate (ORS 113.025).
The jurisdiction process
- Gather the documents. Collect the original signed will if there is one, with the affidavit of an attesting witness or other evidence of the decedent's signature, a certified copy of the death certificate, the proposed personal representative's address and qualifications, the names and addresses of the heirs and devisees with the ages of any minors, and a list of assets and debts with values. Oregon's statutory term for the person who settles an estate is personal representative; executor and administrator are informal usages for the will-named and the court-appointed version of the same role.
- Decide what you are asking the court for. A probate proceeding is commenced by filing a petition (ORS 111.205(1)), and the court then appoints a qualified and suitable personal representative in the order of preference set by ORS 113.085(1), starting with the person named in the will and then the surviving spouse or the spouse's nominee where the spouse is a distributee. Where the estate is small enough, the alternative is a simple estate affidavit filed with the clerk of the probate court in a county where there is venue (ORS 114.515(1)), which in Jefferson County means the Jefferson County Circuit Court in Madras. The caps, the waiting period and the two-year review window for that route are statewide and are covered on the Oregon state page.
- Draft the petition, because no form exists. Oregon prescribes no pleading forms for probate: no particular pleadings or forms of pleadings are required in the exercise of the jurisdiction of probate courts (ORS 111.205(2)), and there is no statewide or Jefferson County petition, inventory or letters form. 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. The petition must state the decedent's name, age, domicile, address and date and place of death, whether the decedent died testate or intestate, the facts relied on to establish venue, the proposed personal representative's address and qualifications, the heirs and devisees, a statement that reasonable efforts have been made to identify and locate all heirs, whether the original will accompanies the petition, and a statement of the extent and nature of the assets so the court can set the bond (ORS 113.035). Put the value of the estate in the caption (ORS 21.105(1)). One local drafting requirement: every proposed order submitted to this court must contain two check boxes, one for allowed and one for denied, each with enough space for the court to add conditions, limitations or the reason for the order (SLR 2.011). That starts with the order appointing you.
- Collect the forms that do exist. The Oregon Judicial Department publishes the statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet with instructions, a Claim Against Estate form and a probate accounting packet, and the Forms Center states its own rule: any statewide form will be accepted in all circuit courts, statewide forms are not available for all circumstances, and additional forms may be available through local courts. Jefferson's own probate forms sit on the guardianship side, but one of them, the Jefferson-captioned accounting with exhibits, offers a choice between a conservatorship and an estate on its face and calls the filer the fiduciary, so a personal representative can use it. The court's forms page warns that where two versions of a form exist you should select the Jefferson version.
- File with the Jefferson County Circuit Court, electronically or on paper. An active Oregon State Bar licensee must use OJD eFile, the statewide system run as Odyssey File and Serve, unless the document must be filed conventionally or the filer holds a waiver (UTCR 21.140(1)); a self-represented filer may register and e-file but may also file at the customer service windows at 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras, by mail to the same address, or in the courthouse lobby drop box. The counter is open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; the drop box, which sits to the north of the customer service windows in the courthouse mailbox system, files a document the same day if it goes in before 5:00 p.m. on a day the court is open, and the next business day after that. Attach a self-addressed stamped envelope if you want a receipt for the filing fee, and attach the fee itself, because the court returns a filing that arrives without it. The original will is the exception either way: a document required by law to be filed in original form must be filed conventionally (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)), and if you e-file the rest, e-file an image of the will and then deliver the original within seven business days with a filing comment saying so, in which case it counts as filed on the date the image went in (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)(i)). An electronic filing is timely to 11:59:59 p.m. in the court's time zone (UTCR 21.080(2)). Call 541-475-3317 before mailing an original will.
- Pay the filing fee. Opening a probate costs $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, with no fee for an amended affidavit (ORS 21.145(4); ORS 114.515(5)). Fees are payable in advance and are not refundable (ORS 21.100), and the statutory filing fee is the only charge collectible for the filing, which is why Jefferson County adds no local surcharge. The court takes cash, check or credit card in person, checks by mail addressed to the courthouse in Suite 101, and online payments through OJD Courts ePay, and says most courts continue to take credit card information by phone. Fee waivers and deferrals are available through the Oregon Judicial Department's fee deferral and waiver packet.
- Take the appointment and collect the letters. The court issues letters testamentary where there is a will or letters of administration where there is not, once any bond the court requires is filed with the clerk of the court (ORS 113.105; ORS 113.125). Bond is not required where the will waives it, where the personal representative is the sole heir or devisee, or where the petition states that no assets are known, though the court may still require one for good cause. A certified copy of the letters is what banks, transfer agents and title companies rely on, so order enough for the institutions the estate deals with: a certified copy of letters is $5 plus 25 cents per page in paper form and $0 if delivered electronically (ORS 21.258; Chief Justice Order 23-016; fee schedule effective January 1, 2026). If an out-of-state institution or a foreign registry wants an exemplified copy, the court's records page describes it as a three-way certificate sworn by the court clerk and the presiding judge and says it takes two to three additional days to process, so ask for it early.
- Give the required information and notices. Upon appointment the personal representative must deliver or mail the statutory information to the devisees, heirs and the other persons named in the petition, file proof of that delivery or mailing within 30 days after appointment, and mail the same information with a copy of the death record to the Department of Human Services and the Oregon Health Authority (ORS 113.145). The notice to interested persons is published once, not once a week for three weeks, in a newspaper published in the county where the estate proceeding is pending, or in a newspaper the court designates if none is published there (ORS 113.155(1)), and it must require all persons having claims to present them within four months after the date of publication. Neither Jefferson County nor the court publishes a designated newspaper, so confirm the paper and the schedule with the court at 541-475-3317 and with the newspaper before you rely on a date, because publication starts the four-month claim period.
- Search for creditors, then handle claims. During the three months following appointment the personal representative must make reasonably diligent efforts to investigate the decedent's financial records and affairs to identify claimants, must mail or deliver a notice to each known claimant not later than 30 days after that period stating that claims not presented within 45 days of the notice may be barred, and must file proof of compliance not later than 60 days after the period (ORS 115.003). Claims are presented to the personal representative, not filed with the court, and filing a claim with the court does not count as presentation (ORS 115.005(1)(a)). A claim is barred if not presented before the later of four months after publication or 45 days after a notice to a known claimant (ORS 115.005(2)), with narrow exceptions.
- File the inventory within 90 days. The personal representative must file an inventory of all estate property that has come into their possession or knowledge within 90 days after the date of appointment unless the court grants longer, showing estimated fair market values as of the date of death (ORS 113.165). If no property has come in, an inventory saying so must still be filed, and property found later goes into a supplemental inventory within 30 days or into the next accounting (ORS 113.175).
- Account on the required format, then close. Unless the court orders otherwise, an account is filed annually within 60 days after the anniversary of appointment, and again when the estate is ready for final settlement and distribution (ORS 116.083(1)); a statement in lieu of an annual or a final account is possible where the distributees consent in writing and, for the final account, where creditors other than those owed administrative expenses have been paid in full (ORS 116.083(3) and (5)). In this district the format is not optional: accountings in estates and conservatorships must be substantially in the form specified in Form 9.160 in the Uniform Trial Court Rules Appendix of Forms (SLR 9.161). Oregon charges to file an accounting, on the same value bands as the filing fee: $35, $298, $591 and $1,176 (ORS 21.170(2)). On filing the final account and the petition for a judgment of distribution, mail the account, the petition and notice of the time for objections to each distributee and each unpaid creditor at least 20 days beforehand (ORS 116.093(1)); if no objections are filed, the court enters a general judgment of final distribution (ORS 116.113). Where Oregon real property passes, record the deed with the Jefferson County Clerk, the county's recording officer (ORS 205.130), along with any certified copy of the estate's court records the title company needs (ORS 205.220).
Executor duties
A personal representative appointed in Jefferson County carries the statewide duties, plus what the 22nd Judicial District's local rules add. The statewide obligations are the notices and proof of mailing within 30 days of appointment (ORS 113.145), publication of the notice to interested persons once (ORS 113.155(1)), the creditor search and known-claimant notices (ORS 115.003), the inventory within 90 days (ORS 113.165) and the annual and final accountings (ORS 116.083). What is local is the required format of the accounting, a record-keeping duty that falls on the estate's attorney but shows up in the estate's bill, and two housekeeping rules that catch out-of-county filers. Note what is NOT required here: unlike Clackamas, Multnomah, Jackson, Deschutes, Marion, Benton and Baker, this district imposes no fiduciary education class on a personal representative. The word fiduciary does not appear anywhere in its local rules.
| Local duty | What Jefferson County requires |
|---|---|
| Accountings in the statewide format, made mandatory by local rule | SLR 9.161: accountings in estates and conservatorships must be substantially in the form specified in Form 9.160 in the Uniform Trial Court Rules Appendix of Forms. Statewide, UTCR 9.160 only requires every judicial district to accept that format; this district has taken the further step of requiring it, so start from the Oregon Judicial Department's accounting packet rather than writing a narrative account, and ask the court whether its own Jefferson-captioned accounting form may be used instead. Remember that Oregon charges a fee for each annual or final accounting, tiered by the value of the estate at $35, $298, $591 and $1,176 (ORS 21.170(2)) |
| Your attorney keeps time records, and the court may ask for them | SLR 9.061 requires the attorney for the personal representative to maintain time records for twelve months and, on the court's request, to furnish a copy to the court to assist in fixing a reasonable attorney's fee as provided by ORS 116.183. The duty is the attorney's, but the consequence is the estate's: attorney fees come out of the estate, and this is the record the court looks at when it sets them. Ask counsel at the outset how time will be recorded and billed |
| Proposed orders in the district's format | SLR 2.011: all proposed orders submitted to the court will contain two check boxes, one for allowed and the other for denied, each with sufficient additional space for the court to add conditions, limitations or the reason for the court's order. This applies to every proposed order in a probate, starting with the order appointing the personal representative, so an order copied from another county's template may come back |
| Keep your address current with the court | SLR 2.012(2): during the pendency of any criminal, civil or domestic relations case, a party who is not represented by an attorney of record must keep the court advised in writing of the party's current name, mailing address and telephone or message telephone number. A self-represented personal representative who moves during an administration that runs a year or more should file the update rather than rely on forwarded mail |
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Jefferson County
Jefferson County publishes five local probate forms, and the Oregon Judicial Department's forms library files all five under guardianship: a guardianship authorization to release information and a guardian's report, both issued for the 22nd Judicial District as a whole rather than for one county, a Jefferson accounting form with exhibits, a court visitor report and a court visitor itemization. The taxonomy understates one of them. The accounting form is captioned for the circuit court for the County of Jefferson, its opening block offers a choice between a conservatorship and an estate, and it calls the filer the fiduciary throughout, running through the accounting period, the period balance taken from the inventory or the last accounting, bonding and any change in the bond or the restriction of assets, an asset schedule as Exhibit 1 and receipts and disbursements from Exhibit 2 onward. A personal representative can use it. Because SLR 9.161 separately requires an accounting to be substantially in the statewide Form 9.160, ask the court which format it wants before you build the account.
There is no statewide Oregon petition to open a probate, and that is by design rather than an oversight. No particular pleadings or forms of pleadings are required in the exercise of the jurisdiction of probate courts (ORS 111.205(2)), so the petition, the order, the notices, the inventory and the letters are drafted documents rather than fill-in forms, each carrying a declaration under penalty of perjury in the form required by ORCP 1 E. What the Oregon Judicial Department does publish statewide, free, is the Simple Estate Affidavit packet with instructions, a Claim Against Estate form covering presentation of a claim to a personal representative, to a simple estate affiant, to a conservator or to a trustee, and a probate accounting packet. The court's forms page shows a simple estate section of its own, but the list under it is drawn from the statewide catalogue, so what appears there is that same statewide affidavit packet rather than a Jefferson form.
Two tools that do not help. The Oregon Judicial Department's Guide and File interactive forms service does not cover probate or simple estates, so the self-help computer in the courthouse that offers it will not build an estate filing. And a proposed order copied from another county may come back on format, because this district requires every proposed order to carry allowed and denied check boxes with room for the court to write (SLR 2.011). If you e-file, remember the original will still goes in on paper (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)). Call 541-475-3317 to ask what the court wants on intake before you file.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Jefferson County Circuit Court forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The court's own forms page, with a probate guardianship group holding the district's guardian's report and guardianship authorization, the Jefferson accounting form, and the court visitor report and itemization, plus a simple estate group that lists the statewide packet. The page renders its lists through a script, so allow it to load, and follow the court's note to select the Jefferson version where two versions exist |
| Jefferson accounting and exhibits form (courts.oregon.gov) | The court's own accounting form, captioned for the County of Jefferson and offering a choice between a conservatorship and an estate, with sections for the accounting period, the period balance, bonding and restriction of assets, an asset schedule and receipts and disbursements |
| 22nd Judicial District supplementary local rules for Crook and Jefferson Counties (courts.oregon.gov) | The local rules certified February 1, 2026, including SLR 9.161 on the mandatory form of accounting, SLR 9.061 on attorney time records in estates, SLR 9.081 on oral objections in protective proceedings, SLR 3.051 on remote appearances, SLR 2.011 on proposed orders and SLR 1.173 on the two counties' addresses |
| Oregon Judicial Department estate forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet with instructions and the Claim Against Estate form. There is no statewide petition to open a probate |
| Oregon Judicial Department probate accounting forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The statewide accounting packet built on Form 9.160. Every judicial district must accept it (UTCR 9.160), and in the 22nd Judicial District an accounting must be substantially in that form (SLR 9.161) |
| Presiding Judge Order 2023-16, exhibits for remote hearings and trials (courts.oregon.gov) | The district's exhibit rules for a remote hearing: documentary exhibits e-filed by 12:00 p.m. two court days before, printed exhibits delivered by the same deadline in a marked envelope or box to the Court Records Window in the county where the case is venued, and pickup within 30 days afterwards |
| Statewide records request form (courts.oregon.gov) | The Oregon Judicial Department form for obtaining access to a court file, copies from a file, or audio of a proceeding. Jefferson also publishes its own Jefferson copy request form on the court's records pages |
| Oregon Judicial Department fee deferral and waiver (courts.oregon.gov) | The packet for asking that a filing fee be deferred or waived, for a filer who cannot afford the amount set by ORS 21.170(1) |
Local nuance
Jefferson County-specific considerations
Shared district, separate court. The 22nd Judicial District covers Jefferson and Crook Counties, and the arrangement runs deep: the same three circuit judges hear cases in both counties, one court administrator runs both offices, and one document, the supplementary local rules issued for Crook and Jefferson Counties, governs both. None of that changes where an estate is filed. Venue is set county by county (ORS 113.015), the district's own rules list the two offices separately (SLR 1.173), and the Jefferson counter is in Suite 101 at 129 SW E Street in Madras. The practical warning is about the published material rather than the law: the court's copy-request page tells readers to contact Crook County Circuit Court at 541-447-6541 for case information, and two of the five Jefferson probate forms are issued for the district as a whole under a 22JD label. When something you are reading names Prineville, check whether it was meant for you.
The accounting format is mandatory here, not merely accepted. UTCR 9.160 requires every judicial district to accept an accounting filed substantially in the statewide format, and allows a district to make that format mandatory by local rule. The 22nd Judicial District has done so: SLR 9.161 provides that accountings in estates and conservatorships must be substantially in the form specified in Form 9.160 in the Uniform Trial Court Rules Appendix of Forms. That reaches a decedent's estate, not just a conservatorship, so a personal representative filing an annual or final account should start from the statewide accounting packet rather than drafting a narrative. The court also publishes its own Jefferson-captioned accounting form, which offers a choice between a conservatorship and an estate and calls the filer the fiduciary, so ask the court which of the two it wants before you build the account. Worth knowing when you read the rules: SLR 9.161 sits in the body of the local rules but is missing from their table of contents, which lists only SLR 9.061 and SLR 9.081 under the probate chapter.
Filing has three doors and one of them stays open later than the counter. The customer service windows are open 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The courthouse lobby drop box, to the north of those windows in the courthouse mailbox system, takes filings, payments and juror questionnaires, and the court's rule for it is explicit: documents deposited before 5:00 p.m. on a day the court is open are filed the same day, documents deposited after 5:00 p.m. are filed the next business day, a receipt for a filing fee is provided if you attach a self-addressed stamped envelope, and a document without the appropriate filing fee is not accepted and is returned to the party. OJD eFile is the third door and the latest of all, timely to 11:59:59 p.m. (UTCR 21.080(2)). The 22nd Judicial District has adopted no SLR 2.501, so nothing beyond the statewide list has to be filed conventionally, which in a probate means the original will and little else (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)).
Appearing remotely takes a request, and exhibits have a local deadline. SLR 3.051 says only that attorneys, litigants and witnesses appearing remotely must follow the Oregon Judicial Department's remote hearings materials, including the guide for their own role and the quick reference guide; it does not make any hearing remote by default. The court's technology page supplies the mechanics: a telephone appearance must be preapproved by a judge, a video appearance requires the appropriate filing no later than five days before the hearing, each courtroom is restricted to two incoming phone lines so a third remote participant needs a conference bridge arranged in advance, and technical setup for an approved video appearance goes to [email protected]. The court publishes Webex telephone access codes and video links for its three courtrooms. If a hearing does go remote, Presiding Judge Order 2023-16 sets the exhibit deadline for this district: documentary exhibits filed electronically must be in by 12:00 p.m. two court days before the hearing or trial, printed exhibits must be delivered by the same deadline, numbered and listed as UTCR 6.080 requires, in an envelope or box clearly marked EXHIBITS showing the case number, case name and hearing date and time, to the Court Records Window at the courthouse for the county where the case is venued, and exhibits not returned in a prepaid envelope may be picked up at that window not more than 30 days after the hearing or trial.
Records are close at hand in Madras and thin at a distance, and the self-help computer will not build an estate filing. The court provides an OJCIN computer in the lobby on the main floor, open to the public, where statewide circuit court case information and most filed documents can be reviewed for most cases, and it says newer cases can be reviewed at the lobby kiosk computers while older files that have not been digitized have to be retrieved on request. Its self-help center holds a second OJCIN computer and a computer with access to OJD iForms through Guide and File, but Guide and File does not cover probate or simple estates, so that terminal will not generate an estate petition or a simple estate affidavit. From outside the courthouse the free Oregon Judicial Department Records and Calendar Search gives the case index and register of actions but no documents, and the remote route to documents is a paid OJCIN OnLine subscription. Copies are requested on the Jefferson copy request form, which can be submitted online, by mail, by fax or in person at the customer service window; requests are handled first come, first served, staff calculate the cost after the request, postage is added for mailing, and fees must be paid in full before copies are made. Two different schedules can apply, so ask which one you are being charged under: court records fees are statutory, at $3 per request per case plus 25 cents per page for paper copies and $5 plus 25 cents per page for a certified copy (ORS 21.258; Chief Justice Order 23-016; fee schedule effective January 1, 2026), while the court's public records page quotes 25 cents per page plus $5 per certificate under Chief Justice Orders 13-065 and 14-067, with an estimate given first if the cost is likely to exceed $25.00.
One category of property never reaches this courthouse. Where the United States holds land or funds in trust or restricted status for an individual Indian, that property is probated by the federal government rather than by an Oregon court. Federal regulation is explicit that the Department of the Interior will probate only the trust or restricted land, or trust personalty, owned by the decedent at the time of death, and will not probate real or personal property other than that (25 CFR 15.10(a) and (b)(1)); the Bureau of Indian Affairs prepares the probate file and refers it to the Office of Hearings and Appeals, where a judge or attorney decision maker decides how the trust property is distributed (25 CFR 15.1; 25 CFR 15.11). Everything else the person owned is settled under Oregon law, which for a Jefferson County estate means the Jefferson County Circuit Court. The Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs also operate their own Tribal Court. An estate can therefore have more than one track running at once, so ask a lawyer early which assets fall on which side.
Recent updates
| Change | What it means in Jefferson County |
|---|---|
| Supplementary local rules for Crook and Jefferson Counties reissued, certified February 1, 2026 | The 22nd Judicial District's local rules were reissued for 2026 and the probate requirements did not change: SLR 9.061 on attorney time records in estates, SLR 9.081 on oral objections in guardianship and conservatorship matters, and SLR 9.161 on the mandatory form of accounting all carry forward from the previous edition with their requirements unchanged, and no fiduciary education requirement was added. The one edit inside the probate chapter is the Crook County address in SLR 9.081, covered below. If you are working from an older copy of the rules, the probate answers are the same |
| SLR 7.031 was rewritten from trial readiness to scheduled trials in the same 2026 edition | The previous edition required a trial readiness conference for every case set on the trial docket, held in the week before trial, and set out primary and back-up case designations. The rule now provides instead that the court may schedule a trial management hearing up to 21 days before trial in a complex case, and that if a case is not resolved the parties must e-file their trial materials, including the number of witnesses and any trial memorandum, within three business days before the scheduled trial date, with a note that self-represented litigants unable to e-file should contact the court for direction. This matters only if a probate matter is set for trial, which is unusual, but it is the deadline that governs when it happens |
| The Crook County address in SLR 9.081 was updated in the 2026 edition | The oral objection rule now gives Crook County Circuit Court at 260 NW 2nd Street, Prineville, where the previous edition still said 300 NE 3rd Street. The Jefferson County address in the same rule did not change and remains 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras. Noted here because the two counties' materials circulate together |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Jefferson County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the home in Madras, Culver, Metolius or elsewhere in the county was held with a right of survivorship, or passes by a beneficiary or transfer on death designation, it goes to the survivor without a probate and the court is not involved in the house itself. If assets stood in the decedent's sole name and there is a will, the spouse petitions the Jefferson County Circuit Court to admit the will and issue letters testamentary; with no will, a surviving spouse who is a distributee, or the spouse's nominee, has preference for appointment after any personal representative named in a will (ORS 113.085(1)). Bond often falls away where the personal representative is the sole heir or devisee (ORS 113.105). If the administration runs long enough to need an annual account, it has to be substantially in the statewide Form 9.160 format, which this district requires (SLR 9.161). | Asset discovery to confirm how the home and the accounts are titled and what actually has to reach the court. Packet generation for the petition and the notices, ready to file in Suite 101, drop in the lobby box before 5:00 p.m., or submit through OJD eFile. A vetted attorney referral if title or a claim turns out to be contested. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | Where the estate is small enough for the simple estate affidavit route under ORS 114.505 to 114.560, the affidavit is filed with the clerk of the probate court in a county where there is venue (ORS 114.515(1)), which here is the Jefferson County Circuit Court, for a $124 fee (ORS 21.145(4)). No personal representative is appointed and no letters issue on that route. A filer living out of state can register for OJD eFile and file from home, or mail the papers to 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras, OR 97741, and can look the case up afterwards in the free Oregon Judicial Department records search, which shows the register of actions but not the documents. If an out-of-state bank wants an exemplified copy, allow the two to three extra days the court's records page describes. | Asset discovery to establish the estate's value from out of state and confirm which route it qualifies for. Packet generation for the affidavit or the petition, assembled so it can be e-filed or mailed to Madras and accepted the first time. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Because real property has to be sold, this normally means a full probate: with no will the parent petitions the Jefferson County Circuit Court for appointment as personal representative in the preference order of ORS 113.085(1), receiving letters of administration; with a will the parent probates it and receives letters testamentary. The inventory follows within 90 days (ORS 113.165), the notice to interested persons is published once in a newspaper published in the county (ORS 113.155(1)), and claims are presented to the personal representative rather than filed with the court (ORS 115.005). The final account must be substantially in the statewide Form 9.160 format (SLR 9.161), the deed on the sale is recorded with the Jefferson County Clerk as the county's recording officer along with any certified copy of the estate record the title company needs (ORS 205.130; ORS 205.220), and the estate closes with a general judgment of final distribution (ORS 116.083; ORS 116.113). | Asset discovery for the child's accounts, insurance, real property and debts. Packet generation for the petition, the inventory and the notices. Attorney referral where the sale, a mortgage payoff or a dispute among heirs makes counsel worthwhile. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Jefferson County Circuit Court (courts.oregon.gov), 541-475-3317 | The court itself: the Jefferson County Courthouse at 129 SW E Street, Madras, the office and mailing address at Suite 101, and court hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. This is the only number the court publishes and there is no probate line. Court staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice |
| Jefferson County Circuit Court courthouse resources (courts.oregon.gov) | The three practical facilities: the lobby drop box, north of the customer service windows, which files a document the same day if deposited before 5:00 p.m.; the public OJCIN computer in the lobby on the main floor, where statewide circuit court case information and most filed documents can be reviewed for most cases; and the self-help center, with an OJCIN computer and a Guide and File computer, noting that Guide and File does not cover probate |
| Jefferson County Circuit Court forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The Jefferson County forms, including the probate guardianship group with the court's own accounting form, and a simple estate section that lists the statewide affidavit packet, with the court's instruction to select the Jefferson version where two versions of a form exist |
| Jefferson County Circuit Court records (courts.oregon.gov) | How to see and copy a court file: the Jefferson copy request form, first come first served handling, costs calculated after the request and payable in full before copies are made, the lobby kiosk computers for newer cases, retrieval for older undigitized files, and the difference between copies, certified copies and exemplified copies |
| Jefferson County Circuit Court copy requests (courts.oregon.gov) | What a records request must identify, where to send it, the public records charges of 25 cents per page and $5 per certificate under Chief Justice Orders 13-065 and 14-067, the estimate given first if costs are likely to exceed $25.00, and the fee waiver policy. Note that this page also carries a line pointing readers to Crook County Circuit Court, the other county in the district; a Jefferson case goes to 541-475-3317 |
| 22nd Judicial District supplementary local rules (courts.oregon.gov) | The local rules for Crook and Jefferson Counties certified February 1, 2026: SLR 9.161 on the mandatory accounting format, SLR 9.061 on attorney time records in estates, SLR 9.081 on oral objections, SLR 3.051 on remote appearances, SLR 2.011 on proposed orders, SLR 2.012 on keeping your address current, and SLR 1.173 on the two counties' addresses |
| Jefferson County Circuit Court technology (courts.oregon.gov) | What the court requires for a remote appearance: judge preapproval for a telephone appearance, a filing at least five days ahead for a video appearance, two incoming phone lines per courtroom, and [email protected] for technical setup |
| Jefferson County Circuit Court local remote hearings (courts.oregon.gov) | How a Webex hearing works, the Oregon Judicial Department litigant, witness, public access and attorney guides, the Webex conference lines for the court's three courtrooms, and the court's remote hearing contact at 541-475-3317 extension 70696 |
| Jefferson County Circuit Court payments (courts.oregon.gov) | The three ways to pay: OJD Courts ePay online, a check mailed to the courthouse at 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras, OR 97741, or cash, check or credit card in person, with the court noting that most courts continue to take credit card information by phone |
| Jefferson County Circuit Court history (courts.oregon.gov) | Useful for orientation rather than procedure: the county seat contest between Culver, Madras and Metolius, and how the current courthouse came to be completed in July 2016 as the first in Oregon built with money from the Oregon Courthouse Capital Construction Improvement Fund |
| Oregon Judicial Department estate forms (courts.oregon.gov) | The free statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet with instructions and the Claim Against Estate form. Oregon publishes no statewide petition to open a probate |
| Oregon Judicial Department court fees (courts.oregon.gov) | The current fee schedule, effective January 1, 2026, with the ORS 21.170(1) probate tiers. The schedule itself is at https://www.courts.oregon.gov/Documents/2026_CircuitFeeSchedule_public_eff-2026-01-01.pdf |
| OJD eFile (courts.oregon.gov) | The statewide electronic filing system, run as Odyssey File and Serve. Mandatory for active Oregon State Bar licensees (UTCR 21.140(1)) and open to self-represented filers who register |
| Oregon Judicial Department records and calendar search (courts.oregon.gov) | The free statewide case index and register of actions for Oregon's circuit courts, which includes Jefferson County. Documents are not available through it; the paid subscription alternative is https://www.courts.oregon.gov/services/online/Pages/ojcin.aspx |
| Oregon State Bar, what is probate (osbar.org) | Plain-language explanation of Oregon probate from the state bar. Not a government agency, but a reputable non-government source |
| Oregon State Bar lawyer referral service (osbar.org), 503-684-3763 or 800-452-7636 in Oregon | Referrals to Oregon probate attorneys and the Bar's Modest Means Program, useful in a county with a very small local bar |
| Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Central Oregon Regional Office (lasoregon.org), (541) 385-6944 or 1-800-678-6944 | The legal aid office the Oregon Law Center's statewide county map assigns to Jefferson County, at 42 NW Greeley Avenue in Bend. The office's own page describes it as serving Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson counties and the Warm Springs Reservation, with telephone-only intake Monday through Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., in-person walk-in intake on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and outreach to Prineville, Madras and the Warm Springs Reservation by appointment. It asks that family income be at or below 125 percent of the federal poverty level, and lists its topic areas as housing, consumer, family law where the applicant is fleeing domestic violence, education, employment, government benefits, bankruptcy and expungement. Estates are not among them, so ask whether it can take an estate matter |
| Oregon Law Help (oregonlawhelp.org) | Oregon's legal aid information site, run jointly with the Oregon State Bar. It publishes no probate topic, so use it to confirm which legal aid program covers Jefferson County, what that office's current hours and case types are, and how to apply |
| Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs Tribal Court (warmsprings-nsn.gov) | The Tribes' own court. Relevant because land and funds the United States holds in trust for an individual Indian are probated federally rather than by an Oregon court (25 CFR 15.10), so an estate may have more than one track. Contact the Tribal Court or the Bureau of Indian Affairs about trust property, and the circuit court about everything else |
When to hire an attorney
Many Jefferson County estates are uncontested, and a family that knows what the estate holds can often open one and see it through with limited legal help. Several local facts push the other way. Oregon prescribes no petition form (ORS 111.205(2)), so a self-represented filer is drafting the petition, the order, the notices and the inventory from scratch, and the district adds format requirements of its own: every proposed order needs allowed and denied check boxes with writing room (SLR 2.011), and every accounting in an estate must be substantially in the statewide Form 9.160 format (SLR 9.161). This court publishes no probate line and no probate department, so there is no counter specialist to walk a correction through, and its self-help computer runs Guide and File, which does not cover probate. Consider counsel when a will is contested or a dispute among heirs is likely, when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing a claim inside the four-month window (ORS 115.005), when ranch ground, irrigated farmland, water rights, a business or out-of-state property has to be valued, sold or divided, when part of the estate is land or funds the United States holds in trust for an individual Indian and a federal probate has to run alongside the Oregon one (25 CFR 15.10), when a conservatorship or guardianship has to run alongside the estate, or when a matter looks likely to be set for a contested hearing or trial. If you do hire an attorney, ask at the outset how time will be recorded, because this district requires the personal representative's attorney to keep time records for twelve months and to hand them to the court on request when the court fixes a reasonable fee (SLR 9.061; ORS 116.183). Court staff can explain procedure but cannot give legal advice. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Oregon probate attorney serving Jefferson County.
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, Jefferson County real property 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, so the paperwork is drafted, not filled in. Sunset assembles the Jefferson County estate settlement filing, whether a petition for appointment of a personal representative or a simple estate affidavit, with the ORCP 1 E declaration and a proposed order in the format this district requires, ready to file at the counter in Suite 101, to drop in the courthouse lobby box before 5:00 p.m., to mail to Madras, or to submit through OJD eFile.
Find a local probate attorney. When the estate is insolvent or contested, when a claim has to be disallowed, or when the accounting has to be built in the Form 9.160 format this district requires, Sunset connects families to a vetted Oregon probate attorney serving Jefferson County.
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 for probate in Jefferson County?
With the Jefferson County Circuit Court, in Suite 101 of the Jefferson County Courthouse at 129 SW E Street, Madras, OR 97741. There is one filing location for the county, the mailing address is the same street and suite, and you can file at the customer service windows, in the courthouse lobby drop box, by mail, or electronically through OJD eFile. Probate here sits in the circuit court rather than a county court, because ORS 111.075 vests probate jurisdiction in the county courts of only six named counties and in the circuit court for every other county. Call 541-475-3317 with a filing question. File in Jefferson County if the person who died lived here, because that is where the notice to interested persons is published (ORS 113.155(1)), although Oregon's venue rule is broader and filing elsewhere is not a jurisdictional defect (ORS 113.015).
Jefferson and Crook share a judicial district, so which courthouse do I file in?
The one in the county, which for a Jefferson County estate is Madras. The 22nd Judicial District covers both counties and they share three circuit judges, one court administrator and one set of supplementary local rules, but that is an administrative arrangement, not a filing rule. Oregon venue is set county by county (ORS 113.015), the district's own rules list the two offices separately (SLR 1.173), and there is no such thing as filing in the district. Jefferson County Circuit Court is at 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras, 541-475-3317; Crook County Circuit Court is at 260 NW 2nd Street, Suite 300, Prineville, 541-447-6541. Because the two courts share so much published material, check anything that names Prineville: the Jefferson court's own copy-request page tells readers to contact Crook County for case information, and two of the five Jefferson probate forms are issued for the district as a whole.
Can I e-file a probate case in Jefferson County?
Yes. OJD eFile, the statewide electronic filing system run as Odyssey File and Serve, covers Oregon's circuit courts, which includes Jefferson County. An active licensee of the Oregon State Bar must use it unless the document has to be filed conventionally or the filer holds a waiver (UTCR 21.140(1)). A self-represented filer may register and e-file but is not required to, and can file at the counter in Suite 101, in the lobby drop box, or by mail instead. The original will is the exception: a document required by law to be filed in original form must be filed conventionally (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)), so e-file an image of it and deliver the original within seven business days with a filing comment saying so, and it counts as filed on the date the image went in (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)(i)). The 22nd Judicial District has adopted no SLR 2.501, so nothing else is added to the conventional-filing list here. An electronic filing is timely to 11:59:59 p.m. in the court's time zone (UTCR 21.080(2)).
How much does it cost to open a probate in Jefferson County?
The fee is statutory and 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, and there is no fee for an amended affidavit (ORS 21.145(4); ORS 114.515(5)). Oregon also charges for each annual or final accounting, at $35, $298, $591 and $1,176 on the same value bands (ORS 21.170(2)), and $281 for any other appearance in a probate proceeding (ORS 21.135(1) and (2)(g); ORS 21.170(4)). Fees are payable in advance and are not refundable (ORS 21.100), Jefferson County adds no local surcharge, and fee waivers and deferrals are available. If you use the lobby drop box, attach the fee: the court returns a document that arrives without it. Confirm the amount with the court at 541-475-3317.
Does Jefferson County have local probate forms?
Yes, five, and the Oregon Judicial Department's forms library files all five on the guardianship side: a guardianship authorization to release information and a guardian's report, both issued for the 22nd Judicial District rather than for one county, a Jefferson accounting form with exhibits, a court visitor report and a court visitor itemization. One of them reaches a decedent's estate despite where it is filed: the accounting form is captioned for the County of Jefferson, offers a choice between a conservatorship and an estate on its face, and calls the filer the fiduciary, so a personal representative can use it. Ask the court whether to file on it or on the statewide accounting form, because SLR 9.161 requires an accounting to be substantially in the statewide Form 9.160. What nobody publishes is a petition to open a probate: Oregon requires no particular pleadings or forms of pleadings in the exercise of the jurisdiction of probate courts (ORS 111.205(2)), so the petition, the order, the inventory and the notices are drafted documents. The court's own instruction is that if there are two versions of any form, select the Jefferson version.
Does Jefferson County require a particular form of accounting?
Yes, and this is the local rule most likely to catch a personal representative out. SLR 9.161 provides that accountings in estates and conservatorships must be substantially in the form specified in Form 9.160 in the Uniform Trial Court Rules Appendix of Forms. Statewide, UTCR 9.160 only requires every judicial district to accept that format; the 22nd Judicial District has gone further and made it mandatory, so build an annual or final account from the Oregon Judicial Department's accounting packet rather than writing a narrative, and ask the court whether its own Jefferson accounting form may be used instead. Two related points: Oregon charges a fee for each annual or final accounting, tiered at $35, $298, $591 and $1,176 by the value of the estate (ORS 21.170(2)), and a statement in lieu of an account is possible where the distributees consent in writing and, for a final account, where creditors other than those owed administrative expenses have been paid in full (ORS 116.083(3) and (5)).
Does Jefferson County require a personal representative to take a fiduciary education class?
No. Several Oregon judicial districts, including Clackamas, Multnomah, Jackson, Deschutes, Marion, Benton and Baker, require a non-professional personal representative to register for and complete a court-prescribed education class within a set number of days after appointment. The 22nd Judicial District has adopted no such rule: the word fiduciary does not appear anywhere in the supplementary local rules for Crook and Jefferson Counties, in the edition certified February 1, 2026 or in the previous one. The probate chapter here contains three rules: SLR 9.061 on attorney time records in estates, SLR 9.081 on oral objections in guardianship and conservatorship matters, and SLR 9.161 on the form of accounting. Check the current rules before you rely on this, because Oregon supplementary local rules are revised on an annual cycle, effective February 1.
Can I appear by phone or video in a Jefferson County probate matter?
Only if the court allows it, and you have to ask in advance. SLR 3.051 requires attorneys, litigants and witnesses who appear remotely to follow the Oregon Judicial Department's remote hearings materials, including the guide for their own role and the quick reference guide, but it sets no default mode for any case type. The court's technology page adds the local mechanics: a request to appear by telephone must be preapproved by a judge, a request to appear by video needs the appropriate filing no later than five days before the hearing, and each courtroom is restricted to two incoming phone lines, so a hearing with several remote participants needs a conference bridge arranged in advance. The court publishes Webex conference lines for its three courtrooms. If a hearing is remote, Presiding Judge Order 2023-16 requires documentary exhibits to be e-filed by 12:00 p.m. two court days before, with printed exhibits delivered by the same deadline in a marked envelope or box to the Court Records Window in the county where the case is venued. Questions about a remote hearing go to 541-475-3317 extension 70696.
How do I look up a Jefferson County probate case or get copies?
The free Oregon Judicial Department Records and Calendar Search covers Oregon's circuit courts, so a Jefferson County estate case appears there. It is an index and register of actions: the Oregon Judicial Department states that results provide basic case information, party information, event entries and dispositions, that the display is not the official ORS 7.020 register record, and that documents are not available through the service. For documents, the court provides a public OJCIN computer in the lobby on the main floor of the courthouse, where statewide circuit court case information and most filed documents can be reviewed for most cases, and the remote equivalent is a paid OJCIN OnLine subscription. For copies, use the Jefferson copy request form online, by mail, by fax or at the customer service window; requests are handled first come, first served, staff calculate the cost after the request, postage is added for mailing, and fees must be paid in full before copies are made. An exemplified copy, which other states and countries often require, takes two to three additional days.
What are the Jefferson County Circuit Court's hours, and is there a filing cutoff?
The court publishes court hours of 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday (verified July 2026), and closes on legal holidays. It publishes no lunch closure and no separate phone-service window. Two cutoffs run later than the counter. The courthouse lobby drop box, north of the customer service windows in the courthouse mailbox system, files a document the same day if it is deposited before 5:00 p.m. on a day the court is open for business, and the next business day if it goes in after 5:00 p.m.; attach a self-addressed stamped envelope for a receipt, and attach the filing fee, because a document without it is returned. And an electronic filing through OJD eFile is timely to 11:59:59 p.m. in the court's time zone (UTCR 21.080(2)).
Do I have to travel to Madras to settle an estate in Jefferson County?
Often not at all. A self-represented filer can register for OJD eFile and submit the petition and the later filings electronically, or mail them to the court at 129 SW E Street, Suite 101, Madras, OR 97741, and certified copies of the letters can be mailed back at $5 plus 25 cents per page in paper form or $0 delivered electronically (ORS 21.258; Chief Justice Order 23-016; fee schedule effective January 1, 2026). Payments can go through OJD Courts ePay, by mailed check, or by credit card over the phone. The two things that pull you to the courthouse are the original will, which must be filed conventionally (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)), and any hearing the court sets, since a telephone appearance needs a judge's preapproval and a video appearance needs a filing five days ahead. The public OJCIN computer in the lobby is also the only free way to see filed documents, so a local agent or a copy request is the alternative for an out-of-state filer.
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.