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Umatilla County, OR Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Current rules |
|---|---|
| Court | The Circuit Court in Umatilla County, Oregon's general-jurisdiction trial court. Oregon has no separate probate court as an institution; probate jurisdiction in Umatilla County is vested in the circuit court (ORS 111.075), which handles estates under Title 12 of the Oregon Revised Statutes. Umatilla is the Sixth Judicial District together with Morrow County, and the Oregon Judicial Department publishes one site for both under the heading Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts. The court's Judges page describes probate, meaning estate, guardianship and conservatorship matters, as part of the non-criminal caseload that is shared among the district's judges rather than assigned to a single probate judge |
| Filing office | The Office of the Trial Court Administrator for the Sixth Judicial District, and within it the court's Probate Department. The court's own probate page states that "In Umatilla and Morrow Counties, the Probate Department also handles related matters including Guardianship and Conservatorship for minors and incapacitated persons," and the district's rules send a fiduciary education certificate to the Probate Department (Umatilla County SLR 9.076(6)) |
| Courthouse | Two full-service locations serve Umatilla County, and the court states that most Umatilla County Circuit Court documents can be filed at either. Pendleton: Umatilla County Courthouse, 216 SE Fourth Street, Pendleton, OR 97801, with the courtrooms and court offices on the second floor and the Civil Records Office in Room 230 (SLR 9.081(1)(a)); a security check point controls access to the second floor. Hermiston: Stafford Hansell Government Center, 915 SE Columbia Drive, Hermiston, OR 97838, second floor, Room 201 (SLR 9.081(1)(b)); the court calls it the second full service circuit court location in Umatilla County. The district's third courthouse, in Heppner, is Morrow County and takes Morrow County cases |
| Mailing address | State Courts, 216 SE Fourth Street, Pendleton, OR 97801. Mail for both Umatilla County locations goes to the Pendleton address; the court publishes no post office box for Umatilla County |
| Phone | 541-278-0341 for the Pendleton location and 541-667-3020 for Hermiston. These are the court's general lines: no separate probate line is published anywhere on this court's site. The county's own Office of County Records sends probate record inquiries to 541-278-0341. 541-676-5264 is the Heppner location, which is Morrow County |
| [email protected]. This is a district-wide mailbox covering both Umatilla and Morrow Counties, not a probate mailbox, and this court publishes no per-department addresses. The court does give it as the Umatilla County contact for remote hearing questions and for ADA accommodation requests, and the district's rules require a filer who submits an expedited eFiling to notify the court at that address with "EXPEDITED e-Filing" and the case number and name in the subject line (SLR 21.071) | |
| Fax | None. The court publishes no fax number, and a document submitted for filing by telephonic facsimile transmission may be returned to the party without being filed (SLR 2.015(1)(e)). File electronically, at the counter, in a drop box, or by mail |
| Hours | The courthouses are open 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, excluding holidays, so the counter closes over the lunch hour. Drop boxes extend that: in Pendleton the box outside Room 230 on the second floor is available 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on business days, and in Hermiston the box on the north wall outside the main entrance is available at any time. A document deposited by 5:00 p.m. is date stamped as received that business day. Include a case number, and a stamped self-addressed envelope if you want a receipt mailed back |
| 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 |
| Local forms | A short local set, shared with Morrow County and carrying the UMA prefix, and the court says so plainly: "At this time, only the forms listed below are available through Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts. If you need other forms, you may inquire at a local stationery store or hire an attorney to assist you." In the Oregon Judicial Department forms library the probate-category files for this district are the Guardian's Report, the Objection to Petition for Appointment of Guardian or Conservator, a Motion for Phone Appearance, a Motion to Continue for a filer without an attorney, and a Declaration of Change of Address. There is no local petition, inventory, accounting or simple estate form, and Oregon publishes no statewide petition form either, so the petition is drafted by the filer or the attorney. Where a form exists in two versions, the court's forms page says to select the 6th District 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, unless the document must be filed conventionally or the filer has a waiver (UTCR 21.140(1); SLR 1.161(3)). A self-represented filer may register and e-file but is not required to. The Sixth Judicial District publishes no SLR 2.501 conventional-filing list, so no probate document is pulled out of the system locally; the exception is statutory and applies statewide, because the original will must be filed on paper (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)) |
| 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: 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 it. A decedent's estate is a public case type. Locally, the court adds two routes to the documents themselves: digitized documents can be reviewed free on the kiosk computers in the courthouse lobby, and a file that has not been digitized can be viewed at the counter during business hours if you request it ahead using the court's Records Request form |
| Remote appearance | In person is the default here, and the court says so: all appearances are assumed to require in person appearance unless the hearing notice specifically schedules the docket for remote appearance, or a judge has allowed a party to appear remotely on the record or by written order. The district has simultaneous electronic transmission equipment at all three of its courthouses, and out-of-custody matters may be heard by video or telephone conferencing if authorized by the judge (SLR 7.015). The court publishes a local Motion for Phone Appearance in its probate forms category, which is the way to ask. Its Remote Hearings page adds that Umatilla and Morrow Counties do not normally live-stream hearings by video but that remote appearance by Webex phone conference is standard for public hearings |
| Website | https://www.courts.oregon.gov/courts/umatilla/programs-services/Pages/Probate.aspx |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
The first Umatilla 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 this court publishes no local petition form: its probate page says only the forms it lists are available and points anyone needing something else to a local stationery store or an attorney. So the petition is a document you or your attorney draft, and it has to state the facts relied on to establish venue, the heirs and devisees with their 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 Umatilla County real estate, along with every debt, and identify each heir and devisee by name, address and age. That inventory decides three things at once here: which Oregon route fits, which fee tier the caption must state (ORS 21.105), and whether the court will let you serve without a bond. Umatilla is stricter than most on that last point, because the district's own rule lets the court require a bond of the personal representative of an intestate estate even where that person is the sole heir or devisee, if the court is not satisfied that creditors will be paid (SLR 9.055(1)). Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.
Which court handles jurisdiction
The Circuit Court in Umatilla County serves all of Umatilla County, from Pendleton and Hermiston out through Milton-Freewater, Umatilla, Stanfield, Echo, Athena, Weston, Adams, Helix, Pilot Rock, Ukiah and the unincorporated county. Unusually for a rural Oregon county, it has two full-service courthouses. Pendleton is the county seat: the Umatilla County Courthouse at 216 SE Fourth Street holds the courtrooms and court offices on the second floor, with the Civil Records Office in Room 230 (SLR 9.081(1)(a)) and a security check point at the second floor. Hermiston is the second location: the Stafford Hansell Government Center at 915 SE Columbia Drive, dedicated in April 2006 after a fire destroyed the previous Hermiston court facilities, holds courtrooms and court offices on the second floor, with Room 201 named in the same rule. The court states that most Umatilla County Circuit Court documents can be filed either at Pendleton or at Hermiston, and its drop box notice adds the rule that matters: documents and payments must be submitted in the county where the case is filed. If you are not sure which counter to use, call before you drive.
Umatilla shares the Sixth Judicial District with Morrow County, which is why the Oregon Judicial Department publishes one website headed Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts, one set of supplementary local rules, and one bench of five judges who serve in both counties. That is an administrative arrangement, not a venue rule. The district's third courthouse, the Morrow County Courthouse at 100 Court Street in Heppner, takes Morrow County cases. Do not carry an Umatilla County estate to Heppner.
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 Umatilla County is the right county, then pick a courthouse. Umatilla is the practical county when the decedent was domiciled or kept a place of abode here at death; 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)). Within the county you have a choice the court itself offers: most Umatilla County Circuit Court documents can be filed at the Umatilla County Courthouse, 216 SE Fourth Street in Pendleton, or at the Stafford Hansell Government Center, 915 SE Columbia Drive in Hermiston. Documents must be submitted in the county where the case is filed, so an Umatilla County estate does not go to the Heppner courthouse.
- 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 this court supplies them. "No particular pleadings or forms of pleadings are required in the exercise of jurisdiction of probate courts" (ORS 111.205(2)), there is no statewide petition, inventory or letters form, and Umatilla and Morrow publish only five local probate-category forms between them. 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. Two local drafting rules apply to anything you submit for signature: a proposed order must carry at least three check boxes, for granted, denied and other, with a two-inch blank section below the other box above the date and signature line (SLR 2.011), and it must state the specific rulings and their effect on any affected hearing without requiring the judge to look back at the motion (SLR 2.012).
- File it. 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); SLR 1.161(3)). A self-represented filer may register and e-file, or may file at the counter in Pendleton or Hermiston during business hours, drop the filing in the box outside Room 230 in Pendleton between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on a business day or in the Hermiston box at any time, or mail it to State Courts, 216 SE Fourth Street, Pendleton, OR 97801. A document deposited in a drop box by 5:00 p.m. is date stamped as received that business day. 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 the original must accompany an e-filed document, e-file an image, say so in Filing Comments, and deliver the paper original within seven business days, and the original is treated as filed on the date the image was e-filed. Do not fax anything: a document submitted for filing by facsimile may be returned unfiled (SLR 2.015(1)(e)).
- 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), and Oregon counties add no local filing surcharge. If you cannot afford the fee, apply for a deferral or waiver using the Oregon Judicial Department packet; the court's own forms page carries a fee waiver and deferral category.
- If you intend to serve without an attorney, tell the court and prove you can. A personal representative or conservator who intends to appear on behalf of the estate or protected person without an attorney must provide notice of that intent to the court and proof of competence to appear, and if the proof does not satisfy the court that the estate will be protected and properly administered, the court will take appropriate action (SLR 9.045(1)). Anyone else appearing self-represented in a matter before the probate judge must be identified as such to the judge, by that person and by counsel for the personal representative (SLR 9.045(2)).
- Get the matter in front of a judge, and expect to appear in person. The court publishes no probate docket time and no filing-to-hearing window; call the Pendleton or Hermiston number to ask how a hearing is set. When one is set, plan on attending: all appearances are assumed to require in person appearance unless the hearing notice specifically schedules the docket for remote appearance, or a judge allows a party to appear remotely on the record or by written order. The district has simultaneous electronic transmission equipment at all three of its courthouses and out-of-custody matters may be heard by video or telephone if the judge authorizes it (SLR 7.015); the court's local Motion for Phone Appearance, published in its probate forms category, is how to ask. If you need an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act, contact the trial court administrator's office as soon as possible, and no less than four judicial days before each proceeding (SLR 7.061); a foreign language interpreter is requested before each proceeding through the Oregon Judicial Department's Court Interpreter Request form (SLR 7.071).
- 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). Do not assume a bond will be waived: consistent with ORS 113.105, the personal representative of an intestate estate here may be required to submit a bond even where that person is the sole heir or devisee of the estate, if the court is not satisfied that creditors will be paid (SLR 9.055(1)). Certified copies of the letters, which is what a bank or title company asks for, are $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), and this court warns on its Records Request page that certified documents in estate and probate cases used to administer an estate, such as fiduciary letters and small estate affidavits, may need to be certified on paper, so ask the institution what it will accept before you order.
- Take the fiduciary class, on the clock. A non-professional personal representative appointed under ORS chapter 113 on or after February 1, 2025 must register for the court-prescribed education class within 15 days of appointment, successfully complete it within 90 days, and file a certificate of completion with the Probate Department stating the date, the time and the provider (SLR 9.076). Professional fiduciaries as defined in ORS 125.240(5) are exempt, the fee is a cost of administration and may be waived or deferred, a waiver of the requirement itself takes a motion supported by affidavit filed within 15 days of receiving the court's notice, and failure to comply may result in removal.
- 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, or in a newspaper the court designates if none is published here (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), and keep the original checks and vouchers out of the file, because this district requires the fiduciary or the attorney to hold them rather than include them with the accounting (SLR 9.105). 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
An Umatilla 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 Sixth Judicial District adds four local obligations on top of those.
Complete the fiduciary education class. A non-professional personal representative appointed under ORS chapter 113 on or after February 1, 2025 must register for the court-prescribed class within 15 days of appointment, complete it within 90 days, and file a certificate of completion with the Probate Department stating the date and time the class was taken and the provider (SLR 9.076). The court sends notice and instructions at appointment. Professional fiduciaries as defined in ORS 125.240(5) are exempt; the class fee is a cost of administration and may be waived or deferred; a waiver of the requirement itself takes a motion supported by affidavit filed within 15 days of receiving the court's notice; the court may require the class to be retaken; and failure to comply on time may result in removal.
Keep the vouchers, do not file them. Each accounting must contain the information ORS 116.083(2) calls for, except that the original checks or vouchers used to make disbursements during the accounting period are not included in the accounting file and must be held by the fiduciary or the attorney (SLR 9.105). Accountings also carry their own tiered filing fee of $35, $298, $591 or $1,176 on the same value bands as the opening fee (ORS 21.170(2); Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026).
Watch the bond, and watch the surety. The court may require a bond of the personal representative of an intestate estate even where that person is the sole heir or devisee, if it is not satisfied creditors will be paid (SLR 9.055(1)), and letters do not issue until any required bond is filed with the clerk of the court (ORS 113.125). If a bond has been posted and counsel resigns or is substituted, the surety must be notified and proof provided to the court by counsel (SLR 9.055(2)).
File on time, because the court follows up. On a delinquency or deficiency in any document required by statute, court rule or court order, the attorney of record, or the litigants if there is none, is sent a courtesy notice, and the personal representative is expected to cure it promptly. If it is not corrected within the time the notice specifies, the court issues an order to appear and show cause why the personal representative and counsel should not be removed, and both must appear whether or not the delinquency has since been corrected, unless the court orders otherwise; if it has not been corrected by the hearing, sanctions including contempt may be imposed (SLR 9.035).
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Umatilla 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. 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.
Umatilla County publishes a short local set, shared with Morrow County because the two counties are one judicial district, and the court is blunt about its limits. Its probate page reads: "At this time, only the forms listed below are available through Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts. If you need other forms, you may inquire at a local stationery store or hire an attorney to assist you." In the Oregon Judicial Department forms library the probate-category files for this district are the Guardian's Report, which is captioned for the Department of Probate and is the annual report a guardian for a minor must make unless the court exempts it (SLR 9.075(1)); the Objection to Petition for Appointment of Guardian or Conservator, which the rules name as the way to reduce an oral objection to a signed writing (SLR 9.081(2)(a)); a Motion for Phone Appearance; a Motion to Continue for a filer without an attorney; and a Declaration of Change of Address. The court's local forms page organizes them under Probate categories for guardianship, miscellaneous and simple estate, and carries a tie breaker worth following: "If there are two versions of any form, select the 6th District version." Forms required by the local rules are published on that page (SLR 1.171).
What that means in practice is that the core estate documents are drafted here, not filled in. There is no local petition for appointment of a personal representative, no local inventory, no local accounting form and no local simple estate affidavit; the statewide Simple Estate Affidavit packet and accounting packet cover the last two, and the petition and the proposed orders are yours or your attorney's work. Two local formatting rules apply to every proposed order you submit: it must include at least three check boxes, for granted, denied and other, with a two-inch blank space below the other box and above the date and signature line (SLR 2.011), and it must state the specific rulings and describe their effect on any affected hearing without requiring the judge to refer back to the motion (SLR 2.012). The court's suggestion of a local stationery store points at commercial form vendors; they are not an official source, and nothing they sell is court approved.
Local nuance
Umatilla County-specific considerations
Umatilla's first distinctive is that the county has two courthouses and the court lets you choose between them. Most Oregon counties have one filing counter. Here the court states that most Umatilla County Circuit Court documents can be filed either at the Umatilla County Courthouse in Pendleton or at the Stafford Hansell Government Center in Hermiston, which it calls the second full service circuit court location in the county, and the local rules name both as places where a clerk takes an oral objection in a protective proceeding during regular office hours, Room 230 on the second floor in Pendleton and Room 201 on the second floor in Hermiston (SLR 9.081(1)). There is one Pendleton-only carve-out in the rules, and it does not touch probate: SLR 1.161(2) sends Umatilla County filings made under UTCR 21.070(3)(a) to (d) to Pendleton, and those paragraphs cover criminal accusatory instruments, juvenile delinquency petitions, extradition documents and contempt initiating instruments. The rule that does bind an estate filer is simpler: documents and payments must be submitted in the county where the case is filed, so Umatilla filings do not go to the Heppner courthouse.
The second is that a self-represented fiduciary needs the court's confidence before proceeding. If a personal representative or conservator intends to appear on behalf of the estate or protected person without an attorney, that person must provide notice of the intent to the court and proof of competence to so appear, and if the proof is not sufficient to assure the court that the estate will be protected and properly administered, the court will take appropriate action (SLR 9.045(1)). Someone who is not a personal representative or conservator, and is not a corporation, may appear without counsel where the law allows, but that person and counsel for the personal representative must both notify the probate judge that a party is self-represented (SLR 9.045(2)). Plan for this at the outset rather than discovering it at a hearing.
The third is the fiduciary education requirement, and it is newer here than in the metro counties. SLR 9.076 arrived with the rule set effective February 1, 2025, and it reaches not only guardians and conservators appointed under ORS chapter 125 and trustees under ORS chapter 130 but any personal representative appointed under ORS chapter 113 on or after that date, plus any non-professional fiduciary cited for a deficiency through the show cause process. A non-professional fiduciary must register within 15 days of appointment, successfully complete a class with a curriculum prescribed by the district's presiding judge within 90 days, and file a certificate of completion with the Probate Department giving the date, the time and the provider. The court sends notice and instructions at the time of appointment, except for trustees, whose attorney must give the notice. Professional fiduciaries as defined in ORS 125.240(5) are exempt, the class fee is a cost of administration and may be waived or deferred, a waiver of the requirement itself takes a motion supported by affidavit within 15 days of receiving the notice, the court may require a fiduciary to retake the class, and failure to comply may result in removal. Note the window: 90 days here, where several other Oregon districts allow 60.
The fourth is a pair of small rules that change what paperwork looks like in an Umatilla estate. Bonds are not automatically excused for a sole heir: consistent with ORS 113.105, the personal representative of an intestate estate may be required to submit a bond even where that person is the sole heir or devisee, if the court is not satisfied that the creditors will be paid, and where a bond has been posted the surety must be notified of a resignation or substitution of counsel with proof provided to the court (SLR 9.055). And the accounting is thinner here than the statute alone suggests: each accounting must contain the information ORS 116.083(2) requires, except that the original checks or vouchers used to make disbursements during the accounting period are not included in the accounting file and must instead be held by the fiduciary or the attorney (SLR 9.105). Keep them, organized, because the court can ask.
The fifth is the district's approach to appearances and to paper. The court publishes an in-person default: all appearances are assumed to require in person appearance unless the hearing notice specifically schedules the docket for remote appearance, or a judge has specifically allowed a party to appear remotely on the record or by written order. The district does have simultaneous electronic transmission equipment at Pendleton, Hermiston and Heppner, and out-of-custody matters may be heard by video or telephone conferencing if the judge authorizes it (SLR 7.015), and the court's Remote Hearings page explains that the two counties do not normally live-stream hearings by video but that remote appearance by Webex phone conference is standard for public hearings. Ask with the court's own Motion for Phone Appearance. On paper, fax is out: a document submitted for filing by telephonic facsimile transmission may be returned to the party without being filed (SLR 2.015(1)(e)), and the same rule allows the court to return a document that needs court action before a statutorily required preceding document has been filed, or one without enough identifying information to tell which case it belongs in. If an eFiling is urgent, the district adds a step to UTCR 21.070(5): email [email protected] with "EXPEDITED e-Filing" and the case number and case name in the subject line (SLR 21.071).
Small-estate Alternatives
Two Umatilla County details are worth knowing before you use the simple estate affidavit route under ORS 114.505 to 114.560. First, the court publishes no local affidavit: its forms page carries a Probate category for simple estates, but the packet itself is the statewide Oregon Judicial Department Simple Estate Affidavit, and the affidavit is filed with the clerk of the court in a county with venue (ORS 114.515(1)), which for an Umatilla County decedent means the Pendleton or Hermiston counter, the drop boxes, the mail, or OJD eFile. 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.
Second, the paperwork that comes out the other side has a local address. The court's Records Request page warns that certified documents in estate and probate cases used to administer an estate, such as fiduciary letters and small estate affidavits, may need to be certified on paper rather than electronically, so confirm with the bank, brokerage or title company before ordering a copy. And where the affidavit reaches Umatilla County real property, the affiant transfers it by recording a bargain and sale deed (ORS 114.555(3)); recording is done at the Umatilla County Office of County Records, formerly the County Clerk's Office, in Room 116 of the Umatilla County Courthouse at 216 SE 4th Street in Pendleton, 541-278-6236, open for recording Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Recording is not available at the Hermiston satellite office, and the Records Office states that it cannot give legal advice, supply blank forms, tell you which document to record, or help you complete one.
Recent updates
| Date | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|
| February 1, 2025 | The Sixth Judicial District added SLR 9.076, a non-professional fiduciary educational program, to its probate chapter. It is new to this district: none of the rule sets effective 2019 through 2024 contained it. The rule reaches any personal representative appointed under ORS chapter 113 on or after its effective date, along with guardians and conservators under ORS chapter 125, trustees under ORS chapter 130, and any non-professional fiduciary cited for a deficiency through the show cause process. Register within 15 days of appointment, complete the class within 90 days, and file the certificate of completion with the Probate Department. | Supplementary Local Rules, Sixth Judicial District, courts.oregon.gov/rules |
| February 1, 2026 | The current Sixth Judicial District Supplementary Local Rules took effect for Umatilla County. In the probate chapter, SLR 9.035 was amended so that the fiduciary and counsel must appear on an order to show cause whether or not the delinquency has been corrected "unless otherwise ordered by the court," and the former SLR 9.021 on contempt documents was dropped from the chapter. A new SLR 1.002 requires an unrepresented party in a civil case to keep the court advised in writing of a current name, mailing address, email and telephone number. The rest of the probate chapter, including SLR 9.045, 9.055, 9.075, 9.076, 9.081, 9.085 and 9.105, carried forward unchanged. | Supplementary Local Rules, Sixth Judicial District, courts.oregon.gov/rules |
| July 10, 2023 | The Hermiston courtrooms and public service windows reopened during normal business hours, restoring the county's second full-service filing counter at the Stafford Hansell Government Center. Documents and payments may also be placed in the drop box on the north wall outside the main entrance at any time, e-filed by authorized users, delivered to the Pendleton location, or mailed. | Contact and location information, Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts, courts.oregon.gov/courts/umatilla |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Umatilla County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | A Pendleton, Hermiston or Milton-Freewater home held with a right of survivorship passes to the survivor outside probate, and title is cleared through the Umatilla County Office of County Records in Room 116 of the Pendleton courthouse rather than through 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 Umatilla County at either the Pendleton or the Hermiston counter; the spouse or the spouse's nominee has priority for appointment where the spouse is a distributee (ORS 113.085(1)(b)). A spouse who intends to serve without an attorney must give the court notice and proof of competence first (SLR 9.045(1)), and a non-professional personal representative appointed on or after February 1, 2025 must complete the court's fiduciary class within 90 days (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. | 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, formatted to this district's check-box order rule. Guidance on clearing title through the Umatilla County Office of County Records. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | If the parent lived in Umatilla 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 and files it electronically as a registered self-represented filer, or mails it to State Courts, 216 SE Fourth Street, Pendleton, OR 97801, and gets the original will to the court on paper. Do not count on appearing by phone: the court's default is in person unless the hearing notice sets a remote docket or a judge allows it, though the court publishes a local Motion for Phone Appearance and out-of-custody matters may be heard by video or telephone if the judge authorizes it (SLR 7.015). | 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, drop off or e-file. Attorney referral if the estate turns out to be larger, if the court questions a self-represented fiduciary's competence under SLR 9.045, or if a hearing has to be covered locally. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Probate in the Circuit Court in Umatilla 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. Expect the bond question to be live: this district's rule lets the court require a bond of the personal representative of an intestate estate even where that person is the sole heir, if it is not satisfied creditors will be paid (SLR 9.055(1)), and letters do not issue until the bond is filed (ORS 113.125). The parent then 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 Umatilla County real estate under the authority the letters give, completes the fiduciary class within 90 days of appointment (SLR 9.076), and files accountings while holding the original checks and vouchers rather than filing them (SLR 9.105). | Asset discovery for the child's accounts, policies, vehicles and Umatilla County real estate, and for the debts that decide whether the estate is solvent. Packet generation for the petition, the inventory and the accountings. Attorney referral for a disputed sale, an heirship question, or a bond the court will not waive. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Umatilla County Circuit Court probate page (courts.oregon.gov/courts/umatilla/programs-services/Pages/Probate.aspx) | The court's own probate page: what probate is and when it is not necessary, the statement that in Umatilla and Morrow Counties the Probate Department also handles guardianship and conservatorship for minors and incapacitated persons, and the court's notice that only the forms it lists are available |
| Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts home page (courts.oregon.gov/courts/umatilla) | Contact and location information for both Umatilla courthouses, the courthouse hours of 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday excluding holidays, the drop box locations and the 5:00 p.m. date-stamp rule, the in-person appearance default, and the trial court administrator's ADA contact |
| Local and statewide forms page, Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts (courts.oregon.gov/courts/umatilla/help/Pages/Forms.aspx) | The district's own form library, with Probate categories for guardianship, miscellaneous and simple estate, and the instruction that where two versions of a form exist you should select the 6th District version. This is the page the local rules name for forms required by rule (SLR 1.171) |
| Records request page, Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts (courts.oregon.gov/courts/umatilla/records/Pages/Records-Request.aspx) | How to get copies from an estate file: the difference between regular, certified, electronically certified, paper certified and exemplified copies, the warning that certified documents in estate and probate cases used to administer an estate may need to be certified on paper, the free kiosk computers in the courthouse lobby for digitized documents, and the request form for a file that has not been digitized |
| Sixth Judicial District Supplementary Local Rules, effective February 1, 2026 (courts.oregon.gov/rules) | The rules that actually govern an Umatilla County probate: chapter 9 on probate and adoption, including delinquent filings (SLR 9.035), self-represented fiduciaries (SLR 9.045), bonds (SLR 9.055), the non-professional fiduciary education program (SLR 9.076), oral objections in protective proceedings (SLR 9.081) and disbursement vouchers (SLR 9.105), plus SLR 1.161 on where documents are submitted, SLR 2.011 and 2.012 on the form and content of proposed orders, SLR 2.015 on returned documents, SLR 7.015 on video and telephone appearances and SLR 21.071 on expedited eFilings |
| Remote hearings page, Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts (courts.oregon.gov/courts/umatilla/go/Pages/RemoteHearings.aspx) | How remote appearance works here: the counties do not normally live-stream hearings by video, remote appearance by Webex phone conference is standard for public hearings, each courtroom has a regular Webex code, and litigant, witness, public access and attorney guides are published in English and Spanish. Umatilla County questions go to 541-278-0341 or [email protected] |
| Umatilla County Law Library (Pendleton Public Library, 502 SW Dorion Avenue, Pendleton, (541) 966-0380) | Linked from the court's own Useful Links page. Housed in the lower level of the Pendleton Public Library, with Oregon statutes, Nolo legal subject books and tribal law materials in print, Westlaw for state and federal cases, and free printing of Oregon Judicial Department forms up to 100 pages per day for personal use. The Pendleton Public Library publishes hours of 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday and Saturday |
| Umatilla County Office of County Records (Room 116, 216 SE 4th Street, Pendleton, 541-278-6236, [email protected]) | The county's recording office, formerly the County Clerk's Office, and the place a bargain and sale deed goes after a simple estate affidavit or an estate sale. Recording runs Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and is not available at the Hermiston satellite office. The office states that it cannot give legal advice, supply blank forms, tell you what to record, or help you fill anything out, and it sends probate record questions to the circuit court at 541-278-0341 |
| 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. 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, and the court's own forms page carries a fee waiver and deferral category |
| OJD eFile, Odyssey File and Serve (courts.oregon.gov/services/online/Pages/efile.aspx) | Oregon's statewide electronic filing system for the circuit courts. Filing is mandatory for Oregon State Bar licensees (UTCR 21.140(1); SLR 1.161(3)) and open to self-represented filers who register. An expedited filing here takes an extra email to the court (SLR 21.071) |
| 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 |
| 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 court's own probate page sends readers to the Oregon State Bar website or to an attorney, and its Useful Links page links the referral service directly. The Bar is not a government agency |
| Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Pendleton regional office (202 SE Dorion Avenue, Suite 102, Pendleton) | The regional legal aid office for this part of eastern Oregon, including Umatilla County. Legal aid programs are income qualified and estate administration is not usually a listed practice area, so call and ask before assuming a probate matter can be taken. The court's Useful Links page routes readers to the Oregon Law Help directory of Oregon legal aid programs to confirm the current office and service area |
When to hire an attorney
Umatilla County is one of the Oregon counties where the court takes a position on whether a fiduciary should have counsel. A personal representative or conservator who intends to appear on behalf of the estate without an attorney must give the court notice of that intent and proof of competence to appear, and if the proof does not assure the court that the estate will be protected and properly administered, the court will take appropriate action (SLR 9.045(1)). Counsel makes particular sense here when the estate is insolvent or its solvency is in doubt; when the court is unlikely to waive bond, which this district's rule specifically contemplates even for a sole heir of an intestate estate (SLR 9.055(1)); when a will is contested or heirship is unclear; when the estate holds a farm, ranch, water right, business interest or out-of-state property, or Umatilla County real estate whose sale terms are disputed; when a personal injury settlement involving a minor or incapacitated person has to be approved with the declaration SLR 9.085 requires; when a required filing has already gone delinquent and an order to show cause is in play (SLR 9.035); or when a hearing must be covered in person and you live far from Pendleton or Hermiston. 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 Umatilla 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, Umatilla 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 Umatilla and Morrow publish only five local probate forms between them, so the paperwork is drafted, not filled in. Sunset assembles the Umatilla filing: the simple estate affidavit where the estate qualifies, or the petition, the proposed order in the check-box format this district requires (SLR 2.011) and the proposed letters, with the ORCP 1 E declaration, ready to file at the Pendleton or Hermiston counter, to drop in the court's box, to mail, or to e-file through OJD eFile.
Find a local probate attorney. When the court asks a self-represented fiduciary for proof of competence under SLR 9.045, when a bond will not be waived, or when the estate is insolvent or contested, Sunset connects families to a vetted Umatilla County probate attorney for estate settlement tasks such as filing, e-filing and appearing.
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 Umatilla County, Oregon?
With the Circuit Court in Umatilla County, at either of the county's two full-service courthouses. Pendleton is the Umatilla County Courthouse, 216 SE Fourth Street, Pendleton, OR 97801, with the court offices on the second floor and the Civil Records Office in Room 230; Hermiston is the Stafford Hansell Government Center, 915 SE Columbia Drive, Hermiston, OR 97838, second floor, Room 201. The court states that most Umatilla County Circuit Court documents can be filed at either location, and mail for both goes to State Courts, 216 SE Fourth Street, Pendleton, OR 97801. Oregon has no separate probate court as an institution; probate jurisdiction in Umatilla County is vested in the circuit court (ORS 111.075). 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)).
Umatilla shares a court website with Morrow County. Does that mean I file in Heppner?
No. Umatilla and Morrow make up the Sixth Judicial District, which is why the Oregon Judicial Department publishes one site headed Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts, one set of supplementary local rules, and one bench of five judges who serve in both counties. That is an administrative arrangement. An Umatilla County estate is filed in Umatilla County, at the Pendleton or Hermiston courthouse, and the court's own drop box notice states that documents and payments must be submitted in the county where the case is filed. The Morrow County Courthouse at 100 Court Street in Heppner takes Morrow County cases.
Can I file probate in Hermiston instead of Pendleton?
Yes, for most documents. The court describes the Stafford Hansell Government Center in Hermiston as the second full service circuit court location in Umatilla County and states that most Umatilla County Circuit Court documents can be filed either there or in Pendleton, and the local rules name a clerk at Room 201 on the second floor in Hermiston as well as Room 230 in Pendleton for oral objections in protective proceedings (SLR 9.081(1)). There is one Pendleton-only rule and it does not reach probate: SLR 1.161(2) requires Umatilla County filings made under UTCR 21.070(3)(a) to (d), which are criminal accusatory instruments, juvenile delinquency petitions, extradition documents and contempt initiating instruments, to be submitted in Pendleton. Hermiston's drop box on the north wall outside the main entrance is available at any time; the Pendleton box outside Room 230 runs 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on business days.
Do I have to e-file a probate case in Umatilla 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); SLR 1.161(3)). A self-represented filer may register and e-file but is not required to, and may file at the Pendleton or Hermiston counter, in a drop box, or by mail. The Sixth Judicial District publishes no SLR 2.501 conventional-filing list, so nothing in a probate case is pulled out of the system by local rule. The statutory exception applies everywhere in Oregon: an original will must be filed on paper (UTCR 21.070(3)(h)), and 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. Fax is not an option here, because a document submitted for filing by facsimile may be returned unfiled (SLR 2.015(1)(e)). If a filing is urgent, email [email protected] with "EXPEDITED e-Filing" and the case number and name in the subject line (SLR 21.071).
How much does it cost to file probate in Umatilla 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)), and any other appearance in a probate proceeding is $281 (ORS 21.135(1) and (2)(g); ORS 21.170(4)). 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, and the court's own forms page carries a fee waiver and deferral category.
Do I have to take a class to serve as personal representative in Umatilla County?
If you are not a professional fiduciary, yes. The Sixth Judicial District's non-professional fiduciary educational program reaches any personal representative appointed under ORS chapter 113 on or after the rule's effective date of February 1, 2025, as well as guardians and conservators appointed under ORS chapter 125, trustees under ORS chapter 130, and any non-professional fiduciary cited for a deficiency through the show cause process. You must register within 15 days of appointment, successfully complete a class with a curriculum prescribed by the district's presiding judge within 90 days, and file a certificate of completion with the Probate Department giving the date, the time and the provider (SLR 9.076). The court sends notice and instructions at appointment. Professional fiduciaries as defined in ORS 125.240(5) are exempt, the class fee is a cost of administration and may be waived or deferred, and a waiver of the requirement itself takes a motion supported by affidavit filed within 15 days of receiving the notice. Failure to comply may result in removal.
Can I be personal representative in Umatilla County without a lawyer?
Only after telling the court and satisfying it that you can do the job. If a personal representative or conservator intends to appear on behalf of the estate or protected person without an attorney, that person must provide notice of the intent to the court and proof of competence to so appear, and if the proof is not sufficient to assure the court that the estate will be protected and properly administered, the court will take appropriate action (SLR 9.045(1)). Anyone else appearing without counsel in a matter before the probate judge, where the law allows it, must be identified to the judge as self-represented, both by that person and by counsel for the personal representative (SLR 9.045(2)). Court staff cannot give legal advice, and the court's probate page points readers to the Oregon State Bar or an attorney.
Can I appear remotely, or do I have to travel to Pendleton or Hermiston?
Plan on appearing in person unless the court says otherwise. The court publishes the default plainly: all appearances are assumed to require in person appearance unless the hearing notice specifically schedules the docket for remote appearance, or a judge has specifically allowed a party to appear remotely on the record or by written order. The district has simultaneous electronic transmission equipment at all three of its courthouses, and out-of-custody matters may be heard by video or telephone conferencing if authorized by the judge (SLR 7.015); the court's Remote Hearings page adds that Umatilla and Morrow do not normally live-stream hearings by video but that remote appearance by Webex phone conference is standard for public hearings. The way to ask is the court's own Motion for Phone Appearance, published in its probate forms category. Filing itself can be done at a distance by mail, by drop box or by registering to e-file, with one paper step that cannot be avoided: the original will has to reach the court.
How do I look up an Umatilla County probate case or get copies?
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. A decedent's estate is a public case type. Locally, the court lets you review digitized documents free on the kiosk computers in the courthouse lobby, and lets you view an undigitized file at the counter during business hours if you request it ahead using its Records Request form. For copies, location and inspection of court records is free, paper copies are $3 per request per case plus 25 cents per page, and a certified copy is $5 plus the per page charge (ORS 21.258; Oregon Judicial Department Circuit Court Fee Schedule, effective January 1, 2026). The court warns that certified documents in estate and probate cases used to administer an estate, such as fiduciary letters and small estate affidavits, may need to be certified on paper, so ask the bank or title company first.
What probate forms does Umatilla County provide?
Five, shared with Morrow County and carrying the UMA prefix, and the court says so in its own words: "At this time, only the forms listed below are available through Umatilla and Morrow County Circuit Courts. If you need other forms, you may inquire at a local stationery store or hire an attorney to assist you." In the Oregon Judicial Department forms library the probate-category files for this district are the Guardian's Report, the Objection to Petition for Appointment of Guardian or Conservator, a Motion for Phone Appearance, a Motion to Continue for a filer without an attorney, and a Declaration of Change of Address. There is no local petition, inventory, accounting or simple estate form. 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 two versions, the court's forms page says to select the 6th District version, and forms required by the local rules live on that page (SLR 1.171).
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.