My Parent Died, Now What?

If a parent dies in Oregon, there are two overlapping jobs: taking care of the immediate practical matters and legally administering the estate. The process depends heavily on whether there is a will, a trust, joint owners on accounts and property, and how large the estate is.

Here is a basic idea of what and how things need to be handled:

1. Immediately after the death
Obtain several certified copies of the death certificate. You'll need them for banks, insurance, retirement accounts, the court, and other institutions. Oregon's current court instructions specifically require a certified death certificate for a Simple Estate proceeding and probate. It may take 2 - 3 weeks for these to come and you will need to wait to do most legal actions until you have that.

2. Make funeral/burial/cremation arrangements. (The funeral home will also help you obtain death certificates.)
Secure the parent's home, vehicle, pets, valuables, medications, and important documents.
If they lived alone, arrange for mail to be collected and the property to be checked regularly.
Do not start distributing or selling their property simply because you're the child. Until you're legally authorized to act for the estate, you may not have authority to do so and there can be legal ramifications if you do.

3. Find the important documents
Look for:
Will documents
Trust documents
Deeds and mortgage information
Bank and brokerage statements
Retirement accounts and pensions
Life insurance policies
Vehicle titles
Business ownership records
Tax returns
Credit cards and loans
Social Security information
Long-term-care or medical bills
Funeral/prepaid funeral contracts
Safe-deposit-box information
Digital accounts and passwords
Any documents showing payable-on-death (POD), transfer-on-death (TOD), or beneficiary designations
If there is an original will or trust, keep it safe. If there isn't a will, Oregon's intestacy laws determine who inherits the assets through court proceedings known as probate.

4. Now is a good time to reach out to an attorney. In some county's you can do probate without an attorney, in others you will find hurdles that make it very difficult to do it without legal help. This is the time that you figure out what actually has to go through probate.

Not everything your parent owned necessarily becomes part of the probate estate. For example, some assets pass directly to a named beneficiary, while jointly owned property may pass to the surviving owner. In this situation, you may also need to speak with an attorney to understand what the laws are. Things like Transfer on Death Deed means that the home cannot be sold for 18 months. Many people are unaware of specific laws and how these transferred items can be affected.

5. Make an inventory separating:

LIKELY PROBATE ASSETS
Bank accounts solely in your parent's name
Investments solely in their name
Real estate solely in their name
Personal property
Vehicles
Other property without a beneficiary or surviving joint owner

POTENTIALLY NON-PROBATE ASSETS
Life insurance with a beneficiary
Retirement accounts with a beneficiary
Payable On Death or Transfer On Death accounts
Certain jointly owned property
Assets held in a trust
This distinction can dramatically change the amount of work involved.

6. Determine whether Oregon's Simple Estate procedure applies. Currently, a Simple Estate Affidavit can generally be used when the estate's total fair-market value is no more than $275,000, with no more than $200,000 attributable to real property and no more than $75,000 attributable to personal property. You must wait at least 30 days after the death before filing.

Oregon has a substantially simpler process for qualifying estates, but the paperwork can be tricky and require filling it out and filing it multiple times before getting it correct. You can also hire an attorney to do this for you. It's often much less expensive than hiring them for probate and completely avoids that probate process.

7. Determine if there is a trust and you can avoid probate. If there is only a will or no will, you will need to open probate. Someone will need to petition the Oregon probate court and be appointed Personal Representative. If there is a will, this person is often the executor named in the will.

If there is no will, the court appoints an administrator/personal representative under Oregon law. The court issues Letters of Administration, which are what give the representative legal authority to act for the estate.

Being the deceased person's child does not automatically give you authority to access or sell any or all of their assets. For a formal probate, you generally need to be appointed by the court first.

8. Once you're authorized to act, you may need to establish an account in the estate's name. Don't mix estate money with your personal checking account. Deposit estate income into that account and pay legitimate estate expenses from it. Keep meticulous records. This becomes particularly important if there are multiple heirs.

9. Identify and value everything and create a detailed inventory of:

Real estate
Bank accounts
Brokerage accounts
Retirement accounts
Vehicles
Jewelry
Furniture and personal belongings
Business interests
Cryptocurrency/digital assets
Refunds owed to your parent
Insurance proceeds payable to the estate
Any money owed to your parent
You'll also need to identify debts.

For significant assets, obtain appropriate valuations/appraisals. The value as of the date of death can be important for both estate administration and taxes.

10. Depending on the circumstances, notify the relevant people and organizations:

Social Security
Pension providers
Employer
Banks
Brokerage firms
Credit-card companies
Mortgage company
Insurance companies
Utilities
Landlord, if applicable
Medicare/health insurance
Government benefit programs
Subscriptions and memberships
Be careful with Social Security: payments made after death can sometimes need to be returned.

Also, don't assume that because a company says "you're the beneficiary" that the money belongs to you personally. Determine whether the payment is actually payable to you, another beneficiary, or the estate.

11. Deal with Creditors
Make a complete list of debts:

Mortgage
Credit cards
Medical bills
Personal loans
Taxes
Utilities
Car loans
Homeowners/condo dues
Other legitimate obligations
Don't simply pay everything immediately.

Oregon probate has specific procedures concerning creditors and claims. In a formal probate, there are also notice and timing requirements before property can safely be distributed. Oregon courts note that certain distributions cannot occur until required notice and creditor procedures have been completed. This is another reason why it is a good idea to hire an attorney for probate. They know the process and can help walk you through how long it will take and when you are able to do each step.

12. Deal with the house
If your parent owned a house, determine:

Who owns it after death?
Is it subject to probate?
Is there a mortgage?
Are property taxes current?
Is there homeowners insurance?
Does it need repairs?
Does it need to be sold?
Does an heir want to keep it?
Don't transfer the deed to yourself just because you're the child. The appropriate transfer depends on how the property was titled and whether probate is required. If the estate needs to sell the house, the personal representative may need court authority depending on the circumstances. If you have a Transfer on Death Deed, there are laws about when you can sell the home.

12. Handle taxes
There are potentially several different tax issues. Your parent's final income tax return. A final federal income tax return generally needs to be filed for the year of death, and prior unfiled returns may also need to be filed. It may be a good idea to reach out to a CPA to discuss what you need to do to finalize their taxes.

13. Estate income tax
If the estate continues earning income after death—for example, interest, dividends, rent, or investment income—the estate may need its own tax return. For federal purposes, an estate generally must file Form 1041 if it has more than $600 of gross income for the tax year. Oregon similarly has a fiduciary income-tax return, Form OR-41, when applicable.

14. Oregon estate transfer tax
This is a particularly important Oregon issue. Oregon generally requires an Oregon estate transfer tax return when the estate is $1 million or more and the estate contains Oregon-taxable property, subject to the applicable rules. The return is generally due 12 months after death for deaths on or after January 1, 2022.

The federal estate-tax rules are separate and have different thresholds.

For a sizable estate, we would strongly recommend having a CPA or estate attorney handle this.

15. Check for Oregon Medicaid/estate recovery
This is easy for families to overlook. If your parent received certain Oregon Medicaid/long-term-care benefits, the Oregon Department of Human Services may have a claim against the estate. Oregon specifically warns that estate assets can be used to pay valid claims, including claims by its Estate Administration Unit. This is especially important before distributing the estate to the children.

16. Pay the remaining legitimate expenses. This could include:

Funeral expenses
Attorney fees
Accounting fees
Court fees
Appraisal fees
Property insurance
Utilities
Property maintenance
Real estate commissions
Taxes
Valid creditor claims
Keep receipts for everything.

17. Prepare the final accounting
If you're the personal representative, you should be able to show: What came into the estate → what was paid out → what remains → who received it.

Even if your family gets along perfectly, keep the records. If there are three siblings and you are administering the estate, for example, you want to be able to demonstrate exactly how you arrived at each person's distribution.

18. Only after debts, taxes, creditor issues, and required probate procedures have been dealt with should the remaining assets be distributed. If there is no will, Oregon's intestacy laws determine the heirs. If there is a will, the assets generally go according to the will, subject to applicable Oregon law. For formal probate, the court may need to approve the final distribution and close the estate.

19. Once you've established who is legally entitled to inherit, carefully distribute:

Furniture
Jewelry
Family heirlooms
Vehicles
Artwork
Collectibles
Tools
Electronics
Personal effects
If multiple siblings are inheriting items, don't simply let everyone take whatever they want. A good approach is to make an inventory and have everyone agree in writing about valuable items. For significant assets, document who received what and the value assigned to it.

20. The final step is to formally finish the administration. Depending on the type of estate, this can include:

Final accounting
Final tax matters
Final distributions
Court filings
Court approval
Discharge/closing of the personal representative
Keep the estate records and tax documents after the estate is closed.

The biggest mistakes to avoid are:

Don't distribute money to the children immediately.
Don't sell the house or other major property before determining who legally controls it.
Don't use your parent's bank account as though it were your own.
Don't assume being the oldest child makes you the executor.
Don't ignore Medicaid/estate-recovery claims.
Don't overlook beneficiary designations.
Don't forget taxes.
Don't throw away financial records.
Don't make informal deals between siblings without documenting them.
Don't assume a "small estate" is automatically simple without calculating the estate under Oregon's rules.
Before anyone starts dividing things up, you want to determine exactly who the legal heirs are and whether the estate qualifies for Oregon's Simple Estate procedure.

Reach out anytime. We offer free consultations and are licensed in Oregon, Washington, California, Nevada, Nebraska, and Florida. Schedule a free consultation here or call 503-908-5457 or email Chad@AffordableEstatePNW.com