What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Oregon?

In Oregon, if someone dies without a will, they are considered to have died “intestate.” From there, the family would not be able to do anything with the home, car, assets until the estate goes through the court process known as probate. This means, you likely need to hire an attorney to help you with the process, which includes posting about the estate, waiting for any debts to be submitted, filing documents along the way to explain the division of assets, changing the deed of the home, etc.

If the person who passed away had a total estate (including home, life insurance, etc.) of $275,000 or less, with personal property capped at $75,000 and real property capped at $200,000, then, you can file a Small Estate Affidavit. There is a 30 day waiting period before you can do this. However, these are simpler, and cheaper, but often it's easier to hire an attorney to file one because the form is a bit tricky and there is not a lot of support on how to properly fill it out. So, it can take a few tries to get it right.

Who inherits your home, assets, etc.?
Generally, the order is:

1. Spouse + only children shared with that spouse: The surviving spouse generally receives 100% of the net intestate estate.
2. Spouse + a child/children from another relationship: The surviving spouse generally receives 50%, with the remaining 50% going to the deceased person's descendants.
3. Spouse + no children: The surviving spouse receives 100%.
4. No spouse: The estate goes first to the deceased person's children.
5. No spouse or children: It goes to the deceased person's parents.
6. No spouse, children, or parents: It generally goes to siblings.
7. No spouse, children, parents, siblings: It generally goes to aunts and uncles.
8. If there are no qualifying heirs, the estate ultimately goes to the State of Oregon.

What happens in probate?
Someone—usually a court-appointed personal representative—handles the estate. This could be your spouse, kids, attorney, or someone else. They identify assets, pay valid debts and expenses, and distribute what's left to the heirs under the intestacy rules. A full probate proceeding may be necessary, although Oregon has a simplified Small Estate Affidavit procedure for qualifying estates.

One important wrinkle: not everything a person owns necessarily goes through intestate probate. For example, jointly owned property, accounts with designated beneficiaries, and certain transfer-on-death arrangements can pass without probate. However, taxes and other laws may apply to these (i.e., a transfer-on-death deed will not allow you to sell the property for 18 months). It is good to talk with an attorney to know all of the laws applied to these situations.

Reach out for a free consultation to find out what services you may need and the flat rate price for us to help you with them. Schedule a free consultation here or call 503-908-5457 or email Chad@AffordableEstatePNW.com