Wills and estate planning in Oregon

Researched 2026-10-20 · confidence: medium · 2026 figures

In plain words: in Oregon a will is valid when it's signed in front of 2 adult witnesses. There is a state estate tax. The federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 a person in 2026.

Witnesses to a will	2
Handwritten (holographic) will	Not recognised
Self-proving affidavit	Available
Electronic wills	Not allowed
Power of attorney	No notary
Health care directive	2 witnesses or a notary
State estate tax	Yes
State inheritance tax	No
Community property	No
Age of majority / UTMA age	18 / 21

Signing a will

Statute: ORS 112.235.

A will attested by an interested witness is not invalidated, and the gift is not forfeited (ORS 112.245).

ORS 112.235(4) excludes electronic records from 'writing', so there are no electronic wills (the Oregon Law Commission was still studying UEWA in 2026). Oregon has no holographic will statute, but it does have a harmless-error rule: a defectively executed signed writing can be probated on clear and convincing evidence of intent (ORS 112.238). Witnesses must see or hear the testator sign or acknowledge and must sign within a reasonable time. The self-proving mechanism is a witness affidavit rather than the UPC testator-plus-witness form. The ORS 113.055 cite is from memory and was not re-verified.

Power of attorney

Statute: ORS 127.002-127.045.

Oregon has not adopted UPOAA. ORS 127.005 sets no witness or notary formality, and a POA is durable unless it says otherwise. Notarize every draft anyway: it is needed to record a POA used for real estate (ORS 93.670), and banks routinely demand it. No statutory form exists, so give gifting, trust and beneficiary-change authority expressly.

Health care directive

Called: Oregon Advance Directive for Health Care.

Statute: Oregon Health Care Decisions Act, ORS 127.505-127.660; execution at ORS 127.515; form at ORS 127.529.

On the signing date a witness may not be the principal's attending physician or attending health care provider, or the appointed health care representative or alternate (ORS 127.515(4)). If the principal is in a long-term care facility, one witness must be a facility-designated individual qualified under DHS rules (ORS 127.515(5)).

Since the 2018 law the directive must be 'substantially' in the ORS 127.529 form; the Advance Directive Advisory Committee reviews it and the Oregon Health Authority posts it (ORS 127.533). Execution is by two adult witnesses or a notary (ORS 127.515(2)). A form appointing only a health care representative is ORS 127.527. Official form URL not found.

If there's no will: what a spouse gets

If all the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse, the spouse takes the entire net intestate estate (ORS 112.025).

A spouse's right to a share

Graduated elective share of the augmented estate based on marriage length, reaching 33% after 15 years (ORS 114.600-114.725, schedule at ORS 114.605). The schedule detail is from memory and was not re-verified.

Estate and inheritance tax

Oregon estate tax with a flat $1,000,000 exemption for 2026, not indexed (ORS ch. 118, ORS 118.010). SB 1511 (2026), which would have created a $2.5M deduction from 2027, passed the Senate but stalled in House committee.

No inheritance tax.

Probate

Formal probate is moderately heavy. The simple estate affidavit is available if personal property is $75,000 or less and real property plus manufactured homes is $200,000 or less (ORS 114.510-114.560). SB 15 (2025, ch. 342) kept these limits and added a testate pour-over-to-trust variant.

Money God drafts a Oregon will, power of attorney and health care directive from a short interview, then you send it to your attorney for review before signing.

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Sources

Researched from state statutes and official forms. Laws change; this page is information, not legal advice. Every Money God draft is reviewed by a licensed attorney in your state before you sign it.