Estate Planning in Multnomah County, Oregon

Wills, Guardians and Funeral Wishes in Multnomah County

A will made in Oregon is signed before 2ORS 112.235Verified Oct 19, 2026View source witnesses. The person making it must be at least 18 years old. A witness who also takes a gift under the will keeps the giftORS 112.245Verified Oct 19, 2026View source. When the will is probated, a witness's affidavit stands in for testimony. Oregon's probate code defines a will to include a codicil, so a codicil is signed before two witnesses as a will is. At probate, an attesting witness's affidavit, made at or after the signing, can stand in for the witness for a codicil as it does for a willORS 111.005(31)Verified Oct 25, 2026View source.

After a death, an estate in Multnomah County is opened with the Circuit Court.

Parents name a guardian for a minor child in a will or a separate signed writingORS 125.060(2)(g), 125.200, 125.305Verified Sep 16, 2026View source. When a parent has named one, the nomination is one factor the court weighs in deciding the child's best interest. The choice covers a child until age 18ORS 109.621 (formerly 109.510)Verified Sep 16, 2026View source.

Who controls a person's funeral and burial or cremation follows an order set by law: surviving spouse, then surviving adult children, then surviving parentORS 97.130Verified Oct 17, 2026View source. A person can name their own agent for those decisions in advanceORS 97.130(3), (4), (8)Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, and the agent named comes before that order.

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Living Trusts and Deeds in Multnomah County

A living trust needs no notaryORS 130.001 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source. Banks and others dealing with a trustee can rely on a certificate of trust in place of the whole trust documentORS § 130.860Verified Sep 20, 2026.

Putting a home in Multnomah County into the trust takes a deed, recorded with the County Clerk. A deed into the owner's own trust pays no transfer taxORS 130.001 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, and the property is not reassessed for tax when it goes in. A home in the owner's trust keeps its homestead exemption.

With a transfer on death deed, the owner of real estate names a beneficiary, and the property passes at the owner's death without probateORS 93.948 to 93.979Verified Oct 17, 2026View source. Before recording, an Oregon transfer on death deed is signed with notary acknowledgment. It takes effect only if it is recorded before the owner's death.

The County Clerk charges $86 for the first page plus $5 for each additional page. A 2-page transfer on death deed costs $91 to record in Multnomah County. No transfer tax applies to a transfer on death deed. The office accepts electronic recording through CSC, Simplifile, ePN, Indecomm, Hopdox and ValueCheck.

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Accounts and Beneficiaries

Divorce does not revoke a former spouse as beneficiaryORS 112.315; ORS 93.981; ORS 107.115(1); ORS 107.118 to 107.131Verified Sep 15, 2026View source in Oregon; the designation stands until the owner changes it. An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records29 U.S.C. § 1104(a)(1)(D)Verified Nov 1, 2026View source, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it29 U.S.C. § 1144(a)Verified Nov 1, 2026View source. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary29 U.S.C. § 1055(b)(1)(C)(i)Verified Nov 1, 2026View source unless the spouse consented in writing to another29 U.S.C. § 1055(c)(2)(A)Verified Nov 1, 2026View source. An inherited IRA is protected from the beneficiary's creditors in partORS 18.358Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.

At a death, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwiseORS 708A.470(1)Verified Nov 1, 2026View source. A pay-on-death account passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's deathORS 708A.470(2)(b)Verified Nov 1, 2026View source. A brokerage account or a security registered in beneficiary form passes at the owner's death to the beneficiary who survivesORS 59.565Verified Nov 1, 2026View source, and to the estate if none survives.

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Powers of Attorney and Healthcare Documents

A financial power of attorney made in Oregon needs no witness and no notary to be validORS 127.002 (defs; 2023 c.9 §8); ORS 127.005–127.045 (2009 c.46; 2018 c.36; 2021 c.272); ORS 93.670Verified Sep 20, 2026View source. It stays in effect if the signer becomes incapacitated unless it says otherwise. It can be written to take effect only if the signer becomes incapacitated.

For medical decisions, a healthcare power of attorney is signed before 2ORS 127.527 (HCR appointment), ORS 127.529 (comprehensive advance directive; form text set by 2021 c.328 §2 / SB 199 2021)Verified Oct 15, 2026View source witnesses or a notary. The person's own treating healthcare provider cannot serve as the agentORS 127.515Verified Oct 15, 2026View source. A medical-records release follows the state's own rulesOr. Rev. Stat. § 433.045(4)(a); Or. Rev. Stat. § 179.505(1)(d), (1)(g), (3), (17); Or. Rev. Stat. §§ 192.535, 192.539 (Oregon Genetic Privacy Act)Verified Jun 20, 2026View source for HIV/AIDS-related information, mental health records and genetic information, beyond the federal authorization.

Taxes, Signing and Moving

Estates over $1,000,000ORS 118.010Verified Sep 15, 2026View source pay Oregon estate tax, at rates up to 16%. The federal estate tax exempts the first $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source per person. The federal annual gift tax exclusion is $19,00026 USC § 2503(b); Rev. Proc. 2025-32 § 4.42Verified Sep 15, 2026View source per recipient.

Remote online notarization is authorized in OregonORS 194.277Verified Sep 9, 2026View source, wills excepted. A will signed in another state is recognized if it followed the law of the place where it was signedORS 112.255Verified Oct 19, 2026View source.

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