How to Make a Valid Will in Oregon

Any person who is 18 or older, or who has been lawfully married or emancipated, and who is of sound mind may make a will. The will must be in writing and signed by the testator (or by another person at the testator's direction, or the testator must acknowledge an earlier signature) in the presence of each witness. At least two witnesses must see the signing, hear the acknowledgment, or observe the direction to sign, and must sign the will within a reasonable time before the testator's death. An electronic record does not count as a 'writing' for these purposes.

Oregon does not have a separate category for handwritten (holographic) wills; an unwitnessed handwritten will does not meet the normal execution rules. However, a court may treat a signed writing that was not properly witnessed as a valid will if the person offering it proves by clear and convincing evidence that the decedent intended it to be a will (or a revocation or change of a will). The person offering it must give notice, and those notified have 20 days to file written objections.

Oregon does not use a notarized self-proving affidavit as such. Instead, an affidavit of an attesting witness may be used in place of the witness's appearance in court when the will is admitted to probate; the affidavit may be signed at the time the will is signed or later. An interested person may ask the court, within 30 days after information about the estate is first mailed or delivered, to require the witness to appear.