Oregon Living Trust
The Oregon rules that shape the document: the unindexed $1,000,000 Section 118.010 estate tax, the Section 18.395 homestead gap, and the Section 130.518 tenancy-by-the-entirety carve-out.
Find out where you stand in Oregon
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Introduction
A living trust lets you transfer assets to a trustee during your lifetime so they pass to your beneficiaries without going through probate, but only for what you actually retitle into it; anything still titled in your own name goes through Oregon probate regardless of what the trust document says. Oregon's sharpest departure from the national default has nothing to do with signing formalities: ORS 118.010 imposes a standalone Oregon estate tax on any Oregon taxable estate over $1,000,000, a threshold that has never been indexed for inflation, so an ordinary Portland-metro homeowner's estate can owe Oregon tax decades before the federal exemption, roughly $13 to $14 million, would ever apply. Oregon also requires no notary, witness, or will formality to create the trust itself (ORS 130.155), and its augmented-estate elective share (ORS 114.600 to 114.725) reaches assets you place in a revocable trust.
Key Things to Know
- 1
Oregon imposes its own estate transfer tax, separate from the federal estate tax, on any Oregon taxable estate over $1,000,000, a threshold that has never been indexed for inflation. Rates run from 10.0% just above that threshold to 16.0% above $9,500,000, per ORS 118.010. A revocable living trust does not by itself reduce this tax.
- 2
No notary or witness is required to create an Oregon trust. ORS 130.155 sets a complete, exclusive list of five requirements: settlor capacity, indicated intent, a definite beneficiary, a trustee with duties to perform, and that the same person may not be sole trustee and sole beneficiary. ORS 130.505(3) separately permits later revocation or amendment by any method showing clear and convincing evidence of intent, except by will or codicil, if the trust does not specify a different method; this rule is not limited to trusts that are in writing.
- 3
Oregon's homestead exemption (ORS 18.395) protects $150,000 of equity, $300,000 combined per household, indexed annually each July 1; confirm the current figure before relying on it. No Oregon statute expressly preserves this exemption once the home is deeded to a trustee, unlike Arizona's express carve-out. This is genuinely unresolved: ask an Oregon attorney before relying on a trust to keep your homestead protection.
- 4
An Oregon certificate of trust is not as private as it sounds. ORS 130.860(2)(h) requires the statutory certification a trustee hands a bank or title company to disclose the last four digits of the settlor's Social Security number, or the trust's employer identification number, a requirement with no counterpart in the base Uniform Trust Code.
- 5
If spouses hold their Oregon home as tenants by the entirety and deed it into their joint revocable trust, ORS 130.518 preserves the same immunity from a spouse's individual creditors that tenancy by the entirety provided, as long as they stay married, the property stays in trust, and both remain beneficiaries. Either spouse may waive this protection as to a specific creditor.
- 6
Oregon's augmented-estate elective share (ORS 114.600 to 114.725) reaches assets a decedent could have reclaimed by revoking a trust (ORS 114.665(4)). The percentage scales with the length of the marriage, and a surviving spouse must elect within nine months of death. Oregon is a common-law property state, not one of the nine community-property states.
- 7
An Oregon revocable living trust gives no protection from your own creditors while you are alive; ORS 130.315(1)(a) subjects its assets to your creditors the same as property you own outright, and Oregon has no self-settled asset protection trust statute. Oregon also has no trust registration requirement and no local real estate transfer tax (ORS 306.815) when you fund real property into the trust.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Living Trust in Oregon, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Living Trust guide walks through them.
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Oregon Requirements for Living Trust
Oregon Standalone Estate Tax Above $1,000,000
ORS 118.010 imposes an Oregon estate tax on any Oregon taxable estate over $1,000,000, a threshold that has never been indexed for inflation. Rates run from 10.0% just above the threshold to 16.0% above $9,500,000, entirely independent of the federal estate tax exemption. A revocable living trust does not by itself reduce this tax.
Oregon No-Notary Execution With a Clear-and-Convincing Amendment Standard
ORS 130.155 sets a complete, exclusive list of five requirements: settlor capacity, indicated intent, a definite beneficiary, a trustee with duties, and that the same person not be sole trustee and sole beneficiary, with no notary or witness required. ORS 130.505(3) separately permits revocation or amendment by any method showing clear and convincing evidence of intent, except by will or codicil, unless the trust specifies otherwise; this rule is not limited to written trusts.
Oregon Homestead Trust Gap
ORS 18.395 protects a statutory base of $150,000 of home equity ($300,000 combined per household), indexed annually each July 1. No Oregon statute expressly preserves this exemption once the home is deeded into a revocable trust, unlike Arizona's express carve-out; this is unresolved and should be confirmed with an Oregon attorney.
Oregon Certificate of Trust Discloses Last-Four SSN or EIN
ORS 130.860(2)(h) requires the statutory certification of trust furnished to a bank or title company to include the last four digits of the settlor's Social Security number, or the trust's employer identification number, an Oregon-specific addition absent from the base Uniform Trust Code.
Oregon Tenancy-by-the-Entirety Preserved in a Joint Trust
ORS 130.518 preserves a couple's tenancy-by-the-entirety creditor immunity when they deed the property into their joint revocable trust, as long as they remain married, the property stays in trust, and both remain beneficiaries. Either spouse may waive this as to a specific creditor.
Oregon No Lifetime Creditor Protection; No Registration; No Transfer Tax
ORS 130.315(1)(a) subjects revocable trust assets to the settlor's creditors during life, and Oregon has no self-settled asset protection trust statute. Oregon also has no trust registration requirement and, under ORS 306.815, no local real estate transfer tax when funding property into the trust.