111.095 Powers
of probate court.
(1) A probate court has the general legal and equitable powers of a circuit
court.
(2) The
determinations, orders and judgments of a probate court have the same validity,
finality and presumption of regularity as those of a circuit court.
(3) A probate
court has full, legal and equitable powers to make declaratory judgments, as
provided in ORS 28.010 to 28.160, in all matters involved in the administration
of an estate, including matters pertaining to the title of real property and
ownership of personal property, the determination of heirship and the
distribution of the estate.
(4) A court
having jurisdiction over a probate proceeding may:
(a) Compel the
attendance of, or require the response to inquiries by and production of
documents subject to discovery under ORCP 36 from, any person, including a
beneficiary, creditor, fiduciary or any other person who may have knowledge
about the decedent’s taxes, financial affairs or property.
(b) Exercise
jurisdiction over any transaction entered into by a fiduciary to determine if a
conflict of interest existed and enter an appropriate order or judgment with
respect to the transaction.
(c) Surcharge a
fiduciary and any surety for any loss caused by failure of a fiduciary to
perform a fiduciary duty or any other duty imposed by ORS chapter 111, 112,
113, 114, 115, 116 or 117.
(d) Determine
ownership of title for real or personal property.
(e) Subject to
ORS chapter 90, require delivery of possession of property of the decedent,
including records, accounts and documents relating to that property.
(f) Require the
fiduciary to produce any and all records that might provide information about
the condition of the estate’s property.
(g) Remove a
fiduciary whenever that removal is in the best interests of the interested
persons of an estate.
(h) Appoint a
successor fiduciary when a fiduciary has died, resigned or been removed.
(i) Impose any
conditions and limitations upon the fiduciary that the court considers
appropriate, including limitations on the duration of the appointment.
(j) Without
hearing or upon such hearing as the court may prescribe, rule on any matter
concerning the administration, settlement or distribution of the estate,
including the fiduciary’s authority, the court’s approval of the fiduciary’s
actions or the court’s instructions to the fiduciary. [1969 c.591 §6; 1979
c.284 §102; 2016 c.42 §13; 2021 c.282 §6]
Notes of Decisions
Cited in
18
cases (
2 in the last 5 years), 1976–2025 · leading case:
Roley v. Sammons, 105 P.3d 879 (Or. Ct. App. 2005).
Roley v. Sammons, 105 P.3d 879 (Or. Ct. App. 2005).
· cites it 9× “ORS 111.095(2) provides: “A probate court has full, legal and equitable powers to make declaratory judgments, as provided in ORS 28.”
State Ex Rel. Adult & Fam. Servs. Div. v. Bradley, 666 P.2d 249 (Or. 1983).
· cites it 2× “Hohenshelt, 275 Or 91 , 549 P2d 1117 (1976); and a declaratory judgment after the death of the putative father to determine heirship pursuant to ORS 111.095(2) and 28.040, Thom v. Bailey, 257 Or 572 , 481 P2d 355 (1971).”
Rawls v. Evans, 48 P.3d 159 (Or. Ct. App. 2002).
· cites it 4× “Under ORS 111.095, the probate court has full legal and equitable powers to carry out its determinations.”
Brown v. Brown, 136 P.3d 745 (Or. Ct. App. 2006).
“020 (“[a]ny person interested under a deed, will, written contract or other writing constituting a contract * * * may have determined any question of construction or validity arising under any such instrument * * *”).”
Great W. Nat'l Bank v. Hill, 557 P.2d 1367 (Or. Ct. App. 1976).
“By agreement of the parties, the issues in dispute were heard pursuant to the court’s powers of declaratory judgment under ORS 111.095, and the pleadings were superseded by a pretrial order.”
Williams v. Cover, 704 P.2d 548 (Or. Ct. App. 1985).
“In 1979, the legislature amended many statutes to conform to the ORCP, including some of those which pertain to the conduct and appeal of probate court proceedings, ORS 111.095, 111.105 and 111.205. Or Laws 1979, ch 284, §§ 102,103 and 104.”
Smith v. Caldwell, 71 P.3d 584 (Or. Ct. App. 2003).
· cites it 2× “As the court explained in Decker , the 1969 legislature repealed the former procedures for determining heir-ship in probate proceedings and replaced them with ORS 111.095(2), which gives probate courts “full, legal and equitable powers to make declaratory judgments, as provided…”
Decker v. Wiman, 607 P.2d 1370 (Or. 1980).
“In its place, the legislature enacted ORS 111.095(2), which provides: "A probate court has full, legal and equitable powers to make declaratory judgments, as provided in ORS 28.”
Est. of Grove v. Selken, 820 P.2d 895 (Or. Ct. App. 1991).
“ORS 111.095(1) provides: “The general legal and equitable powers of a circuit court are applicable to effectuate the jurisdiction of a probate court, punish contempts and carry out its determinations, orders and judgments as a court of record with general jurisdiction, and the…”
Cotton v. Lansing, 344 Or. App. 276 (Or. Ct. App. 2025).
· cites it 3× “113 and ORS 111.095 were amended after the probate court administering Helen’s estate entered the Judgment of Final Distribution, but because those amendments do not affect our analysis, we have quoted the current version of ORS 116.”
Fuentes v. Tillett, 326 P.3d 1263 (Or. Ct. App. 2014).
“025(3)(e) (authorizing the probate court to surcharge a surety for any loss caused by failure of a fiduciary to perform a fiduciary duty); ORS 111.095(1) (“The general legal and equitable powers of a circuit court are applicable to effectuate the jurisdiction of a probate court,…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 111.095(1) — 4 cases
Rawls v. Evans, 48 P.3d 159 (Or. Ct. App. 2002).
“Under ORS 111.095, the probate court has full legal and equitable powers to carry out its determinations.”
Est. of Grove v. Selken, 820 P.2d 895 (Or. Ct. App. 1991).
“ORS 111.095(1) provides: “The general legal and equitable powers of a circuit court are applicable to effectuate the jurisdiction of a probate court, punish contempts and carry out its determinations, orders and judgments as a court of record with general jurisdiction, and the…”
Fuentes v. Tillett, 326 P.3d 1263 (Or. Ct. App. 2014).
“025(3)(e) (authorizing the probate court to surcharge a surety for any loss caused by failure of a fiduciary to perform a fiduciary duty); ORS 111.095(1) (“The general legal and equitable powers of a circuit court are applicable to effectuate the jurisdiction of a probate court,…”
— Or. Rev. Stat. § 111.095(2) — 12 cases
Roley v. Sammons, 105 P.3d 879 (Or. Ct. App. 2005).
“ORS 111.095(2) provides: “A probate court has full, legal and equitable powers to make declaratory judgments, as provided in ORS 28.”
State Ex Rel. Adult & Fam. Servs. Div. v. Bradley, 666 P.2d 249 (Or. 1983).
“Hohenshelt, 275 Or 91 , 549 P2d 1117 (1976); and a declaratory judgment after the death of the putative father to determine heirship pursuant to ORS 111.095(2) and 28.040, Thom v. Bailey, 257 Or 572 , 481 P2d 355 (1971).”
Brown v. Brown, 136 P.3d 745 (Or. Ct. App. 2006).
“020 (“[a]ny person interested under a deed, will, written contract or other writing constituting a contract * * * may have determined any question of construction or validity arising under any such instrument * * *”).”
Smith v. Caldwell, 71 P.3d 584 (Or. Ct. App. 2003).
“As the court explained in Decker , the 1969 legislature repealed the former procedures for determining heir-ship in probate proceedings and replaced them with ORS 111.095(2), which gives probate courts “full, legal and equitable powers to make declaratory judgments, as provided…”
Rawls v. Evans, 48 P.3d 159 (Or. Ct. App. 2002).
“Under ORS 111.095, the probate court has full legal and equitable powers to carry out its determinations.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.