Oregon Bargain and Sale Deed (Simple Estate Affiant Distribution)

Oregon writes the deed choice into the statute. When the affiant who filed a simple estate affidavit distributes the decedent's real property, ORS 114.555(3) directs that the transfer take one specific form: a bargain and sale deed, conveying the property to the person entitled to it and recorded in the deed records of the county where the property sits. This form prepares that exact instrument, built around the affidavit rather than around an ordinary seller.

A fiduciary grantor, a statutory timeline

The simple estate affidavit, ORS 114.505 to 114.560, is Oregon's alternative to full probate for estates within the statutory limits: not more than $75,000 in personal property apart from manufactured homes and not more than $200,000 in real property and manufactured homes combined. The affiant who files it becomes a fiduciary under ORS 114.545, collects the property, and pays claims presented during the four month period after filing.

The distribution deed arrives at a defined moment. Under ORS 114.555(1)(a), if no one petitions for a personal representative within four months after the affidavit is filed, the affiant transfers what remains to the person or persons the affidavit shows as entitled, after unsecured creditors are paid and before the two year summary review window of ORS 114.550 closes. The deed's affidavit section recites the court, case number and filing date, so the instrument itself displays the timeline it depends on, and the example documents recite a deed signed after the four month period had run.

What this configuration carries

One signature line and one acknowledgment certificate: the affiant signs alone, solely in the affiant capacity, and the certificate follows the ORS 194.285 representative form, naming the signer as affiant of the estate. The consideration section pairs the statutory dollar blank of ORS 93.860 with a printed recital that the transfer is a distribution under ORS 114.555, not a sale, and that the consideration consists of the grantee's entitlement under the affidavit, which completes the ORS 93.030 statement even at $0.00. The grantee section receives the distributee or distributees exactly as the affidavit lists them; two heirs taking together hold as tenants in common under ORS 93.180 unless the deed clearly declares survivorship, and the guide walks through the full vesting menu. A distribution that runs to the affiant individually, where the affiant is also the person entitled, presents the same one signer pattern.

By contrast, the standard Oregon Bargain and Sale Deed recites a direct owner to owner conveyance without estate recitals, and a court appointed fiduciary in a full probate conveys by a personal representative deed; a sale of simple estate property to an outside buyer for value follows the joinder and proceeds rules of ORS 114.545 rather than this distribution pattern.

No covenants, and claims can follow the land

ORS 93.860(3) gives the bargain and sale deed its character: the entire interest passes, after acquired title passes, and no covenant of title comes with it. The deed also states, in capital letters, what ORS 114.555(2) provides: the property remains subject to liens and encumbrances against the decedent or the estate, and to creditor rights until the two year period expires. The distributee takes the estate's title, as the estate held it.

The form places the first page items of ORS 205.234 on page one, carries the ORS 93.040 land use statement in the body, uses the ORS 93.260 tax statement sentence, and is sized to the 8.5 by 14 inch and 10 point standards of ORS 205.232. The package includes the blank deed as a fillable PDF, a completed example tracing a Deschutes County distribution from affidavit to acknowledgment, and a plain language guide covering every section, the statutory framework, county fees, and the Washington County transfer tax exemption filing; the materials are informational and are not legal advice.