Oregon Court of Appeals Considers Whether Money from Wrongful Death Suit is Considered Part of a Deceased’s Estate for Purposes of Probate

May 20, 2009


The Personal Representative of the estate sought compensation for services rendered in closing the estate.  Under Oregon law, a personal representative’s fees are based on the whole value of the estate.  Here, the Personal Representative sought to include the wrongful death payout as part of the whole value of the estate, thereby increasing the statutory fees due to her.  After examining the language of the applicable statutes, the Court of determined that the proceeds of the wrongful death suit should be included as part of the decedent’s “whole estate”, as the proceeds from the lawsuit are subject to division by the probate court (ORS 30.040).  Thus, it was appropriate for the Personal Representative to base her statutory fee on the value of the whole estate.
Read the Brown v. Hackney case: http://www.publications.ojd.state.or.us/A136409.htm