Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Oregon

Re: Concerned about knowing father's final wishes

If there was no will, then his "personal property" is distributed to his intestate heirs.

ORS 112.025 (Share of surviving spouse if decedent leaves issue):

If the decedent leaves a surviving spouse and issue, the intestate share of the surviving spouse is:

(1) If there are surviving issue of the decedent all of whom are issue of the surviving spouse also, the entire net intestate estate.

(2) If there are surviving issue of the decedent one or more of whom are not issue of the surviving spouse, one-half of the net intestate estate.

This means that you and your siblings should split his personal estate. It gets cloudy because your father was married and the step-mom will claim that much of his property was either co-owned or belongs to her outright.

Your entitlement would be most clear if your father had owned some property that was clearly in his name only.

Since this estate is being probated you'll receive notice of the inventory of the estate and after the assets are gathered up you'll have a chance to object to the final accounting.

If you have a real concern about what is happening you could hire a lawyer to conduct discovery and keep an eye on the estate administration. There would need to be enough assets to justify doing this. If it's a matter of some personal belongings, the lawyer for the personal representative may facilitate something if his/her client is willing.

Keep in mind that the lawyer represents the Personal Representative and will not and cannot be expected to represent your interests or even give you anything along of the lines of personal advice. He probably will tell you to get your own lawyer if you want to know what your rights are, especially as you receive some notices.