Clatsop County Probate Court Venue
Probate matters in Clatsop County are handled by Clatsop County Circuit Court, Oregon's 18th Judicial District. Oregon does not have a separate Clatsop probate court. The courthouse is at 749 Commercial Street, Astoria, OR 97103, with mailing address PO Box 835, Astoria, OR 97103. The main court phone is 503-325-8555.
The probate, guardianship, and conservatorship contact path is 503-325-8555, press 4, then option 2. The probate email is CLT.Probate.Clatsop@ojd.state.or.us. Use this court channel for estate administration, guardianship and conservatorship filings, trust matters assigned to court, objections in protective proceedings, certified fiduciary letters, and copy questions tied to Clatsop County probate records.
Clatsop County Circuit Court Probate
749 Commercial Street
Astoria, OR 97103
Mailing: PO Box 835, Astoria, OR 97103
503-325-8555, press 4 then option 2
CLT.Probate.Clatsop@ojd.state.or.us
Clatsop County Probate Terms
Probate filings use terms that may not appear in ordinary civil cases. The terms below help separate estate matters from protective proceedings and from copy requests. A court record may use several terms in the same case, especially when an estate includes accounting, letters, objections, or trustee issues.
- Testator
- A person who made a will before death.
- Personal representative
- The person appointed to administer an estate, often called executor in common use.
- Intestate
- A death without a valid will for some or all property.
- Guardianship
- A protective case about care, placement, or personal decision-making for another person.
- Conservatorship
- A protective case about managing money or property for another person.
Search Clatsop County Probate Records
Public probate case information may be searched through Oregon Judicial Department online record tools when the case is public. Fuller public records may require courthouse terminals, OJCIN access for eligible users, or an OJD records request. Adoption and some protective or mental-health-related matters can be restricted. A search result is not the certified court file.
- Start with the person's name, estate name, case number, or approximate filing date.
- Use OJD Online Records Search for basic case information if the matter is public.
- Contact Clatsop probate staff when the file is not found online or when the case may be restricted.
- Request copies, certified copies, certified fiduciary letters, or audio through the OJD records request process.
- Ask for paper certification when an agency or estate transaction requires an original stamped and signed certification.
For general online case-search steps, the Clatsop County court records page explains OJD search limits and copy channels.
Clatsop County Probate Filing Rules
The Clatsop Supplementary Local Rules effective February 1, 2025 include Chapter 9 rules for probate, guardianships, conservatorships, and adoption proceedings. Nonprofessional fiduciaries appointed under ORS chapter 125 as guardians or conservators, ORS chapter 113 as personal representatives, or ORS chapter 130 as trustees must complete the court's nonprofessional fiduciary education unless they are professional fiduciaries or attorneys.
A fiduciary subject to that rule must register within 30 days of appointment, complete the class within 90 days, and file the certificate of completion. Failure may result in removal. The class fee is treated as a cost of administration and may be waived or deferred. Accounting rules also matter: SLR 9.161 requires accountings in estate and conservatorship cases in UTCR 9.160 format, and SLR 9.185 requires opening and closing depository statements for each account in the accounting period.
The 2025 Clatsop Supplementary Local Rules are the local source for these probate record requirements.
Clatsop County Small Estate Records
Oregon's small estate affidavit path is available where assets are under $275,000, with real property not exceeding $200,000 and all other property below $75,000. The filer must wait 30 days after death. The original will and a certified death certificate must be included. A small estate filing does not result in letters testamentary because no personal representative is appointed.
Clatsop's forms page includes categories for Guardianship & Conservatorship and Probate - Simple Estate. If both statewide and Clatsop versions of a form exist, OJD says to choose the Clatsop version. That detail matters because probate records are filed in the local Circuit Court even when the forms are maintained by the Oregon Judicial Department.
Small estate filings are still court records, but they do not create the same appointment record as a full estate administration. A requester looking for authority documents should ask whether the court file contains a small estate affidavit, certified copy, order, or fiduciary letters. The answer affects what the court can certify and what a bank, title company, or agency may accept.
Clatsop County Probate Fees
Probate filing fees come from the 2026 Oregon Judicial Department circuit court fee schedule. Estate-value tiers affect personal representative petitions and conservator petitions. Certified letters and certified copies are separate copy charges. Fees can change, so users should verify current amounts with the court before filing or ordering copies.
| Probate / Protective Proceeding Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Petition for appointment of personal representative, estate under $50,000 | $278 |
| Estate $50,000 to under $1,000,000 | $591 |
| Estate $1,000,000 to under $10,000,000 | $882 |
| Estate $10,000,000 or more | $1,176 |
| Small estate affidavit | $124 |
| Personal representative accounting under $50,000 | $35 |
| Accounting $50,000 to under $1,000,000 | $298 |
| Petition for guardian / appearance in guardianship | $124 |
| Certified letters testamentary, administration, conservatorship, or guardianship | $5 plus $0.25 per paper page |
The OJD 2026 circuit court fee schedule is the source for the probate fee table.
What Clatsop County Probate Records Show
A public probate file may include petitions, wills, affidavits, orders, inventories, accountings, receipts, objections, fiduciary letters, notices, and closing documents. Protective files may include guardianship or conservatorship petitions, visitor reports, objections, accountings, and orders. Some fields may be redacted or unavailable when the case involves a minor, a protected person, adoption, mental-health material, or a sealed filing.
Certified probate documents can have strict handling rules. OJD notes that removing a staple from a multipage certified document invalidates certification. That warning matters for letters testamentary, letters of administration, guardianship letters, conservatorship letters, and certified copies used to administer an estate or protective matter.
| Record Field | What It Shows |
|---|---|
| Case number | The OJD case identifier for the estate, guardianship, conservatorship, or trust matter. |
| Estate or protected person | The name tied to the probate or protective proceeding, subject to access limits. |
| Fiduciary appointment | Personal representative, guardian, conservator, or trustee appointment details. |
| Accounting entries | Filed accountings and required opening or closing depository statements. |
| Orders and letters | Court orders and certified letters used for estate or protective administration. |
Clatsop County Protective Objections
Objections in protective proceedings have local channels. Oral objections under ORS 125.075 may be made during regular court hours at the public service window on the first floor of the courthouse or by calling 503-325-8555. Written objections may be mailed to PO Box 835, Astoria, OR 97103, or emailed to CLT.Probate.Clatsop@ojd.state.or.us.
A protected person may also make oral objections to the Court Visitor, and visitor reports must include objections. These details are part of the probate and protective record process because an objection can affect hearings, reports, and court orders.
When a record search involves a protective proceeding, the objection history may be more useful than a simple case-status field. It can show that a hearing, visitor review, or order followed the objection.
Restricted Clatsop County Probate Records
Not every probate-related file is open in the same way. Adoption records are confidential under Oregon adoption law and OJD policy. Some guardianship, conservatorship, protective, juvenile, and mental-health material may be restricted by statute, court rule, or court order. OJD also states that personal identifying information is not shown through free public search.
The Oregon adoption statutes are a key confidentiality source for probate-adjacent records.
That confidentiality context explains why some records connected to probate, family, or protective matters may not appear in a public case search.
Probate Records and Federal Courts
Estate administration in Clatsop County is a state Circuit Court matter. Federal records are separate. Bankruptcy is handled by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon, and federal district cases are not Clatsop probate files. PACER and CM/ECF are federal court systems, useful only when the record is a federal case or bankruptcy matter rather than a Clatsop County estate case.
The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Oregon is the federal bankruptcy source for Oregon.
Use that court for bankruptcy records, not for Clatsop County probate filings in Circuit Court.
The PACER CM/ECF lookup locates federal filing systems.
That federal lookup is separate from OJD probate search for Clatsop County Circuit Court.
The PACER fee page explains federal access charges.
PACER fees do not set the Oregon probate copy or certified-letter charges listed for Clatsop County Circuit Court.