ORS 114.255¹
Commencement of duties and powers of personal representative
  • • prior acts

The duties and powers of a personal representative commence upon the issuance of the letters of the personal representative. The powers of a personal representative relate back in time to give the acts of the personal representative occurring prior to appointment the same effect as those occurring thereafter. A personal representative may ratify and accept acts on behalf of the estate done by others where those acts would have been proper for a personal representative. [1969 c.591 §122]

Notes of Decisions

Where ac­tion potentially beneficial to an estate was commenced by a per­son who had good reason to believe that he could maintain the ac­tion as a per­sonal representative, but whose appoint­ment was in fact invalid, proper appoint­ment of proper party as a per­sonal representative after running of statute of limita­tions on underlying claim would relate back to original filing of ac­tion where no prejudice was shown; overruling to extent of inconsistency, Richard v. Slate, 239 Or 164, 396 P2d 900 (1964). Rennie v. Pozzi, 294 Or 334, 656 P2d 934 (1982)

§§ 114.255 (Commencement of duties and powers of personal representative) to 114.435 (Power to avoid transfers)

Notes of Decisions

Where ORS 30.070 (Settlement) grants per­sonal representative “full power” to settle wrongful death claim with approval of probate court and does not require notice to beneficiaries or grant them right to intervene in pro­ceed­ing to approve settle­ment but only to be heard as matter of right re­gard­ing alloca­tion of proceeds, if per­sonal representative breached fiduciary duty, beneficiaries have remedy under ORS 114.395 (Improper exercise of power) and 114.405 (Personal liability of personal representative). Hughes v. White, 41 Or App 439, 599 P2d 1147 (1979), aff’d 289 Or 13, 609 P2d 365 (1980)

1 Legislative Counsel Committee, CHAPTER 114—Administration of Estates Generally, https://­www.­oregonlegislature.­gov/­bills_laws/­ors/­ors114.­html (2019) (last ac­cessed May 16, 2020).
 
2 Legislative Counsel Committee, Annotations to the Oregon Revised Stat­utes, Cumulative Supplement - 2019, Chapter 114, https://­www.­oregonlegislature.­gov/­bills_laws/­ors/­ano114.­html (2019) (last ac­cessed May 16, 2020).
 
3 OregonLaws.org assembles these lists by analyzing references between Sections. Each listed item refers back to the current Section in its own text. The result reveals relationships in the code that may not have otherwise been apparent. Currency Information