Oregon Manufactured Home Probate: How Titling and Senate Bill 15 Change Your Options

Manufactured homes create a probate complication that executors do not always see coming. In Oregon, whether a manufactured home goes through the Simple Estate Affidavit process or requires full probate — and which court fees and procedures apply — depends not just on the home's value but on how it is titled, how it is permanently installed, and changes introduced by Senate Bill 15 that took effect in 2026.

Here is what executors and heirs need to know before they assume the standard probate rules apply.

Two Title Types, Two Different Paths

A manufactured home in Oregon can exist in two fundamentally different legal states, and the difference determines how it is transferred after the owner's death.

Vehicle-titled manufactured home: Manufactured homes that have not been converted to real property are titled as vehicles with the Oregon Department of Motor Vehicles, similar to a car or trailer. When the owner dies, the transfer process runs through the DMV, not the county clerk's real estate recording system.

Real property (converted) manufactured home: A manufactured home that has been permanently affixed to land the owner also owns — on a foundation, utilities connected, wheels and hitch removed — can be converted to real property through a process involving the county assessor and a surrender of the vehicle title. Once converted, the home is treated the same as a site-built house for probate, recording, and tax purposes.

The distinction matters because the Simple Estate Affidavit thresholds, the recording steps, and the required forms differ between the two.

Senate Bill 15 and What Changed in 2026

For years, Oregon's Simple Estate Affidavit statutes (ORS 114.505 through 114.560) created ambiguity about whether manufactured homes counted toward the real property limit or the personal property limit — or whether certain types of manufactured homes could even be handled through the simplified affidavit process at all.

Senate Bill 15, effective January 2026, resolved this by explicitly amending ORS 114.510 to include manufactured homes. The statute now classifies and calculates manufactured homes under the Simple Estate Affidavit value limitations in accordance with federal housing standards. The practical effect:

• A converted (real property) manufactured home counts toward the $200,000 real property limit.
• A vehicle-titled manufactured home that qualifies as personal property counts toward the $75,000 personal property limit.

The overall $275,000 cap still applies, and both sub-limits must independently be met for the Simple Estate Affidavit to be available.

Before SB 15, executors and probate clerks sometimes handled manufactured homes inconsistently across Oregon's 36 counties. The 2026 amendment provides a clear statutory framework, though executors should verify with the local circuit court how their specific county applies these rules.

Transferring a Vehicle-Titled Manufactured Home

If the manufactured home is still titled as a vehicle, the transfer process goes through the Oregon DMV rather than the probate court's real estate recording system.

If survivorship rights appear on the title: The surviving co-owner submits an Application for Title and Registration, the original title, and proof of death to the DMV. No probate filing is required.

If there is no survivorship designation and no formal probate: The heirs use Form 516 (Inheritance Affidavit). All legal heirs under ORS Chapter 112 must sign the notarized affidavit, which releases their claims to a designated recipient. The completed Form 516, along with the original title and the applicable transfer fee, is submitted to the DMV.

If the estate is in formal probate: The appointed personal representative uses their Letters Testamentary as authority to sign and transfer the vehicle title. The Letters Testamentary document must accompany the DMV title transfer paperwork.

DMV title transfer fees in Oregon were restructured under House Bill 3991 (effective 2026) and now vary based on the vehicle's fuel efficiency and type. For a manufactured home classified as a vehicle, the applicable fee should be confirmed directly with the DMV, as the tiered fee structure was subject to political debate leading into 2026.

Transferring a Converted (Real Property) Manufactured Home

If the manufactured home has been converted to real property, it transfers through the county recorder's office and probate court exactly like a site-built house.

Steps for the executor:

1. Order the correct death certificates. Oregon county clerks are prohibited from recording documents in the public property records if the death certificate contains the cause of death. Executors must specifically order Short Form death certificates for all real estate recording needs. Submitting a Long Form will result in rejection of the document.

2. Determine the probate pathway. If the home's fair market value (gross, not net equity) plus all other estate real property does not exceed $200,000, and personal property does not exceed $75,000, the Simple Estate Affidavit may be available. If the estate exceeds the $275,000 aggregate limit, formal probate with Letters Testamentary is required.

3. File the appropriate court document. For Simple Estate Affidavit: file with the circuit court ($124 flat fee) after waiting at least 30 days from the date of death. For formal probate: petition the circuit court and pay the sliding-scale fee.

4. Record with the county clerk. Once the affidavit is filed or Letters Testamentary are issued, the personal representative can record the transfer of real property at the county clerk's office. A standard coversheet must accompany the recording, and first-page fees typically run $86 to $87 in most Oregon counties.

Common Mistakes Executors Make

Treating the home as personal property without checking the title type. A manufactured home that has been converted to real property will not transfer through Form 516 or the DMV — doing so creates a title defect that can cloud ownership for years.

Counting the mortgage instead of the market value. Oregon's Simple Estate Affidavit thresholds apply to gross fair market value, not equity. A manufactured home worth $180,000 with a $150,000 loan balance still counts as $180,000 against the real property limit.

Skipping the creditor window. Regardless of which pathway applies, the executor cannot distribute the manufactured home (or its sale proceeds) to heirs until the four-month creditor claim period has expired and all debts, taxes, and any Medicaid recovery claims are fully resolved.

Assuming SB 15 changes the threshold, not just the classification. Senate Bill 15 clarified how manufactured homes are counted within the existing $275,000 / $200,000 / $75,000 limits. It did not raise those limits.

If the Manufactured Home Was in a Land-Lease Park

Many manufactured homes sit on leased land rather than land owned by the decedent. In this situation, the executor must also review the lease terms with the manufactured home park. Most park leases require notification of the owner's death and give the park the right to approve or deny transfer of the lease to the incoming resident.

The manufactured home itself — as a structure — may be transferable through the vehicle title or real property process described above. But the right to keep the home on that specific lot is governed by the park's lease, not by Oregon probate law. Executors should contact the park management directly as one of their first steps.

Oregon manufactured home probate involves intersecting rules from the DMV, county recorders, circuit courts, and post-2026 statutory changes. If you are managing a manufactured home as part of an Oregon estate, the Oregon Final Tax & Estate Tax Guide includes the complete executor workflow — from ordering the right death certificates through the creditor window, Medicaid recovery, and final distribution — so you can handle each step in the right order.

See more Oregon guides →