Where the estate is opened.
Only if the statute's conditions are met. Read the section below.
See the tax section for the exemption or the repeal.
See the property section for the statute's words.
Living trust or probate
A revocable living trust holds assets you title in the trustee's name. You can serve as trustee while you are able.
At death, the successor trustee handles those assets. Property you leave in your own name can still go through the probate court. A pour-over will sends leftover assets into the trust, and those leftover assets may pass through probate first.
The probate path
In Oklahoma, the estate is opened in the District Court.
The district court has probate jurisdiction to receive proof of wills, admit them to probate, grant letters testamentary and of administration, order payment of debts, and order and regulate distribution. When a petition for probate of a will is filed, the court must fix a hearing not less than ten days nor more than thirty days from the date of filing. If no person appears to contest the will, the court may admit it on the testimony or affidavit of one subscribing witness when satisfied that the will was executed as required by law and that the testator was of sound mind.
Source: Oklahoma Statutes Title 58, section 1
Fees
In Oklahoma, probate compensation is a statutory commission.
When no compensation is provided by the will, or the executor renounces all claim to it, 58 O.S. section 527 allows commissions upon the amount of the whole estate accounted for, excluding all property not ranked as assets: for the first thousand dollars, five percent; for the next Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), four percent; and for all amounts above Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000.00), two and one-half percent. The same commission must be allowed administrators. Further allowance for extraordinary service may be made as the judge deems just and reasonable, but the total of that allowance must not exceed the commissions allowed by the section. No Title 58 percentage schedule for the estate attorney's compensation was located.
Source: Oklahoma Statutes Title 58, section 527
Small estate
Oklahoma's small-estate figure on this page is $50,000 when the statute's conditions are met.
Under 58 O.S. section 393, ten or more days after death, a person indebted to the decedent or holding tangible personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, chose in action, or stock brand must pay or deliver it to a claiming successor upon an affidavit stating that the fair market value of property located in this state owned by the decedent and subject to disposition by will or intestate succession at death, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00); that no application or petition for a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction; that each claiming successor is entitled to the stated proportion; and that all taxes and debts of the estate have been paid or otherwise provided for or are barred by limitations. Separately, enrolled House Bill 2650, approved by the Governor on April 27, 2026, amends 58 O.S. section 245 so a summary-administration petition may be filed if the value of the estate is less than or equal to Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00), or the decedent has been deceased for more than five years, or the decedent resided in another jurisdiction at the time of death. That enrolled text contains no effective-date section. The affidavit cap in section 393 remains $50,000.00.
Source: Oklahoma Statutes Title 58, section 393
Estate or inheritance tax
Oklahoma has no current estate tax on the page linked below.
The Oklahoma Tax Commission FY2026 apportionment chart lists estate tax under Title 68, sections 802 and 805, and notes that the estate tax was repealed by Laws 2006, 2nd Extraordinary Session, Chapter 42, section 6, effective January 1, 2010. No separate current inheritance tax is listed on that chart.
Source: Oklahoma Tax Commission, Apportionment of Statutory Revenues, FY2026, note 30
Property of spouses
Spouses in Oklahoma may hold property as community property.
Title 43, section 207 states that a husband and wife may hold property as joint tenants, tenants in common, or as community property. Section 203 states that, except as mentioned in the preceding support section, neither husband nor wife has any interest in the separate property of the other. Section 215 addresses rights acquired under a repealed community property act.
Source: Oklahoma Statutes Title 43, section 207
Questions
The answers use the same statute and court pages as the sections above.
Does a living trust avoid probate in Oklahoma?
A revocable living trust holds the assets you title in the trustee's name. The successor trustee handles those assets. Property still titled in your own name can be a probate matter. A pour-over will can send leftover assets into the trust, and those leftover assets may still pass through probate first.
What is the small-estate procedure in Oklahoma?
Under 58 O.S. section 393, ten or more days after death, a person indebted to the decedent or holding tangible personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, chose in action, or stock brand must pay or deliver it to a claiming successor upon an affidavit stating that the fair market value of property located in this state owned by the decedent and subject to disposition by will or intestate succession at death, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed Fifty Thousand Dollars ($50,000.00); that no application or petition for a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction; that each claiming successor is entitled to the stated proportion; and that all taxes and debts of the estate have been paid or otherwise provided for or are barred by limitations. Separately, enrolled House Bill 2650, approved by the Governor on April 27, 2026, amends 58 O.S. section 245 so a summary-administration petition may be filed if the value of the estate is less than or equal to Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00), or the decedent has been deceased for more than five years, or the decedent resided in another jurisdiction at the time of death. That enrolled text contains no effective-date section. The affidavit cap in section 393 remains $50,000.00.
How are probate fees set in Oklahoma?
When no compensation is provided by the will, or the executor renounces all claim to it, 58 O.S. section 527 allows commissions upon the amount of the whole estate accounted for, excluding all property not ranked as assets: for the first thousand dollars, five percent; for the next Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00), four percent; and for all amounts above Six Thousand Dollars ($6,000.00), two and one-half percent. The same commission must be allowed administrators. Further allowance for extraordinary service may be made as the judge deems just and reasonable, but the total of that allowance must not exceed the commissions allowed by the section. No Title 58 percentage schedule for the estate attorney's compensation was located.
Does Oklahoma tax an estate or an inheritance?
The Oklahoma Tax Commission FY2026 apportionment chart lists estate tax under Title 68, sections 802 and 805, and notes that the estate tax was repealed by Laws 2006, 2nd Extraordinary Session, Chapter 42, section 6, effective January 1, 2010. No separate current inheritance tax is listed on that chart.
How does Oklahoma treat property of spouses?
Title 43, section 207 states that a husband and wife may hold property as joint tenants, tenants in common, or as community property. Section 203 states that, except as mentioned in the preceding support section, neither husband nor wife has any interest in the separate property of the other. Section 215 addresses rights acquired under a repealed community property act.
Sources
These are the statute and court pages used above.