Do I need a will if I have a trust?

Yes. Even with a living trust, you need a pour-over will to capture any assets that weren't transferred into your trust during your lifetime. Without one, those assets pass through Oregon's intestacy laws rather than according to your wishes.

What is the difference between a will and a living trust?

A will takes effect at death and must go through probate before assets are distributed. A living trust takes effect immediately, avoids probate, and allows for faster, private transfer of assets to your beneficiaries. Trusts also provide better protection for blended families and beneficiaries who are minors or have special needs.

How much does estate planning cost in Oregon?

Track Town Law offers flat-fee estate planning services in Oregon and Idaho. Fees vary based on the complexity of your plan — whether you need a simple will package, a full revocable living trust plan, or a more complex plan involving Medicaid planning or special needs considerations. Consultations are free.

Do I need an LLC for my small business in Oregon?

Most small business owners in Oregon benefit from forming an LLC. It separates your personal assets from business liabilities, can provide tax flexibility, and signals credibility to clients and vendors. The key is not just forming the LLC but setting it up correctly with an operating agreement, a dedicated bank account, and an EIN.

What does Medicaid planning involve?

Medicaid planning involves structuring your assets and income to qualify for Oregon Medicaid long-term care benefits while protecting as much of your estate as possible. This may involve Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts, spousal protection strategies, and coordinating with VA benefits if applicable. Planning works best when started at least five years before care is needed.

Can I work with Track Town Law if I don't live in Eugene?

Yes. Track Town Law is a fully virtual firm serving clients throughout Oregon and Idaho. All meetings are conducted by video or phone, and documents are signed electronically. You never need to come to an office.

What is Oregon's estate tax threshold?

Oregon imposes its own estate tax with a threshold of $1 million — significantly lower than the federal exemption of $15 million. This means many Oregon families who wouldn't owe federal estate tax may still owe Oregon estate tax. Proper planning with trusts and other strategies can reduce or eliminate this exposure.

How do I get started with Track Town Law?

Start with a free consultation. You can book online at tracktownlaw.com/book-now. Consultations are conducted by video or phone and typically last 30 to 45 minutes. There is no obligation and no charge for the initial meeting.

Oregon Business Licenses: What You Actually Need to Operate Legally

Aug 10

Written By Jared Hight

Ask whether you need an Oregon business license and you'll get a confusing answer: there's no such thing — and also, you probably need several. Oregon has no general state business license, but what replaces it is a stack of registrations, occupational licenses, and city-by-city rules that trip up new owners constantly. Here's how the stack actually works.

"Do I need a business license in Oregon?" is one of the most common questions new business owners ask, and it has a genuinely confusing answer: Oregon does not issue a general statewide business license. There is no single document that licenses "a business" in this state.

That answer misleads people in both directions. Some hear it and conclude they need nothing — then discover their trade required a state license, their city required a registration, and their first employee triggered a filing they'd never heard of. Others assume that registering their LLC with the Secretary of State was their business license — a common and consequential mix-up, because entity registration and licensing are entirely different things.

The accurate picture is a stack of four layers, and which ones apply depends on what you do, where you do it, and whether you have employees. Here's the stack.

Layer One: State Registration — Which Is Not a License

Forming an LLC or corporation, or filing an assumed business name, registers your business with the Oregon Secretary of State. That filing creates or recognizes the legal entity. It does not authorize any particular activity, and it is not a license.

This distinction matters because the Secretary of State's registry is where most owners stop. A registered LLC that operates a trade requiring an occupational license is an unlicensed business that happens to be well-papered. The registration answers "what is this entity?" — not "may it lawfully do what it does?"

One related trap: Oregon uses assumed business names, not "DBAs" in the loose sense. If you operate under any name that isn't your own real name or your entity's registered name, an assumed business name filing is required. It's a registration, not a license — but skipping it is its own compliance gap.

Layer Two: State Occupational and Industry Licenses

While Oregon has no general license, it maintains more than 1,100 specific licenses, permits, and certifications administered by state agencies and boards. Whether your business needs one depends entirely on what it does. The familiar examples:

Construction — contractors must be licensed by the Construction Contractors Board before bidding or working
Alcohol and cannabis — licensed through the OLCC
Food service — health licensing through state and county programs
Professional practices — medicine, law, accounting, real estate, cosmetology, childcare, and dozens of others, each through its own board

The state's searchable License Directory (through Oregon Business Xpress) is the authoritative way to check your specific activity. The pattern worth internalizing: the license attaches to the activity, not the entity. A single business with multiple activities can need multiple licenses — and adding a new service line can quietly add a licensing requirement nobody checked.

Layer Three: City and County Rules — Where the Real Chaos Lives

Local licensing is where Oregon's system genuinely earns its reputation for confusion, because there is no pattern. Each city sets its own rules, the rules differ in kind and not just degree, and advice that's correct in one city is wrong one town over.

A few illustrations of the spread: Portland requires nearly every business operating in the city to register for its Business License Tax — functionally a local licensing-and-tax regime that catches businesses physically located elsewhere but doing work in the city. Eugene, by contrast, has no general business license at all — the city licenses only specific activities. Other cities run annual license programs with fees based on receipts, and unincorporated areas may answer to county rules instead. Home-based businesses add another layer: even where no license is required, zoning and home-occupation rules can apply.

The only reliable approach is checking directly with every city and county where you'll actually operate — not just where you're headquartered. A contractor based in Springfield working jobs in Portland has Portland obligations. This is also the layer that changes most often, so what your friend confirmed three years ago is not a compliance strategy.

Layer Four: The Tax Registrations That Masquerade as Licenses

Several Oregon requirements aren't licenses but function like them — mandatory registrations that make your business legal to operate as it grows:

Hiring your first employee triggers registration for a Business Identification Number with the Department of Revenue, plus the payroll tax framework that comes with it. As covered in the hiring your first employee post, the employer registrations are their own compliance project — and depending on where your employees work, district-level payroll taxes (transit districts being the common one) can apply too.

Crossing the Corporate Activity Tax threshold — businesses with substantial Oregon commercial activity have CAT registration and filing obligations once receipts cross the statutory thresholds. Growth triggers it; nobody sends a welcome letter.

And one thing you don't need: a seller's permit. Oregon has no general sales tax, so the sales tax license that dominates national startup checklists simply doesn't exist here. The flip side: Oregon businesses selling online into other states can still owe those states' sales taxes once they cross economic nexus thresholds — a genuine issue that Oregon's tax-free reputation causes owners to overlook.

The Mistakes That Actually Happen

The pattern in license problems is rarely defiance — it's structure. The same handful of errors repeat:

Treating the Secretary of State registration as a license. Copying another city's requirements because a friend runs the same business there. Adding a service line without rechecking the license directory. Operating in a second city without checking that city's rules. Missing renewals, because most local licenses and several state ones renew annually and nothing forces you to remember. And for regulated trades, working during a licensing gap — which in fields like construction can mean losing the right to enforce your own contracts, a penalty far worse than a fine.

None of these are hard to avoid. All of them require someone to actually walk the stack, activity by activity and city by city, once at formation and again whenever the business changes what it does or where it does it.

Bottom Line

Oregon's answer to "do I need a business license?" is a stack, not a document: state registration that creates the entity, occupational licenses that attach to activities, local rules that vary city by city, and tax registrations that arrive with employees and growth. No general license exists — which means no single filing ever tells you you're done.

Every LLC formation package at Track Town Law includes practical next-step guidance on exactly this — the registrations, licenses, and compliance items your specific business needs, so nothing in the stack gets skipped. If you're starting a business, adding a location or service line, or just not sure your current licensing matches what you actually do, that's a conversation worth having. Book a free consultation here.

This post is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Licensing requirements vary by activity and jurisdiction and change frequently — verify current requirements with the relevant agency or municipality. Contact a licensed Oregon business attorney to discuss your situation.

Jared Hight https://www.tracktownlaw.com