Probate Shortcuts in Nevada

Nevada offers some probate shortcuts for "small estates." These procedures make it easier for survivors to transfer property left by a person who has died. You may be able to transfer a large amount of property using simplified probate procedures or without any probate court proceedings at all -- by using an affidavit. And that saves time, money, and hassle.

Here are the ways you can skip or speed up probate. (If the affidavit procedure is used, there's no need to use the simplified probate procedure.)

Claiming Property With a Simple (Small Estate) Affidavit

Nevada has a procedure that allows inheritors to skip probate altogether when the value of all the assets left behind is less than a certain amount. All an inheritor has to do is wait 40 days then prepare a short document, stating that he or she is entitled to a certain asset. This document, signed under oath, is called an affidavit. When the person or institution holding the property -- for example, a bank where the deceased person had an account -- gets the affidavit and a copy of the death certificate, it releases the asset.

The out-of-court affidavit procedure is available if there is no Nevada real estate and the gross value of property in Nevada doesn't exceed $100,000 for a surviving spouse or $25,000 for any other person making a claim. Motor vehicles registered to the deceased person don't count when calculating the value of the estate.

The affidavit must include the following information:

• your name and address
• a statement that you have a right to the estate property
• a statement that all of the deceased person's debts (including funeral and burial expenses and money owed to the Department of Health and Human Services for Medicaid benefits) have been paid
• a description of the personal property and which portion you are requesting for yourself, and
• a statement that you don't know about any pending lawsuits against the deceased person.

You are also required to give any other beneficiaries written notice of your claim and a description of the property you are trying to transfer to yourself. You must do this at least 14 days before you file the affidavit. You must serve the beneficiaries by personal service or certified mail. Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 146.080.

Simplified Probate Procedures

Nevada has a simplified probate process for small estates. To use it, an executor files a written request with the local probate court asking to use the simplified procedure. The court may authorize the executor to distribute the assets without having to jump through the hoops of regular probate.

You can use the simplified small estate process in Nevada if:

1. The gross value of the estate doesn't exceed $300,000, if court approves. Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 145.040 and following.

or

2. If the value of the estate is $100,000 or less, the court must set it aside for the spouse or minor children without payment to creditors unless doing so would cause an obvious injustice. If the spouse or minor children inherit assets outside of probate, the court can consider their needs and set aside some of the estate for creditors, but it must leave at least $100,000 for the family members. There is a 30-day waiting period to use this option. Nev. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 146.070.

The request must contain the following information:

• a specific description of all estate property
• a list of all known liens and encumbrances against real property
• an estimate of the value of the property and how this estimate was determined
• a statement of the deceased person's known debts
• names and addresses of the heirs and beneficiaries of the deceased person, and
• a statement the executor believes the will was valid.

If you are asking for the entire estate be assigned to the spouse or children without payment to creditors, the request must also contain:

• a description and value of property received through non-probate transfers, or
• a statement that the estimated value of the property combined with all non-probate transfers is less than $100,000.

When you file your request, you'll need to pay a filing fee unless the estate is less than $2,500. After receiving your request, the court clerk will set a hearing date. Then you must give notice of the hearing (and notice of your request) to every heir and beneficiary of the deceased person as well as to the Director of the Department of Health and Human Services.

If there is no surviving spouse or minor child, the estate property is used to pay claims and expenses in this priority:

1. attorney's fees and costs of administration
2. funeral expenses, expenses of last illness, and money the estate owes to the Department of Health and Human Services for the payment of Medicaid
3. other creditors
4. beneficiaries, if there is a will (or according to intestate succession if there's not)

For More Information

For help determining if an estate qualifies for one of these probate shortcuts, or handling an estate in general, see The Executor's Guide, by Mary Randolph (Nolo) or Estate Planning Basics, by Denis Clifford (Nolo).