Explained in plain English
What the work involves and what each document does, before you sign anything.
Probate & trust administration
Probate in Washoe County, one step at a time.
When someone has died and there is property to settle, the whole process is laid out first, then handled one step at a time.
The short answer
Probate is the court process for transferring what someone owned in their own name. In Nevada, many estates qualify for a shorter procedure, and some need no court case at all. Bring a death certificate, the will if there is one, the deed or a property tax bill, and a recent statement for each account. One conversation lays out which path applies, what happens in what order, and how the work is priced.
In this area
First question: is probate even needed?
Not everything goes through court. Before anything else, what the person owned gets sorted into two piles:
- Passes automatically: anything in a trust, joint-tenancy property, accounts with named beneficiaries, life insurance, retirement plans. These need paperwork, and no probate.
- Needs a legal process: anything titled in the person’s name alone, most often the house, vehicles, and solo bank accounts.
Only the second pile determines the path. Some families expect a full probate and turn out to qualify for an affidavit, with no court case at all. Others are told at the bank that they won’t need probate, and then find the house is titled in one name. The deed and the account statements settle the question, so bring them.
Nevada’s four paths, by estate size
Nevada scales the process to the estate, counting only the second pile. The thresholds are set by the Legislature and change over time, so they are described in words here; the first conversation confirms what applies to your dates.
| Path | Who it fits | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|
| Small-estate affidavit | The smallest estates, with no real estate. A surviving spouse qualifies at a higher ceiling. | Forms and a death certificate, with no court case. |
| Set-aside without administration | Estates a step larger than the affidavit allows. | One petition; the court assigns the whole estate directly to the people entitled to it. |
| Summary administration | Estates below a statutory ceiling. | Court supervision with shortened notice periods. |
| General administration | Everything above that ceiling, and any estate the simpler paths do not fit. | Full supervision, hearing by hearing, until the court approves the final accounting. |
The sequence, in a court-supervised administration
Opening
A petition is filed in the Second Judicial District Court, notice goes to the heirs, and the court issues Letters, the document banks and title companies will ask for. Someone is now officially authorized to act.
Gathering and notice
Inventory and appraise the assets, secure the house, notify known creditors, and publish notice so creditors can file claims within the period the statute sets. This stretch is mostly waiting periods fixed by law.
Resolving
Pay valid claims, sell property if needed (court confirmation for real estate), handle final taxes, and prepare the accounting that shows every dollar in and out.
Closing and distribution
The court approves the accounting, orders distribution, and the estate closes. Heirs receive their shares, the deeds are recorded, and the records are complete.
If you’ve been named executor (or there’s no will)
Being “in charge” of an estate is a job with legal duties: safeguarding assets, giving proper notice to heirs and creditors, keeping careful records, and never mixing the estate’s money with your own. Nevada courts take those duties seriously, and so do heirs.
An attorney’s role is to make that job manageable: the filings, the deadlines, the letters to creditors and heirs, and the decisions like whether to sell the house now or distribute it in kind. If there’s no will, the same paths apply. Nevada’s intestacy statutes supply the instructions, and the court appoints an administrator, usually the closest willing family member.
Bring the paperwork you have. Leave knowing the sequence, and how the work is priced before it begins.
Request a consultationTrust administration
When the person who died had a living trust, there is usually no court case, but there is still work, and it falls to the successor trustee: statutory notices to beneficiaries, gathering and valuing assets, paying debts and taxes, keeping scrupulous records, and distributing exactly as the trust directs.
The firm represents successor trustees through that work.
When a dispute arises, such as a contested will, a trustee who won’t communicate, or an amendment that appeared late in life, the firm represents executors, trustees, and beneficiaries in Washoe County’s probate court. Whether a fight is worth having is part of the first conversation; many families are better served by a firm letter than a lawsuit.
What it costs, and who pays
Probate is ordinarily paid for by the estate, as an expense the court approves before anything is distributed.
How the firm charges
What you will know before any work begins.
Agreed before work begins
Nothing starts until you know how the work is priced and how payment works.
Questions
Does every estate go through probate?
No. Trust assets, joint-tenancy property, and accounts with beneficiary designations pass outside court. Probate applies to what the person owned in their own name alone, and even then Nevada has shorter procedures for smaller estates.
How long does probate take?
It depends on the path. The smallest estates use an affidavit rather than a court case. Court-supervised administrations run months rather than weeks, and most of that time is statutory waiting periods and the sale of property. The first conversation will tell you which path applies.
There is no will. Is that a crisis?
No, it is common. Nevada’s intestacy statutes decide who inherits, and the court appoints an administrator, usually the closest willing relative. The same paths apply.
The estate is mostly a house with a mortgage. What happens?
The mortgage does not come due just because the owner died. The house can be kept by an heir who continues paying, or sold through the estate, with court confirmation where the law requires it.
Who pays for probate?
Ordinarily the estate does, as an administration expense approved by the court before anything is distributed. How the work is priced is explained before it begins.
When you’re ready
Bring what you have. Leave knowing what comes first.
You’ll hear the whole process first, then the first step and what it costs.