Nevada

Nevada estates are heard in the District Court of the county where the deceased lived. Which
procedure applies depends almost entirely on the value of the estate, and Nevada's tiers are more
generous than most.

Four routes by value

• Affidavit of entitlement for very small estates, collecting personal property with no court
  case at all.
• Set aside without administration where the estate is under $150,000. The court makes an
  order transferring the assets — useful where there is a house or land, which an affidavit cannot
  move. Confirm the current threshold.
• Summary administration for mid-sized estates, with a compressed timetable.
• General administration for larger estates.

Check which tier applies before opening anything. A great many Nevada estates qualify for a set
aside and never need a full administration.

Community property

Nevada is a community property state. The surviving spouse already owns half of what the
couple acquired during the marriage, so the estate is often half the size the family expects.
Nevada also allows community property with right of survivorship, which passes to the survivor
outside probate entirely.

No death tax, and no income tax

Nevada levies no estate tax, no inheritance tax and no state income tax. Only the federal return
can arise.

A note on trusts

Nevada is one of the country's principal trust jurisdictions — long perpetuity periods, strong
asset protection, no state income tax on trust income. A Nevada decedent is more likely than most
to have assets held in trust rather than passing under a will, so establish what exists before
assuming an estate needs administering at all.

A Nevada will must be in writing, signed by the testator, and attested by two competent
witnesses who sign in the testator's presence. The testator must be 18 or older and of sound
mind.

Holographic wills are valid, with a strict definition

Nevada accepts a holographic will, but defines it precisely: the signature, the date, and the
material provisions must all be written by the hand of the testator, whether or not it is
witnessed or notarised.

Note the date is part of the definition here, not an afterthought — unlike Colorado, Arizona
or Utah, which do not require one. A handwritten Nevada will without a date is vulnerable.

Electronic wills

Nevada was the first state in the country to authorise electronic wills, and it has a
developed statutory framework for them. Executed to the statutory standard, an electronic will is
fully valid here — a genuinely modern alternative to a handwritten one.

Community property changes what the will controls

A will disposes of the deceased's separate property and their half of the community property,
no more. Couples who assume otherwise routinely draft wills that do not do what they think.
Property held as community property with right of survivorship passes outside the will
entirely.

Consider a trust

Given Nevada's trust law and the absence of state income tax, a revocable trust is more commonly
the main instrument here than the will. If you have one, the will should be a pour-over drafted
alongside it — not a separate plan that contradicts it.

Also

• Name an alternate personal representative and waive bond.
• A surviving spouse's community property interest exists whatever the will says.
• Review after a marriage, divorce, birth or a move to Nevada.

Yes, and Nevada sets it by statute where the will does not.

The statutory commission

Under NRS 150.020 the personal representative is allowed commission on the amount accounted for:

Confirm the current figures against the statute.

Extraordinary services

The court may allow further compensation for extraordinary services — managing or selling a
business, contested litigation, handling property in another state, or work substantially beyond
ordinary administration. That is the route for a genuinely demanding estate rather than stretching
the base.

What is in the base

Commission runs on the amount accounted for in the administration. Property that passes
outside probate — a trust, community property with right of survivorship, an account with a named
beneficiary — never enters the account and generates no commission. In Nevada, where trusts are
common, that can mean the probate estate is a small fraction of what the family thinks of as the
estate.

How it is approved

Commission is claimed on the account and allowed by the District Court. Interested persons may
object.

If the will fixes the figure

A will provision governs where the representative accepts on those terms.

Tax

Commission is taxable income federally. Nevada has no state income tax, so unlike most
states there is no state-level bite — but equally there is no Nevada death tax for the fee to
be deducted against. For a family representative who is also a beneficiary, taking a fee still
usually converts an untaxed inheritance into federally taxable income. Ask an accountant.

A Nevada personal representative is reimbursed from the estate for the reasonable expenses of
administration, separately from the statutory commission.

Normally claimable

• Funeral, burial or cremation, the headstone, and a reasonable reception.
• District Court filing fees, certified letters, certified death certificates, and publication of
  the notice to creditors.
• Attorney's fees, and accountant's fees for the final Form 1040 and any Form 1041.
• Appraisals of real property, vehicles, jewellery, art and collections. Nevada requires appraisal
  by a court-appointed appraiser for some assets — check before commissioning your own.
• Carrying costs on estate property until sale: insurance, property tax, utilities, security,
  landscaping, pool service and pest control.
• Air conditioning and irrigation kept running through the summer on an empty property. A
  house left without cooling in Las Vegas or Reno damages its own interior, and a dead landscape
  advertises a vacant home. Preservation, not indulgence.
• Homeowners' association assessments, which are near-universal in Nevada's master-planned
  communities and continue regardless.
• Cleaning, clearing, storing, moving and shipping contents.
• Travel on estate business at a reasonable rate — Nevada distances are long and much of the state
  is remote.
• Bond premiums where bond was not waived.

Normally not claimable

• The representative's lost wages, meals near home, or personal spending.
• Costs run up for one beneficiary's convenience rather than the estate's.
• Improvements beyond preparing a property for sale as it stands.
• Anything without a receipt.

The rule that decides it

Open an estate bank account and run everything through it. The commission is calculated on the
amount accounted for, so the account is simultaneously your expense record and the arithmetic
behind your own fee.

Nevada's tiered procedures mean many estates never need a full administration at all. Where one is
needed, a bank trust department, a licensed private fiduciary, or an attorney serving as
personal representative is worth the cost in specific cases.

Consider a professional when

• There is a trust as well as a will, which in Nevada is common. Coordinating a trust
  administration with a probate estate — and working out which assets sit where — is the single
  most frequent complication in Nevada estates.
• The deceased was a recent arrival from a common law state and community property
  characterisation is unclear. Nevada attracts retirees and relocations, and property brought from
  elsewhere and commingled is a recurring problem.
• The estate holds an operating business, rental or short-term-let property, or gaming-related
  interests, which carry their own licensing questions.
• There is conflict among the beneficiaries, or a will contest looks likely.
• A beneficiary is a minor or incapacitated, so a trust runs for years.
• The named representative lives out of state and cannot attend to a property that needs
  physical attention through a desert summer.

What it costs

Corporate fiduciaries charge a negotiated percentage with a minimum annual fee. Nevada also
licenses private professional fiduciaries, who are often a cheaper and more attentive option
for a mid-sized estate — worth checking the licence. Attorneys bill hourly. Ask in writing.

Middle ground

First establish whether a set aside or an affidavit avoids administration altogether. If not,
appoint a family member, waive bond, and let them retain a Nevada probate attorney at the estate's
expense.

A named representative who does not want the job can decline before appointment.