Sec. 02 — Probate & trust administration
Guidance through what comes after.
If you’re reading this after losing someone: we’re sorry. Take a breath. This page explains — in ordinary words — what happens next, what Nevada actually requires, and how we carry the legal weight for you.
Probate is the court process for transferring what someone owned in their own name. In Nevada, many estates qualify for shortcuts — and some skip court entirely. Bring us the paperwork; in one conversation we’ll tell you which path applies, how long it takes, and what it costs. Initial probate consultations are free, and fees are ordinarily paid from the estate, not your pocket.
First question: is probate even needed?
Not everything goes through court. Before anything else, we sort your loved one’s assets into two piles:
- Passes automatically: anything in a trust, joint-tenancy property, accounts with named beneficiaries, life insurance, retirement plans. These need paperwork — not 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. It’s common for a family to fear a full probate and discover they qualify for a two-week affidavit instead. It’s also common to be told “you don’t need probate” by a well-meaning teller and discover the house says otherwise. The paperwork knows; bring it.
Nevada’s four paths, by estate size
Nevada scales the process to the estate. Thresholds below are the commonly applied figures — treat them as illustrative and let us confirm what applies to your dates:
| Estate (probate assets) | Path | Feel |
|---|---|---|
| Under ≈ $25,000, no real estate (≈ $100,000 for a surviving spouse) | Small-estate affidavit | Forms, not court. Weeks. |
| Up to ≈ $100,000 | Set-aside without administration | One petition; the court assigns the estate directly. A few months. |
| Under ≈ $300,000 | Summary administration | Streamlined supervision, shortened notice periods. ~4–8 months. |
| ≈ $300,000 and above | General administration | Full supervision. ~6–12+ months, longer with complications. |
A realistic timeline (general administration)
Weeks 1–4 — Opening
File the petition in the Second Judicial District Court, publish notice, and obtain Letters — the document banks and title companies will ask for. You (or we) are now officially authorized to act.
Months 2–4 — Gathering and notice
Inventory assets, secure the house, notify known creditors, and open the statutory 90-day creditor window. This stretch is mostly waiting periods fixed by law — not anyone dragging their feet.
Months 4–8 — 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.
Months 6–12 — Closing and distribution
The court approves the accounting, orders distribution, and the estate closes. Heirs receive their shares with clean title and clean records — done once, done right.
If you’ve been named executor (or there’s no will)
Being “in charge” of an estate is a real job with real duties: safeguarding assets, honest notice to heirs and creditors, meticulous records, no self-dealing, and patience with statutory clocks. Nevada courts treat these fiduciary duties seriously — and so do heirs, especially in families where feelings are complicated.
Our job is to make yours manageable: we prepare every filing, watch every deadline, field the hard letters, and coach you through decisions like whether to sell the house now or distribute it in kind. If there’s no will, the same lanes apply — Nevada’s intestacy statutes supply the instructions, and the court appoints an administrator, usually the closest willing family member.
Bring us the paperwork. Leave with a map — and a number.
Book a free probate consultationTrust administration — the quieter cousin
When the person who died had a living trust, there’s usually no court at all — but there is still work, and the successor trustee owns it: statutory notices to beneficiaries, gathering and valuing assets, paying debts and taxes, keeping scrupulous records, and distributing exactly as the trust directs.
We support trustees two ways: guided administration, where we map the steps and review your work at fixed milestones — or full administration, where we simply do it. Either way, beneficiaries get transparency, and you get to be a grieving family member first and a fiduciary second.
When disputes arise — a contested will, a trustee who won’t communicate, an amendment that appeared late in life — we represent executors, trustees, and beneficiaries in Washoe County’s probate court. We’ll always tell you honestly whether a fight is worth having; most families are better served by a firm letter than a lawsuit.
What it costs — and who pays
Probate fees in Nevada are ordinarily paid from the estate, approved by the court, before anything is distributed — families almost never pay out of pocket. For straightforward summary administrations we can often quote a flat fee; general administrations are typically hourly with a written estimate up front and monthly plain-English statements. Affidavit-only matters are usually a single modest flat fee.
The honest cost most families care about is time and stress. That’s the one we work hardest to lower.
Questions we hear every week
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, smaller estates qualify for Nevada’s shortcuts.
How long will it take?
Affidavits: weeks. Summary administration: roughly four to eight months. General administration: six to twelve months, longer with disputes or unusual assets. Most of the calendar is statutory waiting periods — we keep everything moving in parallel so nothing waits twice.
Can I do it myself?
For the smallest estates, often yes — and we’ll cheerfully say so. For court-supervised administration it’s legal but rarely kind to you. A sensible middle path: one consultation to map your exact situation, then decide.
There’s no will. Is that a crisis?
No — it’s common. Nevada’s intestacy statutes decide who inherits, and the court appoints an administrator, usually the closest willing relative. Same lanes, state-supplied instructions.
The estate is mostly a house with a mortgage. What happens?
The mortgage doesn’t accelerate just because the owner died — federal law protects inheriting family members who keep paying. The house can be sold through the estate (with court confirmation) or distributed to heirs who assume the payments. We map both, with numbers, before you choose.
Who actually pays you?
The estate, ordinarily — as an administration expense approved by the court before distributions. Initial probate consultations here are free, so finding out where you stand costs nothing.
Whenever you’re ready
You don’t have to figure this out alone.
One free conversation. A clear map. And a team that treats your family’s matter like it matters — because it does.