Probate in Nevada: do you need a lawyer, and what it costs

Settling an estate in Nevada

What an executor deals with after the funeral: the will, the court, creditors, tax and closing the estate. Each fact links to the statute it comes from and shows the date we last read it.

Filing the original will

In Nevada, if you hold the original will of the person who died, you must deliver it to the clerk of the district court or to the executor named in it within 30 days after you learn of the death. If you don't have a good reason for the delay, you can be held responsible for any harm it causes.

NRS 136.050Read the statute · leg.state.nv.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

Which court handles probate

In Nevada, probate is handled by a district court. A case can be opened in the district court of any county if the person who died lived in Nevada or left property there; if someone objects, the court weighs first where the person lived, then where they owned real estate.

NRS 136.010Read the statute · leg.state.nv.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

Creditors' deadline to make claims

In Nevada, the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) must publish a notice to creditors and mail it to creditors they can identify. Creditors then have 90 days after the first publication or the mailing to file claims with the court clerk (60 days in a summary administration), or the claims are barred.

NRS 147.010, 147.040, 155.020Read the statute · leg.state.nv.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

Estate inventory

In Nevada, the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) must file an inventory and appraisal or record of value of everything the person who died owned with the court clerk within 120 days after letters are issued, unless the court gives more time. All interested people can agree in writing to skip it.

NRS 144.010Read the statute · leg.state.nv.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

The order estate debts are paid

In Nevada, the estate's debts are paid in a set order: administration costs first, then funeral expenses, then last illness costs, then the family allowance, then federal priority debts, then Medicaid repayment, then recent employee wages up to $600 each, then lifetime court judgments and mortgages, then everything else.

NRS 147.195Read the statute · leg.state.nv.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

State estate and inheritance tax

Nevada has no inheritance tax, and in practice no estate tax for current deaths. Its estate tax law is still on the books but equals the old federal credit for state death taxes, which no longer exists, so no Nevada estate tax return is required for deaths on or after January 1, 2005.

NRS 375A.100; Nev. Const. art. 10, § 1(7)Read the statute · leg.state.nv.uschecked Oct 5, 2026

Closing an estate

In Nevada, when the estate is ready to close, the executor or administrator (called the personal representative) files a final account with the court and asks for it to be settled, usually together with a request to distribute what is left. After the court approves the account and orders distribution, the representative hands out the property and files receipts, and the court then discharges them.

NRS 150.110, 151.080, 151.230Read the statute · leg.state.nv.uschecked Oct 5, 2026