The moment tends to arrive without warning. A Las Vegas family learns that the home their parent owned for 25 years can’t be listed for sale, or a surviving spouse discovers the joint checking account was actually in one name only and the bank won’t release a dollar without a court order. This isn’t a rare misfortune. It’s what Nevada probate looks like from the inside, and it catches families off guard precisely because they assumed a will or nothing at all was enough protection.
At Leavitt Law Firm, we’ve spent more than 30 years helping Las Vegas families through exactly these situations. What follows is an honest picture of how Nevada probate works when no trust is in place: what it costs, how long it takes, and what it does to a family that wasn’t expecting it.
What Triggers Probate for a Las Vegas Family
Nevada requires probate when a decedent owned real property or assets titled solely in their name exceeding $25,000, with no joint owner, named beneficiary, or trust in place. For most Las Vegas homeowners, the family home is the trigger. It doesn’t matter how long the surviving spouse lived there or how clear the intent was. If title is in the decedent’s name alone, no one can sell it, refinance it, or transfer it without court authorization.
Nevada law does provide a shortcut for smaller estates. Under NRS 146.080, a small estate affidavit can be used when the estate’s total value is under $25,000 for general heirs, or under $150,000 for a surviving spouse with no real property involved. Most homeowners in Clark County don’t qualify. Their estate goes through the full process.
Probate isn’t automatic at death. Someone must file a petition with the Eighth Judicial District Court to open the estate. Until that petition is approved and a personal representative (the court-appointed individual authorized to manage the estate) receives letters of administration, no one has the legal right to access, sell, or transfer the decedent’s titled assets. The estate is frozen. Bills don’t pause while the paperwork moves.
Who Inherits When There’s No Trust & No Will
When someone dies without a will or trust, Nevada’s intestate succession laws under NRS Chapter 134 decide who gets what. The results aren’t always what the family expected, and for blended families they can be genuinely disruptive.
Nevada is a community property state, which means assets acquired during the marriage belong equally to both spouses. Under NRS 123.250, the surviving spouse keeps their own half of community property automatically. But the decedent’s half of separate property (assets owned before the marriage or received as gifts or inheritance during it) is distributed by statute, not by the survivor’s wishes.
The specific split depends on who survives:
- Spouse and one child: Separate property divides 50/50 between the surviving spouse and the child.
- Spouse and two or more children: The spouse receives one-third of separate property; the children share the remaining two-thirds equally.
- No spouse, no children: The estate passes to parents, then siblings, then more distant relatives by statutory priority.
That second scenario creates a practical problem when the main asset is a home. If the children’s combined share can’t be bought out, the court may order the property sold and the proceeds divided. The surviving spouse doesn’t get to decide. The statute does.
Blended families face one more consequence that often comes as a shock. Under NRS Chapter 134, stepchildren who were never legally adopted by the decedent inherit nothing, regardless of how many years they lived in the home or how close the relationship was. Nevada intestate law doesn’t recognize emotional bonds. It recognizes legal status.
The Real Timeline & Cost of Clark County Probate
A straightforward Nevada probate case takes six to nine months under normal conditions. Clark County’s current caseload makes that estimate optimistic. As of late 2023, the backlog at the Eighth Judicial District Court had grown to the point where scheduling an uncontested probate hearing alone takes three to four months. Contested matters (those involving disputes over the estate or challenges to asset distribution) can take years.
Clark County probate cases are filed and heard at the Regional Justice Center, 200 Lewis Ave, Las Vegas, NV 89155, and are assigned to one of two Probate Commissioners: Commissioner James Fontano (PC-1) or Commissioner Russel Geist (PC-2). Both serve as hearing masters on all probate and trust administration matters in the county.
Filing Fees
Court filing fees in Clark County range from $185 to $540 at the outset, depending on estate size and administration type. That’s before publication costs (which Nevada law requires to give creditors notice) and before personal representative compensation.
Attorney Fees
Under NRS 150.060(4), attorneys in Nevada probate cases may request statutory percentage-based compensation. The formula runs 4% on the first $100,000, 3% on the next $100,000, and 2% on amounts beyond that. On a $400,000 estate, that works out to roughly $11,000 in attorney fees alone, separate from court costs and other administration expenses.
Public Record
Every Clark County probate filing is public record. The estate’s asset inventory, outstanding debts, and the full list of beneficiaries are searchable by name through the Eighth Judicial District Court Portal. Creditors, distant relatives, and anyone else with an internet connection can find that information.
What a Will Does & Doesn’t Do
A will tells the probate court how to distribute assets. It doesn’t tell the court to stay out of the process. This is the most common and consequential misunderstanding we encounter among Las Vegas families who believe a signed will protects their loved ones from everything described above.
Before anyone named in a will has legal authority to act on the estate, the court must validate the document. During that validation period, the estate is frozen. Mortgage payments, HOA fees, utility bills, and property taxes keep accruing. The family can’t access accounts to cover them without going back to the court for emergency authorization.
Nevada does recognize holographic wills, which are handwritten wills that don’t require witnesses. But a valid holographic will still goes through the full Clark County probate process, and it requires additional affidavit evidence from people who can confirm the handwriting belongs to the decedent. That adds another step and another delay to an already slow process.
A will is better than nothing. It isn’t the same as a trust.
How a Trust Changes the Outcome for Your Family
Assets held in a properly funded revocable living trust pass directly to named beneficiaries when the successor trustee follows the trust’s instructions. No court involvement. No creditor notice period. No waiting for a hearing date on Commissioner Fontano’s or Commissioner Geist’s calendar. The estate doesn’t become public record, and beneficiaries don’t wait six to nine months to access what was left to them.
The word “funded” matters here. A trust that exists on paper but doesn’t hold title to the assets it was meant to protect doesn’t avoid probate for those assets. Nevada’s community property rules add another layer: the trust needs to address both community and separate property correctly, or assets titled outside the trust will end up in probate anyway. An online template can’t account for how your specific assets are titled or how Nevada law treats them.
For blended families, a properly structured trust can name stepchildren as beneficiaries regardless of adoption status, closing the exact gap that NRS Chapter 134 creates for families who rely on intestate succession. For surviving spouses, a trust means access to the family home and financial accounts without a court order. For parents with minor children, a trust can specify how and when assets are distributed rather than leaving those decisions to a judge.
The Decision in Front of You
Nevada’s probate statutes will fill every gap left by the absence of a plan. They don’t account for the length of a marriage, the relationships that mattered most, or the home a family built together. The law distributes what the law says belongs where: slowly, publicly, and at cost.
The alternative is a plan made now, while you still control the outcome. If you own real property in Nevada, have a spouse or children, or simply want to understand what would actually happen to your estate, we can help you put the right structure in place. Contact Leavitt Law Firm or reach us at (702) 996-6052.