Petitions to Set Aside Estate Without Administration For Estates Less Than $100,000

Nevada law allows a process called the "set aside" for estates that are less than $100,000.00 in value (the sum of the decedent's assets minus his/her liabilities). (NRS 146.070.) The "set aside" process can begin 30 days after the decedent's death and requires mailed notice to the decedent's heirs, devisees, and creditors. The "set aside" process does require a court hearing, but generally requires fewer hearings than the probate administration processes of larger estates.

Note! The set aside process can be used whether or not there was a will. However, if you assert there was a will, you must have a copy to attach to your petition.

In order to proceed with the set aside of an estate, follow these 13 steps.

Step 1: Decide if this is the right process for you.
Step 2: Gather information.
Step 3: Choose which set aside packet to fill out.
Step 4: Fill out packet.
Step 5: Fill out affidavit, if necessary.
Step 6: Complete fee waiver, if necessary.
Step 7: Attach documents to the packet.
Step 8: File packet and get hearing date.
Step 9: Mail Notice and publish, if necessary.
Step 10: Check status of case.
Step 11: Appear at the hearing.
Step 12: File the order.
Step 13: Take order to appropriate places.

These 13 steps are discussed in more detail below.

Step 1: Decide if this is the right process for you.

If you can answer "yes" to the following questions, the "set aside" process might be the process for you:

• Have at least 30 days passed since the death?
• Is the gross value of the estate (the sum of the decedent's assets minus his/her liabilities) less than $100,000?
• Are you entitled to the decedent's estate pursuant to the will or are you entitled to the decedent's estate pursuant to the laws of intestate succession? (For more information regarding the laws of intestate succession, go here.)

Once you have determined that the "set aside" process is the one for you, then complete the following steps for the set aside.

Step 2: Gather information.

Collect the following information and documents:

1. Specific descriptions of all the property of the decedent. This includes bank accounts, CDs, stock certificates, etc. Gather names of the institutions where property is held (i.e., bank names) and account numbers. For example, gather the year, make and model of the vehicles and their VINs (vehicle identification numbers), furniture, jewelry, and cash. For real property, gather the street address, legal description of the property, and the assessor's parcel number (APN). Legal descriptions and APNs can be found on the Clark County Assessor page.
2. Proof of all the liens and mortgages of record at the time of decedent's death. This includes all secured debt--debt where if the payments are not made, the lender can take property back. Home mortgages and car loans are the most common types of secured debt. Collect the most recent statements from the lienholders or banks.
3. An estimate of the value of the property. You can use Kelly Blue Book for car estimates and Zillow for real property. You will need to print out value estimates of the property and attach these to your petition as exhibits.
4. Proof of the known debts of the decedent. This can include credit card bills, medical bills, and any statements that show what the decedent owed.
5. The names, ages, and addresses of any heirs or devisees to the decedent's estate. If there is a surviving spouse or minor child, you will need their information. If you cannot find this information after doing your best research, you will have to explain to the judge why you do not have this information in an affidavit in Step 5.

Step 3: Choose which set aside packet to fill out.

If there was a will, you will choose the Petition to Prove Will and Set Aside without Administration. Remember, if there was a will, it should have been filed within 30 days of the decedent's death. If the will has not been filed at the time of the petition, you should file it before you file your petition. Go here for more information on filing a will.

If there was no will, you will choose the Petition to Set Aside without Administration.

Packets for the Petition to Prove Will and Set Aside without Administration and for the Petition to Set Aside without Administration are available free of charge at the Civil Law Self-Help Center and on the probate webpage. You can also download both petitions on your computer by clicking one of the listed formats underneath the form's title below. Form completion guides are available for downloading underneath the form's title below.

PETITION TO PROVE WILL AND SET ASIDE WITHOUT ADMINISTRATION
PDF Fillable | Instructions

PETITION TO SET ASIDE WITHOUT ADMINISTRATION
PDF Fillable | Instructions

Step 4: Fill out packet.

Carefully complete the packet carefully, providing all requested information in all blanks. You, the person completing the packet, are the petitioner. Do not forget to sign the petition and verification.

For information about how to fill out and file court forms, read Basics of Court Forms and Filings.

Step 5: Fill out affidavit, if necessary.

Refer back to the list of devisees and heirs that you compiled in Step 1 and that you included in your petition. For each person whose name or address you do not know, you will need to provide an explanation for them in an affidavit and what you have done to find their names or addresses. Also think about any creditors or any interested parties whose names or addresses you do not know. You will have to provide an explanation for why you do not have their information as well, and what you have done to try to find them. You can download an Affidavit on your computer by clicking a link underneath the form's title below. 

AFFIDAVIT
PDF Non-Fillable | PDF Fillable

You will explain to the judge why you do not have the names or addresses of certain devisees,  heirs, creditors, or interested parties (e.g., no one knows how to contact the decedent's son, who has been estranged for 20 years, etc.). 

Step 6: Complete fee waiver, if necessary.

The fee to file a Petition to Prove Will and Set Aside without Administration and the Petition to Set Aside without Administration is generally $284.50, unless you think the value of the estate is between $2500.01 and $20,000.00, then the filing fee is $185.50. If the estate is valued at less than $2,500.00, then there is no fee to file. If you cannot afford to pay the filing fee, you can ask the court to waive that fee by filing an Application to Proceed in Forma Pauperis (usually called a "fee waiver application"). If the court grants your fee waiver application, the fee will be waived. However, if the fees are not waived, you will receive a call from the court clerk, who will ask you to pay the filing fee if you want the petition to move forward.

The Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis, or fee waiver, is available, free of charge, at the Civil Law Self-Help Center, or you can download the application on your computer by clicking one of the listed formats underneath the form's title below. 

APPLICATION TO PROCEED IN FORMA PAUPERIS (FEE WAIVER)

AUTOMATED FORMS INTERVIEW AVAILABLE!

There is an automated interview for applicants filling out the Fee Waiver. This interview will complete the fee waiver forms for you after you answer a series of questions. To use the interview, click here and select the "Clark County District Court Fee Waiver" interview. At the end of the interview, you will have to print your forms, sign them, and file them. This interview will only generate the Fee Waiver forms.

PDF Fillable

Complete the Application to Proceed In Forma Pauperis carefully, providing all requested information in all blanks.

Step 7: Attach documents to the packet.

After the packet is completed, attach the following documents to it:

1. The decedent's death certificate.
2. A copy of the will, if you have one and are doing the Petition to Prove Will and Set Aside without Administration.
3. A copy of your picture ID.
4. Proof of the values of the estate property that you collected in Step 2.
5. Proof of the decedent's liens and mortgages that you collected in Step 2.
6. Proof of the decedent's debts that you collected in Step 2.
7. An affidavit explaining why you do not have the names, ages, or addresses for any of the devisees or heirs, if necessary.

Step 8: File packet and get hearing date.

After you complete the packet and you have all the necessary attachments to it, submit everything to the Eighth Judicial District Court. The clerk's office where you can submit the packet is on the 3rd floor of the Regional Justice Center at 200 Lewis Avenue, Las Vegas, NV 89155.

When you are at the clerk's office, the clerk will fill out the blanks on the page in your packet called the "Notice of Hearing" with the date and time of your hearing. Make sure you make a note of that hearing date and time and remember it. If you completed Step 5 because there is a family member whose name or address you don't know, you will have to publish notice (Step 9). If you have to publish notice, ask the clerk for a later hearing date so that you will have time to publish.

Step 9: Mail Notice and publish, if necessary.

After your packet is filed and the clerk gives you back the "Notice of Hearing" with the hearing date and time, find the page of your packet titled "Certificate of Service." You should have filled out those lines on the "Certificate of Service" with the names and addresses of the decedent's heirs, devisees, and creditors in Step 3. The number of lines you have filled out in the "Certificate of Service" is the number of copies of the "Notice of Hearing" you will need to make.

Make copies of the "Notice of Hearing" and mail to each person or entity listed on your "Certificate of Service" list. This includes mailing notice to the State of Nevada Department of Health & Human Services, Medicaid Estate Recovery, which is already included on the Certificate of Service. The State of Nevada Department of Health & Human Services, Medicaid Estate Recovery must be noticed of this petition whether or not you think the decedent owed anything to Medicaid or had Medicaid.

If you completed Step 4 because there is a family member whose name or address you don't know, or if there is a creditor or interested person whose name or address you don't know, you will have to publish notice of the hearing. If you have to publish, the publication must run once a week for 3 weeks, and the last publication has to run at least 10 days before the date set for your hearing. To get the Notice of Hearing published, contact a newspaper directly. Newspapers commonly used in Clark County are Nevada Legal News (702-382-2747) and the Las Vegas Review-Journal and the Las Vegas Sun (702-383-0383). You will have to give the newspaper your Notice of Hearing. The newspaper will usually file an Affidavit of Publication once complete. If they do not, be sure to bring the affidavit to the clerk's office for filing.

Step 10: Check status of case.

After filing your petition, you should continuously check the court docket to see if anyone has filed an objection. You can go to the Eighth Judicial Court website here and search by the decedent's name to see if anyone has filed an objection. If an objection gets filed, you can come to the clerk's office on the third floor of the Regional Justice Center where you filed your documents to get a copy of the objection. It will be important to review any objections before the hearing.  

The week of your hearing, you should also continuously check the probate court's "Friday Probate Calendar List" to check the status of your case and see how the court might rule if no one objects at the hearing. Click here for the probate webpage and click on the link for "The District Court Friday Probate Calendar List." Scroll down and search for the decedent's name, then follow it to the "Notes" column. If no objections have been filed, you will see the list will reflect "OK," and that means the judge will hear your case and probably grant your petition if no objections appear at the hearing.

Step 11: Appear at the hearing.

Your hearing will be held at the time and place listed in your Notice of Hearing. Remember to arrive early and wait patiently in the gallery of the courtroom. If no objections have been filed, then at the beginning of the hearing, you'll likely hear the probate judge call a list of names and cases in which no objections have been filed. This is called the "Approved List." Listen for the name of your case, which will be called by the decedent's name, not your name. The judge will instruct all the people involved in the cases he called to pick up their orders. When the judge has finished calling the Approved list, wait in line for the clerk to hand you the order.

If objections have been filed in your case, both sides will have to make their arguments before the judge. Wait for your matter to be called, then walk up to the tables in front of the judge. Go here for more information on appearing in court.

NOTE! If the decedent left behind a surviving spouse and/or minor children, the law allows the court to set aside the entire estate to the surviving spouse and/or minor children. Even if no one objects to your petition, the judge can decide on his own to set aside the estate for the surviving spouse and/or minor child.

Step 12: File the order.

If there were no objections in your case, and the clerk handed you an order, then take that order up to the third floor at the clerk's office to have it filed. Ask the clerk for certified copies of the order.

If there were objections in your case, the judge might ask you or the other side to prepare the order. If you are required to prepare it, you will need to draft and prepare the order. Go here to find the generic District Court order forms (look under Order (Generic)). Prepare one and submit it with the court, and after the judge signs it, you will need to file it with the court.

Step 13: Take order to appropriate places.

If your petition is granted, and you get the estate set aside to you, you can take that order to the places where you need property transferred over to you. For example, if the estate included a home that was set aside to you, you can take the order to the Clark County Recorder's Office to change title. You can also take the order to the banks to have them turn over bank accounts over to you. Because some financial institutions might request to see a certified copy of the order, make sure you get one from the court clerk's office at the Regional Justice Center.