Probate is a court-supervised process for settling an estate and distributing assets after a person dies. It can take 6 or more months to complete property transfers through probate. In the meantime, probate expenses may add up, diminishing the assets available to heirs.
Fortunately, not all of a person’s assets must go through probate to be transferred upon death. Certain types of assets can be transferred by designating a beneficiary or by owning property with survivorship rights. Probate can’t always be avoided, but when there are fewer assets to probate, a more streamlined process may be available.
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How Property is Transferred at Death in Nevada without Going through Probate
Most property transfers on death that avoid probate are made by designating a beneficiary. Property can also be owned so that it automatically transfers to the surviving owners upon death. The following types of property can be transferred at death without going through probate.
Pay on Death (POD) or Transfer on Death (TOD) Beneficiary Designations
Bank accounts, retirement accounts, investment accounts, life insurance policies, and motor vehicle titles all allow property owners to designate a beneficiary to receive the property upon their death.
These types of designations have the advantage of quickly and inexpensively placing the asset in the beneficiary’s hands. However, without proper planning, POD or TOD designations can rob an estate of needed liquidity and interfere with other estate planning goals.
Deed upon Death
In Nevada, the owner of an interest in real property may create a deed upon death to transfer the property to one or more beneficiaries upon the owner’s death. A deed upon death is valid only when recorded in the recorder’s office in the county where the property is located before the death of the last surviving owner.
Property passing by deed upon death does not avoid liabilities enforceable against the estate of the property owner. Beneficiaries are required to notify the deceased owner’s creditors. Creditors then have 90 days to file a claim.
Joint Tenancy
Joint tenancy is a form of ownership in real or personal property between two or more people that can be created by expressly declaring in writing that the property is to be owned as a joint tenancy or as joint tenants. Property owned in joint tenancy vests title in the survivor or survivors upon the death of one owner.
Married couples in Nevada can create survivorship rights in community property by expressly indicating in ownership documents that the property is community property with right of survivorship.
Revocable Living Trust
A revocable living trust is an alternative to creating a will for the distribution of property. Property is transferred to the trust during the owner’s lifetime and distributed according to the trust’s terms upon the owner’s death. Even though the owner retains full control over the trust property during life, it is not subject to probate at death because the trust, not the decedent, is the legal owner of the property — contact a Las Vegas trust administration attorney today.
Why Probate Might Still be Necessary
Avoiding probate requires careful estate planning and periodic updating. Beneficiary designations only work if the beneficiary is alive at the time of the property owner’s death. If there is no beneficiary to receive the property, it will become part of the decedent’s estate and subject to probate. Similarly, only property legally transferred to a living trust will avoid probate.
For more than 30 years, the probate lawyers at Simplifying Probate have been assisting Nevadans through the probate process with compassion and efficiency.
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