What would happen to your assets if you died today? A proper estate plan can be the difference between an efficient, expeditious, and inexpensive distribution of your estate and an administration that takes years and costs tens of thousands of dollars. In Nevada, there are several mechanisms that can be implemented to avoid the expense of probate entirely.When people do not establish a trust or take other steps to avoid probate, the Probate Court will then supervise all activities relating to the payment of the final expenses of the decedent, determine who is entitled to inherit the deceased person’s assets, and charge for those services.
Nevada has four levels of probate or estate administration.
Affidavit of Entitlement or Affidavit of Small Estate
If the deceased owned $20,000 or less and had no real property and no debts, the heirs can present a simple affidavit with a death certificate to a bank, DMV, or other entity in order to transfer title. In this case there is no need to file anything in Court.
Set Aside without Administration
If the deceased owned $100,000 or less, the heirs or beneficiaries under the Will can petition the District Court to distribute the decedent’s assets to the heirs or beneficiaries without any Court supervised administration. This procedure is relatively simple and economical.
Summary Administration
If the deceased owned assets valued between $100,000 and $200,000, either the deceased’s next of kin or the person the decedent designated in a Last Will and Testament as the Executor/Executrix must conduct a formal, Probate Court supervised procedure to administer the estate, pay the debts and distribute the remaining assets to the beneficiaries. If the deceased did not have a Will, a relative or other interested person may petition to administer the estate. The assets go to the relatives of the deceased in accordance with Nevada’s laws of intestate succession. This process cannot be completed in less than four (4) months and the administrative and attorneys’ fees associated therewith can be determined by a percentage of the total estate.
General Administration
If the deceased dies with assets in excess of $200,000, the estate must be administered under Probate Court supervision, as in a Summary Administration. The only difference between the two is that, in a General Administration, there is a longer period of time creditors have to file claims against the estate and the filing fees are almost double that of a Summary Administration. This process cannot be completed in less than five (5) months and it is not uncommon for an uncontested General Administration to take longer than one (1) year.
Probate Court can be avoided with an estate plan designed by a competent attorney. The costs for establishing mechanisms for avoiding the intervention of the Probate Court are generally much less expensive than conducting a Probate administration and generally lead to much fewer problems such as will contests, trust contests and other litigation which can lead to additional fees and delays.
Christopher J. Phillips, Esq.
No matter how many credit cards you own, never keep a balance on any of them to avoid any and all finance charges. However, many people do not have the discipline to pay off their credit cards every month and fall into credit card debt. Who knew that such a little piece of plastic could cause so much havoc on a person’s finances? How do people justify putting themselves in such a situation?
The months and days leading up to a 
Nevada is a first-in-time recording state, which means that the lien recorded on real property first has priority over subsequently recorded liens. Huntington v. Mila, Inc. 119 Nev 355, 357, 75 P.3d 354, 356 (2003). However, there are exceptions to this rule. In cases of equitable subordination, a lien recorded first in time can be subordinated to a later-recorded lien. The issue usually arises when there are several liens on a property and the purchaser fails to identify a junior lien holder. In certain circumstances, the court will allow the purchaser or subrogee to step into the shoes of the superior lien holder. The rationale behind equitable subordination is that, to do otherwise gives the junior lien holder an undeserved windfall. Houston v. Bank of Ma. Fed. Sav. Bank, 119 Nev, 485, 490 (2003).
The federal government provided new Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) outreach and communication guidelines for foreclosure actions while evaluating the borrower. These guidelines provide additional protection for delinquent borrowers who have filed bankruptcy but would otherwise be eligible for HAMP benefits. Some key highlights from the directive include:
Nevada Supreme Court Justice James W. Hardesty announced that more than 3,400 homeowners who received notices of default have requested mediation in the Nevada Foreclosure Mediation Program as they seek to hold on to their homes. Since the program first began on July 1, 2009, 372 mediations have been conducted and another 805 mediations have been scheduled. An additional 1,401 cases have been assigned to mediators, who are working to schedule and hold those mediations within 90 days of the notices of default being recorded. Justice Hardesty announced that the statistics are current as of November 16, 2009
The pundits are suggesting that the economic recovery will be far slower than they had originally anticipated. Despite the slug of government money and programs, the consumer is the chief factor in determining how deep and how long this recession will be. Despite moderately good news on the stock market and employment sector, consumers remain cautious and are choosing to pare down debt and save rather than extend credit and spend. This is a gloomy picture considering that consumer consumption accounts for roughly seventy percent (70%) of the GDP.
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