Someone has died. Here is what comes next.

Where it happens

The court

Probate belongs to the district court of the county where the person lived. For Reno, Sparks, and the rest of Washoe County, that is the Second Judicial District Court. Much of its probate calendar is heard by a probate commissioner, whose recommendations a district judge then confirms.

The recorder

When a house changes hands at the end of a probate, the court’s order and the new deed are recorded with the Washoe County Recorder. Until that recording, the county’s records still show the person who died as the owner, which is why a house cannot be sold or refinanced by the family in the meantime.

The newspaper

Nevada requires notice to creditors to be published in a newspaper in the county. Publication starts the period after which the estate is protected from late claims.

What to gather

• Certified death certificates. Several. The funeral home usually orders them, and every bank, insurer, and agency will want its own.
• The original will, if there is one. Nevada law expects whoever holds a will to deliver it to the court clerk promptly after a death, and the statute sets a short deadline for doing it.
• Something that shows how the house is titled: the deed, a property tax bill, or a mortgage statement.
• A recent statement for each account, so it is clear whose name is on it and whether a beneficiary was named.
• Names and addresses of the family: the spouse, the children, and anyone named in the will. The court requires notice to each of them.
• The funeral bill and any letters from creditors. They are paid from the estate, in an order the law sets.

None of it has to be organized. A shoebox is fine.

What to leave alone

Trouble in an estate can start with family members trying to help in the first month. Until someone has been appointed by the court, a few things are better left exactly as they are.

• The accounts. Do not move money out of the person’s accounts, and do not keep using a card or a checkbook, even to pay their own bills.
• The house. Keep it insured, locked, and heated in winter. Do not sign it over to anyone, and do not let a well-meaning relative move in on an understanding nobody wrote down.
• The belongings. Do not hand out jewelry, tools, or vehicles yet, however obvious it seems who should have them.
• The debts. Do not pay the person’s bills from your own pocket. Whether a debt is owed, and in what order, is part of the process.

We work with families through probate, from the first filing to the final order.