Nevada · Notice
Telling everyone, in the right order
A court cannot hand an estate to anybody until it is satisfied that everyone entitled to object was told. Improper notice is the most common reason a probate hearing is postponed — and the awkward part is that the deadline runs from a date you do not learn until the moment you file.
The order it happens in
File the petition
The clerk writes your hearing date and time onto the Notice of Hearing as you file. You leave those blank until then — you cannot know the date in advance, and neither can we.
Ask for a later date if you will need to publish
Say so at the counter. Three weekly insertions plus the ten clear days afterwards need about three and a half weeks from the first insertion, before you allow any time to arrange it — so a date four weeks out leaves almost no slack.
Copy the notice for everyone on your list
The number of names on your Certificate of Mailing is the number of copies you need. Every heir, every creditor, and Medicaid Estate Recovery.
Post them, then sign the Certificate of Mailing
The certificate swears the date you put them in the mail, so sign it after posting rather than before.
Publish, if anyone could not be found
Once a week for three weeks. The last insertion must run at least ten days before the hearing (NRS 155.020).
Check the docket before you go
Objections are filed on the record. The court also publishes a Friday probate calendar showing how it is minded to rule if nobody objects.
Who gets a copy
- Every heir and devisee
- At a current address. If you genuinely do not know one, the petition tells you to write "UNKNOWN" rather than guess — and that is what triggers publication.
- Every creditor you listed
- Secured and unsecured both, at the address on their statements.
- Medicaid Estate Recovery
- 9850 Double R Blvd, Ste 200, Reno NV 89521. Whether or not the person was ever on Medicaid, and whether or not anything is owed. It is preprinted on the Certificate of Mailing for exactly this reason, and skipping it continues the hearing.
When you have to publish, and the maths that follows
You publish when you genuinely cannot identify or locate someone entitled to notice. Writing a guess into the petition is not the alternative — the form tells you to write “UNKNOWN”, and that is what puts you here.
NRS 155.020 wants the notice run once a week for three weeks, with the last insertion at least ten days before the hearing. Count it: insertions on day one, day eight and day fifteen, then ten clear days, puts the earliest possible hearing around three and a half weeks after the first insertion — and that assumes the paper runs it the day you ask. A hearing four weeks out technically fits, and leaves you almost no slack. Say at the counter that you will need to publish and ask for a later date. It is a normal request.
The newspaper usually files the affidavit of publication with the court when the run finishes. If they do not, take it to the courthouse yourself; without it the court has no proof the notice ran.
- Nevada Legal News
- (702) 382-2747
- Las Vegas Review-Journal
- (702) 383-0383
The affidavit route has a notice rule too
Easy to miss, because no court is involved and nothing gets filed. Paragraph 7 of FORM 303 requires written notice — in person or by certified mail — to anyone whose right to succeed is equal or better than yours, and fourteen days must pass before you present the affidavit to a bank.
If you are one of three children, your two siblings are in that category. Send it early: the fourteen days run alongside the forty-day wait rather than after it, so done promptly it costs you nothing at all.
Questions people ask
Who has to be notified in a Nevada probate?
Everyone named in the petition — every heir and devisee, and every creditor, secured and unsecured — plus Nevada's Medicaid Estate Recovery unit, which gets a copy whether or not the person ever received Medicaid and whether or not anything is owed. On a testate estate the list is wider still: it includes everyone named in the will, which can mean a charity, a church or a friend who is no relation at all.
When do you get your probate hearing date in Clark County?
At the counter, on the day you file. The clerk fills the date and time onto the Notice of Hearing you brought in. That is why the form arrives with those lines blank, and why nobody can tell you the date beforehand. Probate hearings are held at the Regional Justice Center at 9:30 a.m.
Do you have to publish a probate notice in the newspaper in Nevada?
Only if you cannot identify or locate someone entitled to notice. Then NRS 155.020 requires publication once a week for three weeks, and the last insertion has to run at least ten days before the hearing. Counted out, that is about three and a half weeks from the first insertion to the earliest possible hearing — before you allow any time to arrange the run at all. Ask the clerk for a later hearing date when you file rather than discovering the problem afterwards.
Which newspaper do you use, and what does it cost?
Nevada Legal News on (702) 382-2747 and the Las Vegas Review-Journal on (702) 383-0383 both take these. You give them the Notice of Hearing the clerk dated. The paper usually files the affidavit of publication with the court once the run is finished; if they do not, take it to the courthouse yourself.
What is a Certificate of Mailing?
The page you sign swearing that you posted the Notice of Hearing to everyone on the list, and on what date. The Clark County packet instructions sometimes call it a Certificate of Service; the form itself is headed CERTIFICATE OF MAILING. Same document. The count of names on it is the number of copies of the notice you need to make.
What happens if someone was not properly notified?
Most often the hearing is continued and you come back weeks later having posted the missing copy. The worse case is that it is not caught: an heir who never received notice can come back afterwards and unsettle an order that has already been made, which is a far harder problem than a postponed hearing.
Does the affidavit route need notice too?
Sometimes, and it is easy to miss because there is no court involved. Paragraph 7 of FORM 303 requires written notice — personally or by certified mail — to anyone whose right to succeed is equal or superior to yours, and fourteen days must pass before you present the affidavit. If you are one of three children, your siblings are in that category. Send it early; it runs alongside the forty-day wait rather than after it.
How do you check whether anyone objected?
The Eighth Judicial District Court's records are searchable online by the decedent's name, and objections appear on the docket. In the week of your hearing the court also publishes a Friday probate calendar with a notes column showing how it is minded to rule if nobody appears to object — worth reading before you drive down.