A "set aside" is a simplified probate process where the estate value is less than $150,000, but a court order is needed to transfer assets (usually because there is a house or land). Read this section for more information about this process.
Basic Information about Set Aside Petitions
What is a Petition to Set Aside?
A "set aside without administration" is a simplified probate process for small estates where the net value of Decedent’s estate is less than $150,000. Decedent may have land / homes that need to be transferred plus other property.
This process requires filing a petition with a list of assets, debts, and their values, and then sending notice to the decedent's heirs, devisees, creditors, and Medicaid. Assets are used to pay creditors first, but if there's a surviving spouse or minor children, the court can allocate the entire estate to the spouse or minor children without paying creditors.
The "set aside" process requires a court hearing, but generally requires fewer hearings than the administration processes of larger estates.
What if there was a will?
The set aside process can be used whether or not there was a will. If there was a will, you must submit a copy to the court.
Who should file the Petition to Set Aside?
If there is a surviving spouse or child, it is suggested that they file the petition since there may be additional protections for them. The court can award the entire estate to the spouse and children without paying creditors.
Steps to petition to be appointed special administrator:
1. Obtain information and documents. You'll need to gather a few things before filing.
2. Fill out the forms. There are 3 forms you'll need to fill out.
3. File the forms. File these at the District Court.
4. Serve the Notice. You'll need to mail the notice to several people, and possibly might need to publish a notice in a newspaper.
5. Attend the hearing. There will be a hearing for the judge to make a decision.
Read more about each step below.
1. Obtain Necessary Documents.
You'll need:
- Death Certificate. You will need to attach a copy of the death certificate to your petition.
- Copy of the Will (if there was one). This also needs to be attached to your petition.
- Itemized list of assets and debts, with values. The petition must include a detailed list of decedent's assets and debts left behind, along with an estimate of their value. You will need to learn as much about these as you can.
- Look through the mail, important papers, or anywhere you can think of to determine the extent of the assets and debts. Helpful items are bank statements, credit card statements, mortgage statements, investment account statements, car titles or loan statements, medical bills.
- Make a list of valuable personal property (jewelry, furniture, art, cash).
- Locate VIN numbers for any vehicles.
- Locate Assesor Parcel Numbers (APNs) for and land/houses. You may be able to search the county assessor for this information.
- You can check Kelley Blue Book for estimated value of any vehicles.
- You can check Zillow for estimated value of any land/houses.
2. Fill out the forms
Option 1: Complete a Guided Interview that Creates Forms for You
All the necessary forms will be created based on your answers to the questions in this guided interview:
Q&A Form Interview: Petition to Set Aside
Option 2: Fill out the individual forms separately:
There are 3 forms you must fill out. List yourself as the 'petitioner' and the person who passed away as the 'decedent.'
Cover Sheet (pdf fillable) (select "Probate-Set Aside" in section II and mark if you are a surviving spouse)
Notice of Hearing (pdf fillable) - fill out as much as you can. The filing clerk will insert the date/time and location of the hearing when you file.
Petition: Use one of the following depending on if there was a will. Attach a copy of the death certificate to this form.
Petition to Set Aside Estate Without Administration - No Will (pdf fillable)
Petition to Prove Will and Set Aside Estate Without Administration - Will (pdf fillable)
3. File the forms
File the papers above at the district court in your county. Visit Find My Court if you are not sure where your local district court is located.
The court may charge you a filing fee to file your papers. The fee is different in every county. Find out from your local court what the filing fee will be. If you cannot afford the filing fee, please see Filing Fees and Waivers to find out how to apply to waive the fee.
The filing Clerk will insert the date, time, and location of the hearing on the Notice of Hearing. If there are some relatives you already know you won't be able to locate to send the papers to them in the mail, request a date at least 60 days away since you'll need some extra time to publish a notice in a newspaper (more on that below).
4. Serve (and maybe publish) the Notice
You have to send a copy of the Notice by regular mail to:
- All relatives/devisees named in the petition;
- All creditors names in the petition;
- Nevada's Medicaid Estate Recovery. Even if you don't think the person had Medicaid, you must serve them. Medicaid can seek repayment from the estates of certain deceased Medicaid recipients. Their address is listed on the Certificate of Mailing form below.
Fill out a Certificate of Mailing and file it at the court.
Certificate of Mailing - Set Aside (pdf fillable)
If 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 the notice of the hearing in a newspaper. That is considered 'serving' the missing people. The publication must run once a week for 3 weeks, and the last date of publication must be at least 10 days before the date set for your hearing.
If you must publish, contact a newspaper in the county where the petition was filed. You will have to give the newspaper your Notice of Hearing and pay any publication fees they charge. The newspaper will usually file an Affidavit of Publication once complete. If they do not, bring the affidavit to the clerk's office for filing.
5. Attend the hearing
You should continuously check the court docket before your hearing to see if anyone files an objection. If an objection gets filed, you can go to the clerk's office where you filed your documents to get a copy of the objection. It will be important to review any objections before the hearing.
The hearing gives interested parties a chance to object to your request. If there is a surviving spouse or minor children, the judge can disregard creditors’ objections and provisions listed in the will if doing so would benefit the surviving spouse or minor child.
If there are no objections (or the judge disregards the objections), the judge will issue an order that transfers the estate to the surviving spouse and heirs. Get certified copies of the order since you’ll need this to present to the entities holding the assets to get them transferred.
