1. The Attorney General or any interested person, including a
devisee under a former will, may contest the will by filing written
grounds of opposition to the probate thereof at any time before the
hearing of the petition for probate. Personal notice must then be given
by a citation directed to the heirs of the decedent and to all interested
persons, including minors and incapacitated persons, wherever residing,
directing them to plead to the contest within 30 days after service of
the citation in the manner provided in NRS 155.050 .
2. A person so served may interpose any defense or objection to
the contest by any motion authorized by the Nevada Rules of Civil
Procedure in civil actions. If the motion is granted, the court may allow
the contestant 10 days within which to amend the contest. If the motion
is denied, the petitioner and other interested persons, within 10 days
after the receipt of written notice thereof, may jointly or separately
answer the contest. The times specified in this section may be extended
by the court.
[Part 18:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.18]—(NRS A 1999, 2268 )
1. In the contest, the contestant is plaintiff and the petitioner
is defendant. The written grounds of opposition constitute a pleading and
are subject to the same rules governing pleadings as in the case of a
complaint in a civil action.
2. An issue of fact involving the competency of the decedent to
make a will, the freedom of the decedent at the time of the execution of
the will from duress, menace, fraud or undue influence, the due execution
and attestation of the will, or any other question substantially
affecting the validity of the will, must be tried by the court unless one
of the parties demands a jury. The party demanding the jury shall advance
the jury costs.
3. Upon the determination of the contest, costs must be awarded in
accordance with the provisions of chapter 18
of NRS.
[Part 18:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.18]—(NRS A 1999, 2268 )
In the contest, the testimony as to the declaration of a
testator is admissible if contemporaneous with the execution of the will
insofar as the declaration relates to the testator’s intention, state of
mind, feelings, competency, and the existence or nonexistence of duress
and undue influence.
[Part 18:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.18]—(NRS A 1999, 2269 )
If the will is contested, all
the subscribing witnesses who are present in the county and who are of
sound mind must be produced and examined, or the death, absence or
incapacity of any of them must be satisfactorily shown to the court. If
none of the subscribing witnesses resides in the county, and the evidence
of none of them can be produced, the court may admit the evidence of
other witnesses to prove the due execution of the will and, as evidence
of the execution, it may admit proof of the handwriting of the testator
and of any of the subscribing witnesses.
[19:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.19]—(NRS A 1999, 2269 )
The jury must return a special
verdict upon the issues submitted to them by the court; and upon the
verdict, or upon the proof taken if a jury is waived, the court must
render judgment, either admitting the will to probate or rejecting it.
[Part 18:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.18]
If the court is
satisfied upon the proof taken when heard by the court, or by the verdict
of a jury if a jury is had, that the will was duly executed by the
testator, who was at the time of sound and disposing mind and not under
duress, menace, undue influence or fraudulent representation, the court,
by order in writing, shall admit the will to probate.
[20:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.20]—(NRS A 1999, 2269 )
The testimony of each
subscribing witness who has testified must be reduced to writing, signed
in the form of an affidavit or deposition and filed with the court, and
is admissible in evidence in any subsequent contest of the will if the
witness has died or has permanently moved from the State.
[21:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.21]—(NRS A 1999, 2269 )
AFTER PROBATE
After a will has been admitted to probate, any interested person other
than a party to a contest before probate or a person who had actual
notice of the previous contest in time to have joined therein may, at any
time within 3 months after the order is entered admitting the will to
probate, contest the admission or the validity of the will. The
contestant must file with the court in which the will was proved a
petition containing the allegations of the contestant against the
validity of the will or against the sufficiency of the proof, and
requesting that the probate be revoked.
[22:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.22]—(NRS A 1999, 2269 )
Upon filing the petition, and
within the time allowed for filing the petition, a citation must be
issued, directed to the personal representative and to all the devisees
mentioned in the will, and the heirs, so far as known to the petitioner,
including minors and incapacitated persons, or the personal
representative of any such person who is dead, directing them to plead to
the contest within 30 days after service of the citation.
[23:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.23]—(NRS A 1999, 2269 )
The citation must be served and proceedings had thereunder as in the
case of a contest before probate. If the jury finds or the court decides
that the will is invalid or is not the last will of the testator, the
court shall enter an order revoking the probate of the will and letters
testamentary. Thereupon the powers of the personal representative cease,
but the personal representative is not liable for any act done in good
faith before the revocation.
[24:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.24]—(NRS A 1999, 2270 )
If the probate is not revoked, the costs of
trial must be paid by the contestant. If the probate is revoked, the
costs must be paid by the party who resisted the revocation or out of the
property of the decedent, as the court may direct in accordance with the
provisions of chapter 18 of NRS.
[25:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.25]—(NRS A 1999, 2270 )
If no person contests the
validity of a will or of the probate thereof, within the time specified
in NRS 137.080 , the probate of the will
is conclusive.
[26:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.26]
Failure to contest a will does
not preclude the subsequent probate of a will executed later in point of
time than the one previously admitted to probate.
[27:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.27]—(NRS A 1999, 2270 )
An appeal from a final order
determining the contest of a will is governed by the Nevada Rules of
Appellate Procedure, and the notice of appeal must be filed with the
clerk of the district court not later than 30 days after the date of
service of written notice of entry of a final order. A party may make any
motion after the determination that is provided by the Nevada Rules of
Civil Procedure.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2268 ; A 2001, 2343 )
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