USA Statutes : nevada
Title : Title 12 - WILLS AND ESTATES OF DECEASED PERSONS
Chapter : CHAPTER 132 - GENERAL PROVISIONS
This title must be liberally
construed so that a speedy settlement of estates is accomplished at the
least expense to the parties.
[Part 307:107:1941; 1931 NCL § 9882.307]—(NRS A 1999, 2254 )
As used in this title, unless the
context otherwise requires, the words and terms defined in NRS 132.030
to 132.370 , inclusive, have the meanings ascribed to them
in those sections.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2249 ; A 2001, 2340 )
“Abatement” means a proportional
reduction of a pecuniary devise when the money or other assets out of
which the devise is payable are not sufficient to pay the devise in full.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2249 )
“Acknowledgment” means a
declaration that an instrument has been executed for the purposes stated
therein and, if the instrument was executed in a representative capacity,
that the instrument was signed with proper authority and executed as the
act of the person represented and identified therein.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2249 )
“Administrator” means a
person not designated in a will who is appointed by the court to
administer an estate.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2249 )
“Agent” means a person authorized to
represent or act for another person, including an attorney-in-fact under
a durable or nondurable power of attorney and a person authorized to make
decisions concerning the health care of another person.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2249 )
“Beneficiary,” as it relates
to:
1. A trust, includes a person who has a present or future
interest, vested or contingent, and the owner of an interest by
assignment or other transfer;
2. A charitable trust, includes any person entitled to enforce the
trust;
3. An instrument designating a beneficiary, includes a beneficiary
of an insurance policy or annuity, of an account designated as payable on
death, of a security registered as transferable on death or of a pension,
profit-sharing, retirement or similar benefit plan or other nonprobate
transfer at death; and
4. A beneficiary designated in a governing instrument, includes a
grantee of a deed, a devisee, a beneficiary of a trust, a beneficiary
under a designation, a donee, an appointee or a taker in default under a
power of appointment, or a person in whose favor a power of attorney or a
power held in any individual, fiduciary or representative capacity is
exercised,
Ê but does not include a person who receives less than $100 under a will.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2249 )
“Child” includes a person entitled
to take as a child by intestate succession from the parent whose
relationship is involved and excludes a person who is a stepchild, a
foster child, a grandchild or any more remote descendant.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Citation” means a document
issued by the clerk of the court, as authorized by statute or ordered by
the court, requiring a person to appear, directing a person to act or
conduct himself in a specified way, or notifying a person of a hearing.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Claim,” in respect to the estate of
a decedent, includes a liability of the decedent, whether arising in
contract, in tort or otherwise, that arises before the death of the
decedent.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Codicil” means an addition to a
will that may modify or revoke one or more provisions of the will, or add
one or more provisions to the will, and is signed with the same
formalities as a witnessed will, electronic will or holographic will.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 ; A 2001, 2340 )
“Community property”
has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 123.220 .
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Community property with right of survivorship” means community
property in which a right of survivorship exists pursuant to NRS 111.064
or 115.060 or any other provision of law.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Descendant” includes
descendants of all generations. For the purposes of this section, the
relationship of parent and child at each generation is determined by the
definitions of “child” and “parent” contained in this title.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Designation of
beneficiary” means a governing instrument naming a beneficiary of an
insurance policy or annuity, of an account designated as payable on
death, of a security registered as transferable on death, or of a
pension, profit-sharing, retirement or similar benefit plan or other
nonprobate transfer at death.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Devise,” used as a noun, means a
testamentary disposition of real or personal property and, used as a
verb, means to dispose of real or personal property by will.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Devisee” means a person
designated in a will to receive a devise. For the purposes of chapters
133 , 134 , 135
and 148 of NRS,
in the case of a devise to an existing trust or trustee, or to a trustee
of a trust described by will, the term means the trust or trustee, and
not a beneficiary of the trust.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Disclaimant” means a person
who executes a disclaimer. The term includes a beneficiary and his
guardian, personal representative, general attorney-in-fact, and special
attorney-in-fact with power to disclaim.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Disclaimer” means a written
instrument that declines, refuses, renounces or disclaims an interest to
which a beneficiary would otherwise succeed.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Distributee” means a person
who has received property of a decedent from his personal representative
other than as a creditor or purchaser. A testamentary trustee is a
distributee only to the extent of distributed assets or increment thereto
remaining in his hands. A beneficiary of a testamentary trust to whom the
trustee has distributed property received from a personal representative
is a distributee of the personal representative. As used in this section,
“testamentary trustee” includes a trustee to whom assets are transferred
by will to the extent of the devised assets.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2250 )
“Electronic record”
means a record created, generated or stored by electronic means.
(Added to NRS by 2001, 2340 )
“Electronic
signature” means an electronic sound, symbol or process attached to or
logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by a person
with the intent to sign the record.
(Added to NRS by 2001, 2340 )
“Electronic will” means a
testamentary document that complies with the requirements of NRS 133.085
.
(Added to NRS by 2001, 2340 )
“Estate” includes the property of
the decedent or trust whose affairs are subject to this title as it is
originally constituted and as it exists from time to time during
administration.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Estate tax” means federal
estate tax, including any interest and penalty thereon.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Executor” means a person
nominated in a will and appointed by the court to execute the provisions
of the will and administer the estate of the decedent.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Expenses of
administration” means funeral expenses and expenses actually and properly
incurred by a personal representative in the administration of an estate,
plus the fees of the personal representative, any attorney retained by
him and any other consultant engaged by him.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Family allowance” means
the money allocated from the estate by the court pursuant to NRS 146.030
.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Fiduciary” includes a personal
representative, guardian and trustee.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Gift” means a gratuitous transfer of
property to a recipient for less than full market value.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Governing
instrument” means:
1. A deed, will, trust, insurance policy or annuity, designated as
payable on death;
2. A security registered as transferable on death;
3. A pension, profit-sharing, retirement or similar benefit plan;
4. An instrument creating or exercising a power of appointment or
a power of attorney; or
5. A dispositive, appointive or nominative instrument of any
similar type.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Guardian” means a person who has
qualified as the guardian of a minor or incapacitated person pursuant to
testamentary or judicial appointment, but does not include a guardian ad
litem.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Heirs” means persons, including the
surviving spouse and the state, who are entitled by intestate succession
to the property of a decedent.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Holographic will” means
a testamentary document that complies with the requirements of NRS
133.090 .
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Incapacitated
person” means a person who is impaired by reason of mental illness,
mental deficiency, advanced age, disease, weakness of mind or any other
cause except minority, to the extent of lacking sufficient understanding
or capacity to make or communicate responsible decisions.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Interest” means:
1. The whole of any property, real or personal, legal or
equitable, present or future, or any part thereof, or any other estate
therein;
2. A power to appoint, consume, apply or expend property; or
3. Any other right, power, privilege or immunity relating to
property.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2251 )
“Interested person”
includes an heir, devisee, child, spouse, creditor, beneficiary and any
other person having a property right in or claim against a trust estate
or the estate of a decedent. The term includes a person having priority
for appointment as a personal representative and other fiduciaries
representing interested persons. The meaning as it relates to particular
persons must be determined according to the particular purposes of, and
matter involved in, a proceeding.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Intestate,” used as a noun,
means a decedent who dies without leaving a will.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Intestate estate”
includes an estate where no will has been offered or admitted to probate
as the last will and testament and an estate where the will does not
distribute the entire estate.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Inventory” means the
description of assets required by NRS 144.040 .
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Issue” means children,
grandchildren or more remote lineal descendants.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Joint tenants with right of survivorship” includes co-owners of
property held under circumstances that entitle one or more to the whole
of the property on the death of the other or others.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Lease” includes an oil, gas or
other mineral lease.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Letters” includes letters
testamentary, letters of administration, letters of administration with
will annexed and letters of special administration.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Lien” means a charge upon property
for the satisfaction of a debt, including an obligation not satisfied, a
judgment, unpaid taxes and an unpaid obligation for materials or labor.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Minor” means a person who is under
18 years of age.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Mortgage” means a conveyance,
agreement or arrangement in which property is encumbered or used as
security.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Notice” means information provided
pursuant to NRS 155.010 or 155.020
or any other statute requiring advance
information of an opportunity, obligation or the occurrence of an event.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Oath” means a form of attestation
which affirms that the taker will faithfully perform the duties of a
specified office.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Order” includes a declaration,
decree or judgment by a court and is a final judgment for all purposes,
including an appeal under NRS 155.190 .
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Parent” includes any person
entitled to take, or who would be entitled to take if the child died
without a will, as a parent by intestate succession from the child whose
relationship is in question and excludes any person who is a stepparent,
foster parent or grandparent.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Person” includes a natural person,
organization, government or a governmental subdivision, agency or
instrumentality.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Personal
representative” includes an executor, an administrator, a successor
personal representative, a special administrator and persons who perform
substantially the same function under the law governing their status.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Petition” means a verified
written request to the court for an order.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2252 )
“Probate,” used as a noun, means a
legal proceeding in which the court has jurisdiction to administer, pay
out and distribute the assets of a decedent to the persons entitled to
them, including devisees, heirs, creditors and others.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Probate homestead”
means a homestead that can be set apart by the court pursuant to NRS
146.020 .
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Property” means anything that
may be the subject of ownership, and includes both real and personal
property and any interest therein.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Record” means information that is
inscribed on a tangible medium, or that is stored in an electronic medium
and is retrievable in perceivable form.
(Added to NRS by 2001, 2340 )
“Right of
representation” means the method of distributing property by which,
through inheritance or succession, the descendants of a deceased heir
take the same share or right in the estate of another person that their
parent or other ancestor would have taken if living. A posthumous child
is deemed living at the death of his parent.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Security” includes any note,
stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness,
certificate of interest or participation in an oil, gas or mining title
or lease or in payments out of production under such a title or lease,
collateral trust certificate, transferable share, voting trust
certificate or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as
a security, or any certificate of interest or participation, any
temporary or interim certificate, receipt or certificate of deposit for,
or any warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase any of the foregoing.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Separate property” has
the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 123.130 .
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Settlement,” in reference to
the estate of a decedent, includes administration, distribution and
closing.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Settlor” means the person who
creates a trust, however described in the trust instrument.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Special
administrator” means a personal representative appointed pursuant to
chapter 140 of NRS.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“State” means a state of the United
States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin
Islands, or any territory or insular possession subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Successor personal representative” means a personal representative,
other than a special administrator, who is appointed to succeed a
previously appointed personal representative.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Successors” means persons,
other than creditors, who are entitled to property of a decedent under
the terms of his will or pursuant to this title.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Tax” includes an income, property,
excise, estate, gift or inheritance tax.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Testate estate” means an
estate with respect to which a will has been offered and admitted to
probate.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Testator” means a person who
makes a will.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Trust” means an interest in
property held by one person for the benefit of another, established by an
instrument executed during the life of the settlor or by his will. The
term includes an express trust, private or charitable, with additions
thereto, wherever and however created. The term also includes a trust
created or determined by judgment or decree under which the trust is to
be administered in the manner of an express trust.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2253 )
“Trustee” includes an original,
additional or successor trustee, whether or not appointed or confirmed by
a court.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2254 )
“Verification” means a
declaration that a statement is true, made under oath or affirmation
under penalty of perjury for false statement.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2254 )
“Ward” means a
person for whom a guardian has been appointed. A “minor ward” is one for
whom a guardian has been appointed solely by reason of minority.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2254 )
“Will” means a formal document that
provides for the distribution of the property of a decedent upon his
death. The term includes a codicil and a testamentary instrument that
merely appoints an executor, revokes or revises another will, nominates a
guardian, or expressly excludes or limits the right of an individual or
class to succeed to property of the decedent passing by intestate
succession.
(Added to NRS by 1999, 2254 )
” As used in this title,
unless the context otherwise requires, when the term “writing” or
“written” is used in reference to a will, the term includes an electronic
will.
(Added to NRS by 2001, 2340 )
