Dying Without a Will in Nevada: Who Inherits Under Intestate Succession

Part of my Nevada Wills & Probate Guide.

By Ronald W. Brilliant, Attorney at Law · Licensed in Idaho, Nevada & California · Last reviewed: September 2026 against Nevada Revised Statutes Title 12 (current through the 2025 legislative session)

In This GuideNevada Wills & ProbateTopic 4 of 17: Dying Without a Will

When a person dies without leaving a will, Nevada law calls that person an intestate (NRS 132.190). Instead of a will, the statutes decide who receives the property. The people entitled to it are called heirs, a term that includes the surviving spouse and the State (NRS 132.165).

These rules can also matter when there is a will. An “intestate estate” includes an estate where no will has been offered or admitted to probate, and an estate where the will does not give away all of the property (NRS 132.195). This page explains how Nevada splits community property and separate property, who inherits in each family situation, and what happens when no relatives can be found.

First Step: Community Property or Separate Property?

Nevada’s inheritance chapter (chapter 134 of NRS) does not cover everything a married person owned. If the person who died leaves a surviving spouse, the property is sorted in three ways (NRS 134.010):

Community property with right of survivorship passes according to the right of survivorship (NRS 134.010(1)). This term means community property in which a right of survivorship exists under NRS 111.064, NRS 115.060 or another law (NRS 132.080).
All other community property passes as provided in NRS 123.250 (NRS 134.010(2)).
Separate property is the only property that chapter 134 divides among heirs (NRS 134.010(3)).

What Counts as Community or Separate Property

The probate title borrows these definitions from Nevada’s law on the rights of married couples, chapter 123 of NRS. “Community property” has the meaning given in NRS 123.220 (NRS 132.075), and “separate property” has the meaning given in NRS 123.130 (NRS 132.300).

Separate property is all property a spouse owned before the marriage. It also includes property the spouse acquired afterward by gift, by bequest or devise (a gift in a will), by descent (inheritance) or by an award for personal injury damages, along with the rents, issues and profits of that property (NRS 123.130).

Community property is all other property acquired after marriage by either spouse or both spouses (NRS 123.220). Property acquired after marriage is not community property if a written agreement between the spouses, a court decree of separate maintenance, or a decree or written agreement under NRS 123.259 provides otherwise (NRS 123.220(1), (2), (4)). Earnings that one spouse gave the other written authority to use as his or her own are treated as a gift and become the receiving spouse’s separate property (NRS 123.190; NRS 123.220(3)).

During the marriage, each spouse’s interest in community property is present, existing and equal (NRS 123.225(1)). These property rules apply unless a premarital agreement enforceable under chapter 123A of NRS, or a marriage contract or settlement, says otherwise (NRS 123.010(1)).

How Community Property Passes at Death

When either spouse dies, an undivided one-half interest in the community property belongs to the surviving spouse as his or her sole separate property (NRS 123.250(1)(a)). The other half is subject to the decedent’s will. If the decedent’s will does not dispose of that half, it also goes to the surviving spouse (NRS 123.250(1)(b)(1)).

This means that when a married person dies without a will, the surviving spouse receives the decedent’s half of the community property as well as the survivor’s own half, subject to the exceptions below (NRS 123.250(1); NRS 134.010(2)). Only the decedent’s half is subject to administration under the probate title, title 12 of NRS (NRS 123.250(1)(b)(2)). Even with a will, neither spouse may devise or bequeath more than one-half of the community property (NRS 123.230(1)).

These rules do not apply to community property with right of survivorship, which passes by that right of survivorship instead (NRS 123.250(2)(b); NRS 134.010(1)). They also do not apply to the extent they conflict with chapter 41B of NRS (NRS 123.250(2)(a)).

A few related rules apply to spouses:

For these laws, “spouse” includes a domestic partner as set forth in NRS 122A.200 (NRS 132.317). Under that section, a surviving domestic partner generally has the same rights, protections, benefits and duties under law as a widow or widower (NRS 122A.200(1)(c)). For community property purposes, a reference to the date of marriage means the date the domestic partnership was registered under NRS 122A.100 or, for a partnership recognized under NRS 122A.500, the date it was validly formed in the other jurisdiction (NRS 122A.200(1)(j)).
Chapter 134 does not apply to the extent it conflicts with an enforceable premarital agreement between the decedent and the surviving spouse (NRS 134.005).
If both spouses die and there is not enough evidence that they died other than at the same time, half of their community property is distributed as if one spouse survived, and half as if the other spouse survived (NRS 135.060). Community property with right of survivorship is split the same way (NRS 135.040). For more on this, see How Nevada Wills Are Interpreted.

Who Inherits Separate Property

Separate property of a person who dies without a will, if not otherwise limited by contract, passes under NRS 134.040 to 134.120, subject to payment of the decedent’s debts (NRS 134.030). The shares depend on which relatives survive.

Some terms used in the tables below have specific meanings. Issue means children, grandchildren or more remote lineal descendants (NRS 132.205). A “child” does not include a stepchild, a foster child or a grandchild (NRS 132.055). A “parent” does not include a stepparent, foster parent or grandparent (NRS 132.255).

When There Is a Surviving Spouse

Who survives the decedent	Who receives the separate property	NRS
Spouse and only one child, or the issue of only one child	One-half to the spouse; one-half to the child or that child’s issue	134.040(1)
Spouse and more than one living child, or a child plus the issue of one or more deceased children	One-third to the spouse; the remaining two-thirds in equal shares to the children, with the issue of a deceased child taking by right of representation	134.040(2)
Spouse and both parents, but no issue	One-half to the spouse; one-fourth to each parent	134.050(1)
Spouse and one parent, but no issue	One-half to the spouse; one-half to the living parent	134.050(1)
Spouse and brothers or sisters, but no issue or parent	One-half to the spouse; one-half in equal shares to the brothers and sisters	134.050(2)
Spouse, with no issue, parent, brother or sister, or “children of any issue”	All separate property to the spouse	134.050(4)

When There Is No Surviving Spouse

Who survives the decedent	Who receives the separate property	NRS
One child	Everything to that child	134.090
More than one child	All the children, in equal shares	134.090
Children plus the issue of a deceased child	Each living child takes a share; the issue of each deceased child take the share their parent would have received	134.100
No living children, but grandchildren or more remote issue	The issue, by right of representation	134.110
No issue; both parents living	One-half to each parent	134.050(3)
No issue; one parent living	Everything to that parent	134.050(3)
No issue or parent; brothers or sisters (or their issue)	Equal shares to the brothers and sisters; the issue of a deceased brother or sister take the share their parent would have received	134.060
No issue, parent, brother or sister living	The next of kin in equal degree (see below)	134.070
No kindred at all	The estate goes (escheats) to the State for educational purposes	134.120

What “Right of Representation” Means

Right of representation is the method in which the descendants of a deceased heir take the same share their parent or other ancestor would have taken if living (NRS 132.290). For example, if one of three children died before the parent, that child’s own children split the share their parent would have received.

A child born after a parent’s death (a posthumous child) is treated as living at the parent’s death (NRS 132.290).

Other Relatives and Special Rules

More distant relatives. If no issue, spouse, parent, brother or sister is living, the estate goes to the next of kin in equal degree. When relatives of equal degree claim through different ancestors, those claiming through the nearest ancestors are preferred (NRS 134.070).
Counting degrees. Degrees of kindred are computed according to the rules of the civil law (NRS 134.150).
Half-blood relatives. Relatives of the half blood inherit equally with those of the whole blood in the same degree (NRS 134.160).
Adopted children. An adopted child inherits from the adoptive parents or their relatives the same as a biological child, and if the adopted child dies without a will, the adoptive parents and their relatives inherit as if they were the child’s biological parents and relatives (NRS 134.190; NRS 127A.250(2)). Once the court enters an order of adoption after a parent has signed a specific consent to adoption or a relinquishment, or had parental rights terminated, the child may not inherit from that parent or that parent’s relatives (NRS 127A.250(3)(b)). The adoption does not change the relationship between the child and a parent who is a petitioner and whose parental rights have not been terminated (NRS 127A.250(4)).
Unmarried minor children. Special rules apply when a child who is under age, unmarried and without issue dies holding property the child inherited from a parent. That inherited property generally goes to the child’s brothers and sisters and the issue of deceased brothers and sisters (NRS 134.080; NRS 134.085).
Spouses who both die without wills. If one spouse dies intestate leaving heirs, and the other spouse later dies intestate without heirs, the second spouse’s estate passes to the heirs of the first spouse, subject to administration expenses and legal debts (NRS 134.210).

When No Heirs Can Be Found: Escheat

If the decedent leaves no surviving spouse or kindred, the estate “escheats” to the State of Nevada for educational purposes (NRS 134.120). Chapter 154 says an estate escheats when a person dies within Nevada leaving no heirs, representatives or devisees capable of inheriting or holding it (NRS 154.010).

A balance left in an individual account under the Public Employees’ Retirement System or the Judicial Retirement System is not an “estate” for this purpose (NRS 154.010). When the Attorney General believes property has become escheatable, the Attorney General must file an information in the district court of the county where the property is located (NRS 154.020(1)).

A person who claims property after a judgment of escheat may petition the district court of Carson City within 6 years after the judgment (NRS 154.120(1)). Anyone else who misses that deadline is barred forever, but minors and incapacitated persons may file within 5 years after their disabilities are removed (NRS 154.120(7)). See Special Situations in Nevada Probate for more.

Who Manages an Estate When There Is No Will

Someone still has to gather the property, pay debts and distribute what is left. That person is a personal representative, a term that includes an executor, an administrator and a special administrator (NRS 132.265). When there is no will, the court appoints an administrator, meaning a person not named in a will who is appointed by the court (NRS 132.040). The administrator receives letters of administration, one of the kinds of “letters” the court issues (NRS 132.220; NRS 139.010).

The district court, meaning a Nevada district court sitting in probate (NRS 132.116), grants administration in this order of priority (NRS 139.040(1)):

The surviving spouse
The children
The grandchildren
Other issue
A parent
A sibling
Any other kindred entitled to share in the estate
The public administrator (or a person employed or contracted with under NRS 253.125)
Creditors who became creditors during the decedent’s lifetime
Other kindred within the fourth degree of consanguinity
Any legally qualified person, upon a finding of good cause

If there is no surviving spouse, the court may depart from this order to favor an heir, or the nominee of an heir or group of heirs, with an equal or larger interest in the estate than the heir entitled to priority. The court may also appoint an independent personal representative (NRS 139.040(5)). The Executors and Administrators page covers qualifications, and Opening Probate explains how the case starts. If the estate is modest, one of the small estate procedures may apply.

How I Can Help

When a loved one dies without a will, I help families sort out which property is community and which is separate, identify the heirs under Nevada’s succession rules, and petition the district court for letters of administration when an estate must be opened. I can also explain whether a simplified procedure fits the estate. Request a consultation to discuss your situation.

This page provides general information about Nevada wills and probate law, based on Nevada Revised Statutes Title 12 as of the 2025 legislative session, and is not legal advice. Other Nevada laws, court rules, and case law also affect these matters. Every estate is different; consult an attorney about your situation. Reading this page does not create an attorney-client relationship.