Nevada Probate Glossary: Key Terms Defined

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 17 of 17: Glossary

Nevada’s probate and wills statutes use many terms with specific legal meanings. Chapter 132 of the Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) defines these terms for all of Title 12, “Wills and Estates of Deceased Persons,” unless the context requires a different meaning (NRS 132.025). This glossary explains the most useful ones in plain English.

Each entry cites the statute that contains the official definition. Where a definition says a term “includes” certain things, the list is not necessarily complete. For how these terms fit together, start with the Nevada Wills & Probate guide.

A – C

Abatement: A proportional reduction of a gift of money in a will when the money or other assets it is to be paid from are not enough to pay it in full (NRS 132.030).
Administrator: A person who is not named in a will and is appointed by the court to administer an estate (NRS 132.040). See Executors and Administrators.
Beneficiary: A broad term that covers, for example, a person with an interest in a trust, a person named to receive a nonprobate transfer, and a devisee. It does not include a person who receives less than $100 under a will (NRS 132.050).
Child: Includes a person entitled to inherit as a child from the parent in question when there is no will. It excludes a stepchild, a foster child, a grandchild or a more remote descendant (NRS 132.055).
Citation: A document issued by the court clerk that requires a person to appear, directs a person to act in a certain way, or notifies a person of a hearing (NRS 132.060). See Special Situations.
Claim: For a deceased person’s estate, includes a liability of the decedent, whether from a contract, a tort or otherwise, that arose before death (NRS 132.065). See Creditor Claims.
Codicil: An addition to a will that may change or revoke parts of the will or add new provisions. It must be signed with the same formalities as a witnessed, electronic or holographic will (NRS 132.070).
Community property: All property, other than separate property, that either spouse or both spouses acquire after marriage, unless a written agreement between the spouses, a decree of separate maintenance, NRS 123.190, or a decree or written agreement under NRS 123.259 provides otherwise (NRS 132.075; NRS 123.220). When a spouse dies, one-half belongs to the surviving spouse as separate property, and the other half passes under the decedent’s will or, if the will does not dispose of it, to the surviving spouse (NRS 123.250(1)). See Dying Without a Will.
Community property with right of survivorship: Community property in which a right of survivorship exists under NRS 111.064, NRS 115.060 or another law (NRS 132.080). When a spouse dies, it passes according to the right of survivorship rather than under NRS 123.250 (NRS 134.010(1); NRS 123.250(2)(b)).

D – E

Descendant: Includes descendants of all generations. The parent-child link at each generation is determined by the definitions of “child” and “parent” (NRS 132.085).
Designation of beneficiary: A document naming who receives, for example, life insurance, an annuity, a payable-on-death account, a transfer-on-death security, or a pension or retirement benefit (NRS 132.090).
Devise: As a noun, a gift of real or personal property made in a will. As a verb, to leave property by will (NRS 132.095).
Devisee: A person named in a will to receive a devise (NRS 132.100).
Distributee: A person who has received, or has the right to receive, a decedent’s property from the personal representative, other than as a creditor or buyer (NRS 132.115).
District court: A Nevada district court sitting in probate or otherwise deciding matters under the wills and estates title (NRS 132.116).
Electronic will: A will created and maintained in an electronic record (NRS 132.119). See Making a Valid Will.
Estate: Includes the property of the decedent or trust involved, both as it was originally and as it changes during administration (NRS 132.120).
Executor: A person named in a will and appointed by the court to carry out the will and administer the estate (NRS 132.130).
Expenses of administration: Funeral expenses and expenses properly incurred by a personal representative in administering the estate, including costs of maintaining or preserving estate assets, plus the fees of the personal representative, the personal representative’s attorney and other consultants (NRS 132.135).

F – H

Family allowance: Money from the estate that the court allocates under NRS 146.030 (NRS 132.140). See Family Protections.
Fiduciary: Includes a personal representative, guardian, trustee, conservator, receiver, attorney-in-fact and agent, among others (NRS 132.145(1)).
Gift: A gratuitous transfer of property to a recipient for less than full market value (NRS 132.150).
Governing instrument: A document that controls who receives property or holds a power, such as a deed, will, trust, payable-on-death insurance policy or annuity, transfer-on-death security, retirement plan, or a document creating or exercising a power of appointment or power of attorney (NRS 132.155).
Heirs: The people, including the surviving spouse and the State, who are entitled to a decedent’s property by intestate succession (NRS 132.165). See Dying Without a Will.
Holographic will: A will that meets NRS 133.090 (NRS 132.170). Under that section, the signature, date and material provisions are written by the hand of the person making the will, whether or not it is witnessed or notarized (NRS 133.090(1)).

I – L

Incapacitated person: A person who, for any reason other than being a minor, lacks enough understanding or capacity to make or communicate responsible decisions, for example because of mental illness, advanced age or disease (NRS 132.175).
Interested person: A person whose right or interest under an estate or trust may be materially affected by a decision of a fiduciary or the court (NRS 132.185). For a decedent’s estate, this generally includes an heir, devisee, child, spouse, creditor, settlor or beneficiary, and a person with priority for appointment as personal representative (NRS 132.390(1)(b)). After a will is admitted to probate, an heir, child or spouse who is not a beneficiary of the will is generally not an interested person, except for certain purposes (NRS 132.390(2)(d)(1)).
Intestate: A person who dies without leaving a will (NRS 132.190).
Intestate estate: Includes an estate where no will has been offered or admitted to probate, and an estate where the will does not dispose of all of the property (NRS 132.195).
Inventory: The description of estate assets required by NRS 144.040 (NRS 132.200). See Personal Representative Duties.
Issue: Children, grandchildren or more remote lineal descendants (NRS 132.205).
Joint tenants with right of survivorship: Includes co-owners who hold property in a way that gives one or more of them the whole property when the other or others die (NRS 132.210).
Letters: The term includes letters testamentary, letters of administration, letters of administration with the will annexed, and letters of special administration (NRS 132.220). When a will is admitted to probate, the court directs letters to issue to the personal representative named in the will (NRS 138.010(1)). If every named executor is disqualified, declines or fails to qualify, letters of administration with the will annexed must issue (NRS 138.020(2)).

M – P

Minor: A person under 18 years of age (NRS 132.230).
Order: Includes a court’s declaration, decree or judgment, and is a final judgment for all purposes, including an appeal under NRS 155.190 (NRS 132.250).
Parent: Includes a person entitled to inherit as a parent from the child in question when there is no will. It excludes a stepparent, foster parent or grandparent (NRS 132.255).
Personal representative: Includes an executor, an administrator, a successor personal representative, a special administrator, and people who perform substantially the same role under other law (NRS 132.265).
Petition: A verified written request to the court for an order (NRS 132.270).
Probate: A legal proceeding in which the court has jurisdiction to administer, pay out and distribute a decedent’s assets to the people entitled to them, including devisees, heirs, creditors and others (NRS 132.275).
Probate homestead: A homestead that the court can set apart under NRS 146.020 (NRS 132.280).

R – S

Right of representation: A method of distribution in which the descendants of a deceased heir take the same share that their parent or other ancestor would have taken if living. A child born after a parent’s death is treated as living at the parent’s death (NRS 132.290).
Separate property: Property a spouse owned before marriage, plus property acquired afterward by gift, bequest, devise, descent or an award for personal injury damages, along with its rents, issues and profits (NRS 132.300; NRS 123.130). When a married person dies without a will, Nevada’s intestate succession chapter divides only the separate property (NRS 134.010(3)).
Settlement: For a decedent’s estate, includes administration, distribution and closing (NRS 132.305).
Special administrator: A personal representative appointed under chapter 140 of NRS (NRS 132.315). The court must appoint one in listed situations, such as a delay in granting letters (NRS 140.010).
Spouse: Includes a domestic partner as described in NRS 122A.200 (NRS 132.317).

T – W

Testamentary trust: A trust created by the terms of a person’s will (NRS 132.337).
Testate estate: An estate for which a will has been offered and admitted to probate (NRS 132.340).
Testator: A person who makes a will (NRS 132.345).
Verification: A declaration that a statement is true, made under oath or affirmation under penalty of perjury (NRS 132.360).
Will: A formal document that provides for distributing a decedent’s property at death. The term includes a codicil and a document that only appoints an executor, revokes or revises another will, nominates a guardian, or excludes or limits a person’s right to inherit without a will (NRS 132.370).

How I Can Help

Probate papers and court orders use these terms in precise ways, and a single word can change who has rights in an estate. I help clients understand the terms in their own will, petition or court order and what those terms mean for their situation under Nevada law. 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.