Under Nevada intestate succession, when a resident dies without a valid will, the surviving spouse keeps all community property, and the decedent’s separate property is divided among the spouse, children, parents, or siblings according to a fixed statutory order set by NRS Chapter 134. If there is no surviving spouse, the estate passes down a hierarchy that starts with children and their descendants and only reaches more distant relatives when closer ones do not exist.
Who actually inherits depends on two things: which relatives survive the decedent, and whether the property is community or separate.
Community Property Versus Separate Property
Nevada is a community property state. Most assets either spouse earns or acquires during the marriage, including wages, real estate bought with marital funds, and investment accounts funded by those earnings, belong equally to both partners.1Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 123 – Rights of Married Couples Each spouse already owns an undivided half of every community asset while both are alive.
Separate property is everything else: assets a spouse owned before the marriage, plus gifts and inheritances received individually during the marriage.2Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 123 – Rights of Married Couples – Section: NRS 123.130
When a spouse dies without a will, the survivor automatically takes the decedent’s half of community property on top of their own half, ending up with full ownership.3Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 123 – Rights of Married Couples – Section: NRS 123.250 Children and other relatives have no claim on community property in this situation. Every rule below about splitting an estate with children or parents applies only to the decedent’s separate property.4Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code Chapter 134 – Succession – Section: NRS 134.010 If the decedent had little or no separate property, the spouse may effectively inherit everything.
How Separate Property Is Divided When a Spouse Survives
If the decedent leaves a spouse and one child (or the descendants of one deceased child), the separate property is split in half: 50% to the spouse, 50% to the child or that child’s descendants.5Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 134.040 – Surviving Spouse and Issue
With two or more children, the spouse takes one-third and the children share the remaining two-thirds equally. When a child has died but left descendants of their own, those descendants step into that child’s place and divide the share by right of representation, meaning each branch of the family receives the portion the deceased relative would have taken.5Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 134.040 – Surviving Spouse and Issue
When there are no children or grandchildren, the split depends on who else survives:
- If one or both parents are alive, the spouse takes half. Two surviving parents split the other half (one-quarter each); one surviving parent takes the entire other half.6Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 134.050 – Surviving Spouse and No Issue; No Surviving Spouse or Issue but Parent
- If no parents survive but siblings do, the spouse still takes half and the siblings share the other half equally.6Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 134.050 – Surviving Spouse and No Issue; No Surviving Spouse or Issue but Parent
- If no children, parents, or siblings survive, the spouse inherits all of the separate property.6Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 134.050 – Surviving Spouse and No Issue; No Surviving Spouse or Issue but Parent
Many people assume a surviving spouse always inherits the entire estate. Under Nevada law, parents and siblings can pull away a significant share of separate property when there are no children.
Who Inherits When There Is No Surviving Spouse
With no spouse in the picture, the full estate (what would have been community property plus all separate property) passes through a strict order. The court moves down the chain until it finds living relatives.
Children and Their Descendants
The estate goes first to the decedent’s children in equal shares. A sole child inherits everything. If a child has already died but left descendants, those descendants take that child’s share by right of representation. When no children survive but grandchildren or later descendants do, the entire estate flows down to them through the same rules.7Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code Chapter 134 – Succession – Section: NRS 134.110
Parents
With no descendants, the estate goes to the decedent’s parents. If both are alive, they split it equally; if only one survives, that parent takes the whole estate.6Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 134.050 – Surviving Spouse and No Issue; No Surviving Spouse or Issue but Parent
Siblings and More Distant Relatives
If no descendants or parents survive, the estate passes to the brothers and sisters in equal shares, with a deceased sibling’s descendants inheriting that sibling’s share by representation. Beyond that, Nevada law moves to the next of kin in equal degree of relationship, with those tracing their connection through a nearer common ancestor preferred over those through a more remote one.8Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code Chapter 134 – Succession – Section: NRS 134.070 This is where aunts, uncles, and cousins may inherit.
If no relatives of any degree can be found after a thorough search, the estate escheats to the State of Nevada for educational purposes.9Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code Chapter 134 – Succession – Section: NRS 134.120 This is rare; courts look hard for distant kin before letting it happen.
Property That Passes Outside Intestate Succession
The chart above governs only probate assets. Several common asset types transfer directly to a named beneficiary or co-owner, regardless of what the intestacy statutes say:
- Property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship passes automatically to the surviving co-owner.10Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code NRS 132.210 – Joint Tenants With Right of Survivorship Defined
- Assets held in a living trust are distributed by the successor trustee under the trust document.
- Life insurance proceeds and retirement account balances go to whoever is named as beneficiary on the policy or account.
- Bank and brokerage accounts with transfer-on-death or payable-on-death designations pass directly to the named person.
A decedent with substantial jointly held real estate and beneficiary-designated accounts may leave only a small residual pool for the intestacy rules to govern. Outdated beneficiary designations cause real problems here: an ex-spouse still listed on a life insurance policy will receive the payout no matter what the intestacy chart would say.
Debts Come Before Heirs
Heirs receive nothing until the estate’s debts are paid, and Nevada sets a strict payment order. Administration expenses come first, followed by funeral costs, last-illness medical bills, family allowance payments to dependents, federal priority debts, Medicaid reimbursement to the Nevada Health Authority, limited employee wages, recorded judgments and mortgages, and finally all other unsecured debts such as credit cards.11Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code Chapter 147 – Presentation and Payment of Claims – Section: NRS 147.195 Categories are paid in sequence rather than proportionally. If the estate runs out at an early tier, later tiers get nothing, and heirs may receive nothing at all. The Medicaid line catches families off guard when the decedent received long-term care benefits.
Small Estate Shortcuts
Full probate is not always required. Nevada offers two streamlined paths for smaller estates.
Small Estate Affidavit
If the decedent owned no Nevada real property and the gross value of the remaining personal property falls below the statutory threshold, heirs can collect assets using a sworn affidavit instead of opening probate. The threshold is $100,000 for a surviving spouse and $25,000 for any other claimant.12Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code Chapter 146 – Support of Family; Small Estates – Section: NRS 146.080 Motor vehicles registered to the decedent and military service pay owed to the decedent are excluded from the calculation. The claimant must wait at least 40 days after the death before presenting the affidavit to the bank, brokerage, or other institution holding the property.
Court-Ordered Set Aside
For estates valued at $100,000 or less, the probate court can set aside the entire estate without full administration.13Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code Chapter 146 – Support of Family; Small Estates – Section: NRS 146.070 This still involves a court filing but avoids drawn-out formal probate, and unlike the affidavit route it is available even when the estate includes real property.
Premarital Agreements Can Change the Result
Nevada’s intestacy rules yield to an enforceable premarital agreement between the decedent and surviving spouse.14Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code Chapter 134 – Succession – Section: NRS 134.005 If a prenup reclassifies what would otherwise be community property, or waives a spouse’s inheritance rights, those terms control even when there is no will. Check for one before relying on the intestacy chart alone.