Washoe County, NV Probate Information

The most common Washoe County misstep is filing before you know what the estate holds and which path fits. Nevada offers several routes, from a small-estate affidavit that avoids opening a case at all, to a set-aside without administration, summary administration under NRS Chapter 145 (NRS 145.040), and full general administration. Which one applies depends on the value and type of the assets and on whether the decedent left Nevada real property; the thresholds are statewide and are covered on the Nevada state page. The path you choose determines what you file with the Clerk of the District Court and whether you open a court proceeding at all.

Before you file, identify every bank, credit-union, brokerage, and retirement account, life-insurance policy, vehicle, business interest, and parcel of Washoe County real estate, along with every debt, and identify each heir and beneficiary by name. Only then can you pick the right path, calculate the correct filing-fee tier, and decide whether counsel is needed. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.

The Second Judicial District Court serves all of Washoe County, including Reno, Sparks, Incline Village, Sun Valley, Verdi, Gerlach, and the county's unincorporated communities. Every Washoe County probate is filed with the Clerk of the District Court at 75 Court Street, Room 125, in downtown Reno. Under Nevada's venue rule (NRS 136.010), a district court may take jurisdiction of an estate if the decedent resided in Nevada at death or left estate property in the state, and venue is proper in any Nevada district court subject to a convenience objection; in practice, an estate of a Washoe County resident, or one holding Washoe County real property, is filed here.

Washoe County is one of only two Nevada counties with a dedicated Probate Division. Probate matters are heard by a probate judge, the Honorable David Hardy, and a Probate Commissioner, Edmund J. Gorman, Jr. The Probate Division handles trusts and estates of deceased persons but, as the court states, does not assist the public in filing or processing probate matters (Nevada Supreme Court Rule 44); self-represented filers prepare their own paperwork and can get help at the Washoe County Law Library rather than from the division staff.

E-filing is mandatory through eFlex. The court states that electronic filing is mandatory for all case types by administrative order, through the court's own eFlex portal at wceflex.washoecourts.com. This is the Second Judicial District's own system, not the statewide vendor portal that Clark County uses. Filers who have trouble can get in-person help at the Resource Center, One South Sierra Street, 3rd Floor, but the filing still goes through their eFlex account.

A probate judge and a Probate Commissioner. Washoe County runs a dedicated Probate Division. Probate matters are heard by a probate judge, the Honorable David Hardy, and a Probate Commissioner, Edmund J. Gorman, Jr. The Probate Division handles trusts and estates but does not assist the public in filing or processing probate matters (Nevada Supreme Court Rule 44).

You prepare your own paperwork. Because the division does not draft or process paperwork for the public, and the court provides no forms for set-aside, summary administration, or general administration cases, self-represented filers draft or adapt those petitions themselves and can research at the Washoe County Law Library, 75 Court Street, Room 101. The library's Lawyer in the Library program offers a free 15-minute Zoom session with a volunteer Nevada attorney; probate sessions run the first and third Wednesday of the month, 5 to 7 p.m., with appointment requests accepted first-come, first-served beginning Thursdays at 9:00 a.m. The volunteer attorney answers questions but cannot fill out your forms.

Hearings are set by request, not on a fixed calendar. Rather than publishing fixed probate hearing days, the court has filers set a hearing through its online hearing-request form. Once set, check the probate calendar two weeks before the hearing: the assigned priority code tells you whether you need to appear, code 1 is approved and needs no appearance, while codes 2 or 4 require one.

Remote appearance is published. Telephonic appearance is available through the court's published toll-free dial-in, so an out-of-area personal representative can often handle a required appearance without traveling to Reno. Check the priority code for your matter before the hearing date.

Many Washoe County families complete an uncontested probate on their own, using carefully adapted forms, the eFlex portal, and the free help at the Washoe County Law Library, though the court itself notes that set-aside, summary administration, and general administration are complex cases you may want to file with professional help. Counsel makes sense when a matter is contested, such as a will contest, an objection to an accounting, or a fiduciary-removal fight; when the estate is insolvent or its solvency is in doubt; when Washoe County real property must be sold and the sale needs court authority; when a business interest or an out-of-state asset complicates administration; or when heirs are in conflict. Because the Probate Division does not prepare paperwork for the public, an attorney can also simply take the drafting and e-filing off your hands. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Washoe County probate attorney when the situation calls for counsel.

Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit-union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Washoe County real estate, business interests, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value during estate settlement and can pick the right Nevada probate path before you file.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the Washoe County filing: the petition for letters testamentary or letters of administration, the notice and proof of publication and mailing, the inventory, and the supporting documents, formatted for upload through the court's eFlex portal.

Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Washoe County probate attorney.

Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).