An estate plan is a set of legal documents that records how you want property handled and who you want to make financial or health-care decisions if you cannot. The documents included in a plan depend on the people, property, and responsibilities involved.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Estate, trust, and probate questions in Nevada and California
Find plain-language information about estate planning, existing trusts, trustee responsibilities, probate, and attorney local-counsel questions in Nevada and California.
General information only: These answers describe general estate, trust, and probate topics. They are not legal advice for a specific situation, and reading them does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Estate Planning, Trust & Will Services
A will states directions that take effect after death. A trust is a legal arrangement for holding and managing property under written terms. Some estate plans use a will, some use a trust, and some use both; the right documents depend on the details of the plan.
Review an estate plan after a meaningful change in your family, property, health, the people you have named, or the state where you live. A review is also worthwhile when older documents no longer feel consistent with your current wishes.
A financial power of attorney is a document that gives a person you choose authority to handle financial matters in the circumstances described in the document. It is separate from the documents used for health-care decisions.
An advance health-care directive records your health-care wishes and can identify the person you want to speak for you if you are unable to make medical decisions yourself.
Updates to Your Estate Plan
A revocable living trust is a trust that can generally be changed during the person’s lifetime. It names the people responsible for managing trust property and the people or organizations intended to benefit under the trust’s terms.
An existing trust should be reviewed when family relationships, property, trustees, beneficiaries, or personal priorities have changed. It is also sensible to review older documents when you are unsure whether they still describe the plan you want today.
An amendment changes selected parts of a trust. A restatement replaces the trust’s written terms with an updated version. The existing document and the changes you want to make help determine which approach should be reviewed.
Trust changes should be reviewed carefully before they are signed. Informal notes, unsigned pages, or changes that do not match the trust’s requirements can create confusion later. Heritage Law can review the existing document and the change you want to make.
Trust Administration
A successor trustee is the person or institution named to take responsibility for a trust when the original trustee dies, cannot serve, resigns, or otherwise stops serving. The trust document identifies the authority and responsibilities of that role.
Trust administration is the work of carrying out a trust after a trustee takes responsibility. It can involve identifying trust property, communicating with the people involved, keeping records, and following the directions in the trust document.
A trustee acts under the terms of a trust. A personal representative is appointed to administer an estate in probate. The same family may encounter one role, the other, or both depending on the documents and property involved.
Probate
Probate is the court process used to administer certain property after a person dies. The process can involve appointing a personal representative, addressing estate property and obligations, and distributing property under a will or the applicable Nevada or California law.
No. Whether probate is needed often depends on how property was owned, whether property was held in a trust, and whether beneficiary or survivorship designations apply. A review of the general facts can help identify the Nevada or California estate question that needs attention.
A personal representative is the person authorized to administer an estate in probate. The person may be named in a will or appointed through the probate court, depending on the matter.
Probate is a court process for administering an estate. Trust administration is carried out under the terms of a trust. Some matters involve one process, while others may involve both.
Attorney local counsel
Ancillary probate is an additional probate proceeding that can arise when property is located in a state other than the state where the primary estate proceeding is being handled. The appropriate process depends on the property, documents, and jurisdiction involved.
Nevada or California local counsel may be useful when an estate, trust, property, deed, or probate matter has a connection to either state and the primary attorney needs assistance in that jurisdiction. The attorney local-counsel page explains the appropriate non-confidential inquiry path.
Key terms
These definitions provide general context for the terms used throughout the site.
- Estate plan
- A set of legal documents that records how property and personal decision-making should be handled.
- Will
- A legal document that states how property should pass at death and can nominate guardians for minor children.
- Trust
- A legal arrangement in which a trustee manages property under the terms of the trust.
- Trustee
- A person or institution responsible for managing trust property under the terms of a trust.
- Beneficiary
- A person or organization named to receive property or benefits under a will, trust, policy, account designation, or other arrangement.
- Personal representative
- The person authorized to administer an estate in probate.
- Probate
- The court process used to administer certain property after a person dies.
- Ancillary probate
- An additional probate proceeding that can arise when property is located in a different state from the primary estate proceeding.
HERITAGE LAW
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