Deed upon death can pass on real property

In Nevada, a deed upon death can be used to pass real property to a beneficiary upon the death of the original owner.

A deed upon death is similar to a regular deed used to transfer real property, except it does not take effect until the grantor’s death, at which time the real property passes to the beneficiary named in the deed, thus the person who will inherit the property.

A deed upon death must be signed by the owner of the real property and the signature must be notarized. The beneficiary does not need to sign it. Then, the document must be recorded at the Recorder’s Office in the county where the real property is located. If there is a pre-existing last will or an earlier deed upon death, the execution and recording of the new deed upon death will supersede either an earlier last will or an earlier document.

When the title to real property is held by joint tenants with right of survivorship, all joint tenants can execute the deed upon death and the real property will pass to the beneficiary after all of the joint tenants have died. Any joint tenant can also execute the deed upon death individually, but the real property will pass to the beneficiary only if the grantor is the last surviving joint tenant to die. The deed upon death will work similarly if the real property is owned as community property with right of survivorship.

When the title to real property is held by tenants in common, then each tenant in common may, and should, transfer his or her interest individually. In that case, the deed upon death will transfer only the deceased tenant’s share of the real property to the beneficiary upon the grantor’s death.

Anyone can be named as a beneficiary of a deed upon death: a single person, several people, or even an organization or a charity. However, when naming multiple beneficiaries, how the co-beneficiaries should hold the title to the real property in the future should be considered. Also, when naming a minor beneficiary, it is important to remember that any such real property would actually be managed by an adult.

The rights of the real property owner are not impacted upon the execution of the deed upon death. In other words, the owner retains full ownership and control over the real property and remains responsible for any expenses related to the real property, such as taxes, mortgage, insurance, etc. The real property can still be sold, gifted, or mortgaged. On the other hand, the beneficiary named in the deed upon death does not have any rights to the real property until the death of the original owner.

The execution of a deed upon death does not affect Medicaid eligibility because the real property is not given away during the lifetime of the owner. Thus, the existence of the deed upon death does not “spend down” one’s assets for the purpose of qualifying for Medicaid. However, if the owner of real property receives Medicaid benefits, the real property passed by deed upon death might be subject to Medicaid’s claim for reimbursement.

Similarly, if upon the death of the real property owner the probate estate of the decedent is insufficient to satisfy the decedent’s creditors and statutory allowances (the amounts one’s spouse and children are entitled to upon the decedent’s death), the real property passed by deed upon death would be subject to creditor’s claims. However, the liability to creditors would not pass to the beneficiary and would be limited to the value of the real property.