PROBATE
What is the difference between probate and a trust administration?
By Steve Lockhart
The short answer
The two processes exist for the same purpose, moving assets to the next generation, but they run in very different rooms. Probate happens in the district court, under the supervision of a judge, with public filings, set deadlines, and court approval for major steps such as selling real estate.
Full answer
The two processes exist for the same purpose, moving assets to the next generation, but they run in very different rooms. Probate happens in the district court, under the supervision of a judge, with public filings, set deadlines, and court approval for major steps such as selling real estate. Trust administration happens privately, guided by the trust document and Nevada's trust law, with a successor trustee managing the assets and distributing them to the beneficiaries, usually without any court involvement.
Why does one family face probate and another not? Because the deceased person's planning decided it years earlier. A house deeded into a living trust during the owner's lifetime is a trust asset, and it passes under the trust when they die. A house that stayed titled in the owner's name alone becomes part of the probate estate. Property held in joint tenancy, or with a beneficiary deed, avoids both, passing by operation of the title itself.
If a trust holds the family home, the trustee still faces real estate decisions: whether to sell, distribute to beneficiaries, rent, or hold. The difference is speed and privacy: no court calendar, no public record of the estate's business. Even so, both paths benefit from the same real estate discipline, honest valuation, market timing, and a strategy built around what the family wants to happen with the home.
A note about legal guidance: Steve is a licensed Realtor, not an attorney or a tax advisor. Probate, estate, and related tax questions involve Nevada law and IRS rules, and the specifics of your situation deserve a review with a probate attorney and a CPA who know your case.
Go a little deeper
Frequently asked
Questions people often follow up on
Does a trust always avoid probate?
For the assets actually held in the trust, yes, generally. Assets the person never put in the trust, such as a house titled outside it, remain part of the probate estate. The trust avoids probate only for what it holds.
Who runs a trust administration?
The successor trustee named in the trust document. They take control of the trust assets, pay the trust's obligations, and distribute to the beneficiaries according to the trust's terms, usually without court supervision.
Which is faster, probate or trust administration?
Trust administration is typically faster and more private, since it skips the court calendar and the public record. Probate adds the court's schedule and filing requirements on top of the same asset work.
The Lockhart Method
The Lockhart Method
Your Home | My Strategy | Proven Results
My strategy: start with the title, because the title picks the process. A quick review of how the home is titled, with the family's attorney, tells us whether we are running a probate, a trust administration, or neither, and the home strategy follows from there rather than before it.
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