2005 Nevada Revised Statutes - Chapter 137 — Contests of Wills

CHAPTER 137 - CONTESTS OF WILLS

BEFORE PROBATE

NRS 137.010 Proceedingspreliminary to trial.

NRS 137.020 Trialof contest: Jury; costs.

NRS 137.030 Admissibilityof testimony concerning declarations of testator.

NRS 137.040 Evidenceof execution.

NRS 137.050 Verdictand judgment.

NRS 137.060 Orderadmitting will to probate.

NRS 137.070 Perpetuationof testimony.

AFTER PROBATE

NRS 137.080 Personsqualified to contest will; filing of petition.

NRS 137.090 Issuanceof citation.

NRS 137.100 Serviceof citation; trial; revocation of letters.

NRS 137.110 Costs.

NRS 137.120 Periodof limitation.

NRS 137.130 Probateof other will.

NRS 137.140 Appealfrom final order.

_________

BEFORE PROBATE

NRS 137.010 Proceedingspreliminary to trial.

1. The Attorney General or any interested person,including a devisee under a former will, may contest the will by filing writtengrounds of opposition to the probate thereof at any time before the hearing ofthe petition for probate. Personal notice must then be given by a citationdirected to the heirs of the decedent and to all interested persons, includingminors and incapacitated persons, wherever residing, directing them to plead tothe contest within 30 days after service of the citation in the manner providedin NRS 155.050.

2. A person so served may interpose any defense orobjection to the contest by any motion authorized by the Nevada Rules of CivilProcedure in civil actions. If the motion is granted, the court may allow thecontestant 10 days within which to amend the contest. If the motion is denied,the petitioner and other interested persons, within 10 days after the receiptof written notice thereof, may jointly or separately answer the contest. Thetimes specified in this section may be extended by the court.

[Part 18:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.18](NRS A 1999, 2268)

NRS 137.020 Trialof contest: Jury; costs.

1. In the contest, the contestant is plaintiff and thepetitioner is defendant. The written grounds of opposition constitute apleading and are subject to the same rules governing pleadings as in the caseof a complaint in a civil action.

2. An issue of fact involving the competency of thedecedent to make a will, the freedom of the decedent at the time of theexecution of the will from duress, menace, fraud or undue influence, the dueexecution and attestation of the will, or any other question substantiallyaffecting the validity of the will, must be tried by the court unless one ofthe parties demands a jury. The party demanding the jury shall advance the jurycosts.

3. Upon the determination of the contest, costs mustbe awarded in accordance with the provisions of chapter18 of NRS.

[Part 18:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.18](NRS A 1999, 2268)

NRS 137.030 Admissibilityof testimony concerning declarations of testator. Inthe contest, the testimony as to the declaration of a testator is admissible ifcontemporaneous with the execution of the will insofar as the declarationrelates to the testators intention, state of mind, feelings, competency, andthe existence or nonexistence of duress and undue influence.

[Part 18:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.18](NRS A 1999, 2269)

NRS 137.040 Evidenceof execution. If the will is contested, allthe subscribing witnesses who are present in the county and who are of soundmind must be produced and examined, or the death, absence or incapacity of anyof them must be satisfactorily shown to the court. If none of the subscribingwitnesses resides in the county, and the evidence of none of them can beproduced, the court may admit the evidence of other witnesses to prove the dueexecution of the will and, as evidence of the execution, it may admit proof ofthe handwriting of the testator and of any of the subscribing witnesses.

[19:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.19](NRS A 1999, 2269)

NRS 137.050 Verdictand judgment. The jury must return a specialverdict upon the issues submitted to them by the court; and upon the verdict,or upon the proof taken if a jury is waived, the court must render judgment,either admitting the will to probate or rejecting it.

[Part 18:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.18]

NRS 137.060 Orderadmitting will to probate. If the court issatisfied upon the proof taken when heard by the court, or by the verdict of ajury if a jury is had, that the will was duly executed by the testator, who wasat the time of sound and disposing mind and not under duress, menace, undueinfluence or fraudulent representation, the court, by order in writing, shalladmit the will to probate.

[20:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.20](NRS A 1999, 2269)

NRS 137.070 Perpetuationof testimony. The testimony of each subscribingwitness who has testified must be reduced to writing, signed in the form of anaffidavit or deposition and filed with the court, and is admissible in evidencein any subsequent contest of the will if the witness has died or haspermanently moved from the State.

[21:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.21](NRS A 1999, 2269)

AFTER PROBATE

NRS 137.080 Personsqualified to contest will; filing of petition. Aftera will has been admitted to probate, any interested person other than a partyto a contest before probate or a person who had actual notice of the previouscontest in time to have joined therein may, at any time within 3 months afterthe order is entered admitting the will to probate, contest the admission orthe validity of the will. The contestant must file with the court in which thewill was proved a petition containing the allegations of the contestant againstthe validity of the will or against the sufficiency of the proof, andrequesting that the probate be revoked.

[22:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.22](NRS A 1999, 2269)

NRS 137.090 Issuanceof citation. Upon filing the petition, andwithin the time allowed for filing the petition, a citation must be issued,directed to the personal representative and to all the devisees mentioned inthe will, and the heirs, so far as known to the petitioner, including minorsand incapacitated persons, or the personal representative of any such personwho is dead, directing them to plead to the contest within 30 days afterservice of the citation.

[23:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.23](NRS A 1999, 2269)

NRS 137.100 Serviceof citation; trial; revocation of letters. Thecitation must be served and proceedings had thereunder as in the case of acontest before probate. If the jury finds or the court decides that the will isinvalid or is not the last will of the testator, the court shall enter an orderrevoking the probate of the will and letters testamentary. Thereupon the powersof the personal representative cease, but the personal representative is notliable for any act done in good faith before the revocation.

[24:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.24](NRS A 1999, 2270)

NRS 137.110 Costs. If the probate is not revoked, the costs of trial must bepaid by the contestant. If the probate is revoked, the costs must be paid bythe party who resisted the revocation or out of the property of the decedent,as the court may direct in accordance with the provisions of chapter 18 of NRS.

[25:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.25](NRS A 1999, 2270)

NRS 137.120 Periodof limitation. If no person contests thevalidity of a will or of the probate thereof, within the time specified in NRS 137.080, the probate of the will isconclusive.

[26:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.26]

NRS 137.130 Probateof other will. Failure to contest a will doesnot preclude the subsequent probate of a will executed later in point of timethan the one previously admitted to probate.

[27:107:1941; 1931 NCL 9882.27](NRS A 1999, 2270)

NRS 137.140 Appealfrom final order. An appeal from a final orderdetermining the contest of a will is governed by the Nevada Rules of AppellateProcedure, and the notice of appeal must be filed with the clerk of thedistrict court not later than 30 days after the date of service of writtennotice of entry of a final order. A party may make any motion after thedetermination that is provided by the Nevada Rules of Civil Procedure.

(Added to NRS by 1999, 2268; A 2001, 2343)

 

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