Death of Grantor Affidavit Nevada —
the last step before the house is yours.
Your parent recorded a deed upon death. Then they died. The property is legally yours already — but the county still shows their name, the assessor has no idea, and nothing moves until one affidavit is recorded. We prepare it, complete the Declaration of Value, and record it with the county for a flat $225.
The three documents the recorder must receive
Nevada does not accept the affidavit on its own. All three go across the counter as one package.
- The Death of Grantor AffidavitSigned by the beneficiary, notarized, in the form Nevada prescribes for a Death of Grantor Affidavit.
- A certified death certificateOne for every grantor named on the deed upon death. A photocopy will be rejected.
- A completed Declaration of ValueThe Nevada Tax Commission form. Any transfer-tax exemption is claimed here.
What happens after the owner of a Nevada deed upon death dies?
Title passes to the beneficiary the moment the last grantor dies. No probate case is opened. But the public record still names the deceased owner, so the beneficiary records a Death of Grantor Affidavit to perfect title — sworn and notarized, with a certified copy of each grantor’s death certificate and a completed Declaration of Value attached, filed in the county where the deed upon death was recorded.
Three things surprise almost everyone. Nevada transfer tax is usually due at this step, even though none was owed when the deed upon death was recorded — unless the grantor and the beneficiary were spouses, or parent and child. The mortgage comes with the house: the property passes subject to every lien that existed on the day of death. And creditors of the estate have eighteen months to reach the property, which is why many title insurers will not write a policy until that window closes.
TruPoint prepares the affidavit and the Declaration of Value for a flat $225, arranges notarization, and e-records the package with the county — typically within one to three business days, in any Nevada county. The county’s recording fee runs $37 to $42 and is not ours.
A sworn statement that closes the loop.
A Death of Grantor Affidavit is not a deed. It transfers nothing. It is the beneficiary’s sworn statement, recorded with the county, that the person named as grantor on the deed upon death is the same person named on the attached death certificate — and that the affiant is the beneficiary that deed named.
- It identifies the deed upon death by its recording date, document number, book and page.
- It describes the property as the deed described it, and names the beneficiaries.
- It is signed by the beneficiary and notarized, in the form Nevada prescribes.
- It records with a certified death certificate and a completed Declaration of Value.
Until it is recorded, the assessor will keep sending tax bills to a dead person, a title company will not clear the chain, and no lender will touch the property. The transfer already happened. The record has not caught up.
Nobody plans for this week. Here you are.
Your parent left you the house
They recorded a deed upon death years ago and told you it was handled. It was — up to this point. One filing remains, and it is yours to make.
The second owner has now died
Two grantors signed the deed upon death. Nothing happened when the first one died. It is the death of the last grantor that starts the clock.
You need to sell, and title is stuck
An agent or a title officer told you the record still shows the deceased owner. Until the affidavit records, there is nothing for them to insure.
What a Death of Grantor Affidavit settles — and what it leaves open.
The form sites hand you a blank and imply the matter is closed. It is not. Knowing which parts the affidavit handles, and which parts it never touches, is the difference between a clean transfer and a surprise.
What it settles
- It puts the beneficiary’s name on the public record as owner
- It tells the county assessor who to bill going forward
- It gives a title company the document it needs to read the chain
- It closes out the deed upon death without opening a probate case
- It is the moment any transfer-tax exemption is claimed, on the Declaration of Value
What it does not settle
- The mortgage — the property passes with every lien that existed on the day of death
- Creditors of the estate, who have eighteen months to reach the property
- Title insurance, which many insurers withhold until that window closes
- The notices Nevada expects a beneficiary to give, including to Medicaid
- Any dispute among beneficiaries about who takes what
- Whether the transfer tax is owed — the recorder decides that at the counter
Three things you find out at the worst moment.
Every one of these is documented by Las Vegas attorneys who have watched it happen. None of them appear on the form you can download for a few dollars.
Transfer tax is usually due now
No transfer tax was owed when the deed upon death was recorded. It becomes due when the beneficiary records this affidavit — unless the grantor and the beneficiary were spouses, or parent and child. Proving that relationship to the assessor means producing original certificates, not copies.
Eighteen months before you can sell cleanly
Creditors of the estate may reach the property for eighteen months after the grantor’s death. Because of that window, many title insurers will not write a policy until it closes — and a buyer who needs a mortgage needs that policy.
The mortgage comes with the house
A deed upon death passes the property subject to every lien on it at the moment of death. The loan does not disappear, and the beneficiary who wants to keep the house has to keep paying it.
Three steps, and the record says your name.
We read the recorded deed
We pull the deed upon death as the recorder holds it, confirm the last grantor has died, confirm you are the named beneficiary, and check whether the transfer looks taxable.
We prepare the package
The Death of Grantor Affidavit is drafted to the statutory form, referencing the deed by document number, book and page. We complete the Declaration of Value and arrange notarization.
We record it for you
Affidavit, certified death certificate and Declaration go to the county together — typically recorded within one to three business days. Your recorded copy comes back to you.
A short list, and we take it from there.
- A certified copy of the death certificate for each grantor named on the deed — ordered from Nevada Vital Records or the county health district. Photocopies are rejected.
- The recorded deed upon death, or its document number. We can pull it if you do not have it.
- Your relationship to the deceased owner, and any documents that evidence it.
- The property’s assessor parcel number, if you have it.
One filing, or a court case.
The whole point of a deed upon death is that the house never enters probate. The beneficiary records an affidavit and the record catches up. That is one document, one recording fee, and a few days.
Without a recorded deed upon death, the same house goes through Nevada probate — a court case, a personal representative, a notice to creditors, and months. The affidavit is the reward for the paperwork the deceased owner did while they were alive.
Nevada also expects a beneficiary to give notice to certain parties, including the state Medicaid program and known creditors of the estate. That is a separate obligation from recording the affidavit, and it is one where many people work with a Nevada attorney.
A Registered Document Preparer, not a form website.
Every Death of Grantor Affidavit is prepared by Quinnie Do, a registered and bonded Nevada Document Preparation Service and a Notary Public. She reads the recorded deed upon death before she drafts anything, because an affidavit that misnames the deed it perfects perfects nothing.
She prepares documents in Nevada under her Nevada registration, and in California under a separate California credential that carries no authority here. She is also an IRS-registered tax return preparer and an IRS Certifying Acceptance Agent for ITIN applications — useful when a beneficiary holds a passport rather than a Social Security number. Nevada requires her name, address, phone and registration number on every document she prepares.
Know every line before we begin.
One Las Vegas firm charges $500 for an affidavit of death, and publishes $542 for a first deed. A national form site will sell you the blank for a few dollars and leave the rest to you. We publish every line, including the ones that are not ours.
The tax that arrives late.
Nevada’s Real Property Transfer Tax is a one-time government charge collected by the county recorder when ownership changes hands. It is $2.55 per $500 of value in Clark County, $2.05 in Washoe, and $1.95 across most of the state. It is never part of our fee.
Nothing was owed when the deed was recorded
A deed upon death conveys nothing while the owner lives, so no transfer tax is charged when it is recorded. That is why the tax feels like it comes out of nowhere.
Spouse to spouse, and parent to child
Nevada exempts transfers between spouses and between a parent and a child. Where the deed upon death runs along one of those lines, the exemption is claimed on the Declaration of Value.
Exempt is not the same as unrecorded
An exempt filing still records, still needs the Declaration of Value, and still pays the recorder’s flat fee. The exemption changes the tax, not the filing.
Other exemptions people ask about
Transfers by divorce decree; into or out of a trust without consideration with a certificate of trust; and entity transfers where beneficial ownership does not change.
If you were not the spouse or the child, the tax is due
A grandchild, a sibling, a friend, a niece, a partner — none of those relationships carry the exemption on their own. And where the exemption does apply, the assessor will want original certificates proving it, not photocopies. Gather them before you file. We can explain what the exemptions are; whether one applies to your filing is not a call a document preparation service is permitted to make.
Check us with the state before you pay a dollar.
You are grieving, and that is exactly when people get taken. Nevada publishes its registry of document preparation services. The recorder publishes its requirements. Washoe County publishes the affidavit form itself. Read all three, and hold us to them.
Nevada Secretary of State
The document preparation service program: who must register, what the state requires, and how to file a complaint.
nvsos.gov ↗Clark County Recorder
Where the affidavit records, what it costs, and the office’s own recording requirements.
clarkcountynv.gov ↗The affidavit form itself
Washoe County publishes the Death of Grantor Affidavit. Read what we will be filling in on your behalf.
washoecourts.com ↗
Filed where the deed was filed, not where you live.
The affidavit records in the county where the deed upon death was recorded. If your mother lived in Las Vegas and you live in San Jose, the filing is in Clark County, and you never need to come to the counter.
We e-record in every Nevada county. Clark County records documents on the spot; the rural recorders are slower to return proof. Recording speed is the recorder’s decision, so we tell you what is typical rather than promise a date.
If this is not the right filing.
Affidavit of death of joint tenant
When two people held title as joint tenants and one died. No deed upon death involved.
Joint Tenant Affidavit →Grant, bargain and sale deed
Nevada’s standard conveyance, once the property is yours and you want to move it on.
Grant, Bargain & Sale →Record a document in Clark County
Recorder fees, the Declaration of Value, and how we e-record the package for you.
Clark County →Every Nevada deed we prepare
The hub: transfers, quitclaims, deeds upon death, trust funding and entity deeds.
Deeds & Title Transfers →Who prepares your affidavit
Quinnie Do, a registered Nevada document preparer whose name goes on the document.
About TruPoint →Nevada document preparation
Deeds, living trusts, lender documents and name changes, statewide.
Home →Fingerscan Digital — our sister service
Fingerprinting, apostille, and Live Scan are handled by Fingerscan Digital. It operates separately from TruPoint and answers a different phone number.
Answered plainly, because this week is hard enough.
Title passes to the beneficiary automatically, without probate, the moment the last grantor dies. To put that on the public record, the beneficiary signs a Death of Grantor Affidavit before a notary and records it in the county where the deed upon death was recorded, with a certified copy of each grantor’s death certificate and a completed Declaration of Value attached.
It is a sworn statement, recorded with the county, confirming that the person named as grantor on a deed upon death is the same person named on the attached death certificate, and that the person signing is a beneficiary that deed named. Nevada prescribes the form. It transfers nothing on its own — the deed upon death already did that. It updates the record.
Usually yes, and this catches people. No transfer tax was owed when the deed upon death was recorded, because nothing was conveyed while the owner lived. Transfer tax becomes due when the beneficiary records the affidavit — unless the grantor and the beneficiary were spouses, or parent and child.
In Clark County the rate is $2.55 per $500 of value. On a $400,000 home that is roughly $2,040. Where the exemption applies, the county assessor will ask for original certificates evidencing the relationship, not photocopies. Whether your particular filing qualifies is not something a document preparation service is permitted to decide for you.
TruPoint charges a flat $225 to read the recorded deed, draft the affidavit to the statutory form, and complete the Declaration of Value. Notarization is $15 for the first signature and $7 for each additional. Electronic recording is $50. The county recorder charges $37 to $42 depending on the county. A parent-to-child filing in Clark County with one signature comes to $332 in total, with the transfer tax exempt.
For comparison, one Las Vegas firm charges $500 for an affidavit of death and publishes $542 for a first deed. A national form site sells the blank for a few dollars and leaves the rest to you. We are not the cheapest, and we say so.
No. Nevada requires a certified copy of the death certificate for each grantor named on the deed upon death, attached to the affidavit when it records. Order certified copies from Nevada Vital Records or the county health district before you file. Order more than one — banks, insurers and the assessor will each want their own.
You own it, so you may sell it. Whether a buyer can finance it is a different question. Creditors of the deceased owner’s estate may reach property that passed by deed upon death for eighteen months after the death, and because of that window many title insurers will not write a policy until it closes. A buyer needing a mortgage needs that policy. A cash buyer may not.
Yes. A deed upon death passes the property subject to every lien that existed at the moment of the grantor’s death. The mortgage, any judgment lien, any tax lien — all of it comes with the house. Inheriting outside probate is not the same as inheriting free and clear.
Nevada expects a beneficiary to give notice to certain parties, including the state Medicaid program and known creditors of the estate, and a 90-day notice to creditors is commonly published in a newspaper. One Las Vegas firm puts the Clark County publication cost at about $80 as of January 2026. Those obligations sit outside the recording, and they are a common reason people speak with a Nevada attorney. We prepare and record the affidavit; we do not advise on the notices.
Nothing yet, as far as this affidavit is concerned. It is the death of the last grantor that triggers the filing. Where two grantors signed the deed upon death, the beneficiary records the affidavit after the second one dies, and attaches a certified death certificate for each of them.
The affidavit names every beneficiary the deed upon death named, and any one of them, or an authorized representative, may sign it. A beneficiary who does not want the interest may disclaim it under Nevada law rather than take title. If the beneficiaries disagree about what happens next, that is a dispute, and a dispute needs a lawyer, not an affidavit.
No, and they are easy to confuse. A Death of Grantor Affidavit perfects title under a recorded deed upon death. An Affidavit of Death of Joint Tenant clears a deceased co-owner from a title held in joint tenancy, where no deed upon death exists. Different instrument, different statute, different facts. If you are not sure which one your situation calls for, send us the recorded documents and we will tell you what we see.
Then there is nothing for this affidavit to perfect, and the house does not pass this way. Depending on how title was held and what the estate is worth, the route may be a probate case, a small-estate affidavit, or a joint-tenant affidavit. We will read the recorded documents and tell you what the record shows — and if what you need is a probate lawyer, we will say that instead of selling you a document.
Every Nevada county, recorded electronically.
Nevada has 16 counties plus Carson City — seventeen recording jurisdictions, and we e-record in all of them. You never visit a counter, and it does not matter where you live. The document records in the county where the property sits.
One filing, and the record finally says your name.
Send us the recorded deed upon death and the certified death certificate. We will tell you what the county will charge, whether the transfer looks taxable, and every line of our own fee — in English or Vietnamese, before you owe anything.
I am not an attorney in the State of Nevada. I am not authorized to give legal advice or legal representation. I may not accept fees for giving legal advice or legal representation.
TruPoint Deed Services · TruPoint LLC, a registered Nevada Document Preparation Service (NRS Chapter 240A) · 8784 S. Maryland Pkwy, Suite 105, Las Vegas, NV 89123 · (408) 766-3532 · info@trupointdeeds.com