Same law, different name
Nevada adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act in 2011, codified at NRS § 111.655 through § 111.699. Every other state that adopted this uniform law calls the resulting instrument a "transfer on death deed" or "TOD deed." Nevada's own statute takes a different naming approach: under NRS § 111.671, the instrument is officially called a Deed Upon Death — a genuinely distinctive terminology choice that shows up throughout Nevada's specific statutory language, forms, and title-industry practice, even though the underlying legal mechanics track the uniform act closely.
Notarized, no witnesses, recorded during life
The deed must contain all the essential elements and formalities of a properly recordable inter vivos deed, be executed by the owner, and be properly recorded during the owner's lifetime with the county recorder where the property is located. Nevada requires no witnesses — just notarization. Until recorded, the deed has no effect at all.
Real flexibility in how beneficiaries take title
Nevada's Deed Upon Death statute gives owners genuine flexibility when naming multiple beneficiaries: they can take title as joint tenants with right of survivorship, as tenants in common, or as community property. This built-in choice lets an owner tailor exactly how their beneficiaries will hold the property going forward, rather than defaulting automatically to just one form.
A formal notice to creditors — including Medicaid
After the owner's death, the beneficiary has real work to do before the transfer is fully settled: they must publish and mail a notice to creditors, and this notice specifically must go to the state Medicaid agency as well as ordinary creditors. Creditors then have 90 days from that notice to file a claim against the property. This is a considerably more formal, affirmative notice procedure than many other states require for their TOD-deed-style instruments — it isn't simply a passive waiting period, but an active publication-and-mailing obligation placed on the beneficiary.
Not a shield against Medicaid estate recovery
Because of that specific Medicaid-agency notice requirement, it's worth being direct about what a Deed Upon Death does and doesn't accomplish: property transferred this way remains subject to Medicaid estate recovery, even though it successfully avoids the probate process itself. Someone hoping a Deed Upon Death will shield property from a state Medicaid recovery claim is likely to be disappointed — avoiding probate and avoiding Medicaid recovery are two separate questions, and this tool only solves the first one.
Joint ownership still comes first
A Deed Upon Death made by one joint owner takes effect only if that owner turns out to be the last surviving joint owner — unless every co-owner joins the deed together. See our guide to Nevada community property and joint tenancy for how that underlying co-ownership question gets decided in the first place.
Revocation follows the same recorded-instrument rule
A Deed Upon Death can be revoked at any time before death, but revocation must follow the proper legal procedure — recording a revocation instrument, or a later Deed Upon Death, with the county recorder. If two or more co-owners made the deed together, one owner revoking it alone has no effect unless that owner is the last surviving co-owner; while both are alive, they can revoke it together at any time.