1. If the public administrator or a person employed or contracted with pursuant to NRS 253.125, as applicable, finds that there is no qualified person willing and able to administer the estate of a particular decedent, the public administrator or person shall investigate further to estimate its gross value.

2. If the estate appears to have a gross value of $100,000 or less, the public administrator or person employed or contracted with pursuant to NRS 253.125, as applicable, shall:

(a) Assist a proper person to petition to have it set aside without administration or directly receive the assets from a custodian, as the facts may warrant;

(b) Himself or herself petition to have the estate set aside without administration and properly distributed; or

(c) Administer the estate pursuant to NRS 253.0403.

3. If the estate appears to have a gross value of more than $100,000:

(a) The public administrator or person employed or contracted with pursuant to NRS 253.125, as applicable, shall proceed with summary or full administration as the value of the estate requires.

(b) The public administrator or person employed or contracted with pursuant to NRS 253.125, as applicable, may retain an attorney to assist him or her, rotating this employment in successive estates among the attorneys practicing in the county who are qualified by experience and willing to serve. The attorney’s fee is a charge upon the estate.

(Added to NRS by 1979, 992; A 1989, 1040; 1991, 197; 1999, 919; 2009, 2271; 2019, 1540)