Certificate of ownership in beneficiary form: Application; issuance to tenant in common prohibited; contents; effect; revocation; encumbrances; duties of Department; transfer upon death not testamentary.
Nev. Rev. Stat. § 488.1794
in effect1. The owner or joint owners of a power-driven vessel may request the Department to issue a certificate of ownership in beneficiary form for the power-driven vessel which includes a directive to the Department to transfer the certificate of ownership upon the death of the owner or upon the death of all joint owners to a beneficiary named on the face of the certificate of ownership.
2. A request made pursuant to subsection 1 must be submitted on an application made available by the Department and accompanied by the fee for the issuance of a certificate of ownership.
3. A certificate of ownership in beneficiary form may not be issued to a person who holds an interest in a power-driven vessel as a tenant in common with another person.
4. A certificate of ownership in beneficiary form must include after the name of the owner, or after the names of joint owners, the words transfer on death to or the abbreviation TOD followed by the name of the beneficiary.
5. During the lifetime of a sole owner or before the death of the last surviving joint owner:
(a) The signature or consent of the beneficiary is not required for any transaction relating to a power-driven vessel for which a certificate of ownership in beneficiary form has been issued; and
(b) The certificate of ownership in beneficiary form may be revoked or the beneficiary changed at any time by:
(1) Sale of the power-driven vessel with proper assignment and delivery of the certificate of ownership to another person; or
(2) Filing an application with, and paying a fee to, the Department to reissue the certificate of ownership with no designation of a beneficiary or with the designation of a different beneficiary.
6. The interest of the beneficiary in a power-driven vessel on the death of the sole owner or on the death of the last surviving joint owner is subject to any contract of sale, assignment or ownership or security interest to which the owner or owners of the power-driven vessel were subject during their lifetime.
7. Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (b) of subsection 5, the designation of a beneficiary in a certificate of ownership in beneficiary form may not be changed or revoked by will, any other instrument or a change in circumstances, or otherwise changed or revoked.
8. The Department shall, upon:
(a) Proof of death of one of the owners, of two or more joint owners or of a sole owner;
(b) Surrender of the outstanding certificate of ownership in beneficiary form; and
(c) Application and payment of the fee for a certificate of ownership,
Ê issue a new certificate of ownership for the power-driven vessel to the surviving owner or owners or, if none, to the beneficiary, subject to any security interest.
9. For the purposes of complying with the provisions of subsection 8, the Department may rely on a death certificate, record or report that constitutes prima facie evidence of death.
10. The transfer on death of a power-driven vessel pursuant to this section is not considered as testamentary and is not subject to administration pursuant to the provisions of title 12 of NRS.
11. As used in this section:
(a) Beneficiary means a person or persons designated to become the owner or owners of a power-driven vessel on the death of the preceding owner or owners.
(b) Certificate of ownership in beneficiary form means a certificate of ownership of a power-driven vessel that indicates the present owner or owners of the power-driven vessel and designates a beneficiary.
Source: NV Statutes (Official Site)URL: https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-488.htmlFetched: 10/4/2026