1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 2, a public administrator or a person employed or contracted with pursuant to NRS 253.125, as applicable, with regard to the personal property of the estate of a decedent, may donate property that has a value of less than $250 to a nonprofit organization, or destroy property that has a value of less than $100, if a notice of intent to donate or destroy the property is mailed by certified mail or delivered personally to the decedent’s next of kin and the property is not claimed within 15 days.

2. A public administrator or a person employed or contracted with pursuant to NRS 253.125, as applicable, may authorize the immediate destruction of the property of a decedent, without giving notice to the next of kin, if:

(a) The administrator or a person employed or contracted with pursuant to NRS 253.125, as applicable, determines that the property has been contaminated by vermin or biological or chemical agents;

(b) The expenses related to the decontamination of the property cause salvage to be impractical;

(c) The property constitutes an immediate threat to public health or safety;

(d) The handling, transfer or storage of the property may endanger public health or safety or exacerbate contamination; and

(e) The value of the property is less than $100 or, if the value of the property is $100 or more, a state or local health officer has endorsed the destruction of the property.

(Added to NRS by 1991, 12; A 1999, 918; 2009, 2269; 2019, 1538)