Questions people actually ask

You keep your originals. We make the copies you ask for, mail anything that has to be mailed, and retain only the notarial journal record that Nevada law requires us to keep.

We will explain what each document does and what it asks you to sign. We cannot tell you which one to choose — that is a legal question, and choosing for you would be practicing law without a license. If your call turns out to be one of those, we will say so on the call rather than guess.

Sometimes, and it depends entirely on how title was held and on whether a deed upon death was recorded while they were alive. Tell us what the last recorded deed says and we will tell you whether this is a document we can prepare and record, or whether what you need is a probate attorney. Both answers are free.

The full legal name of everybody going on or coming off title, how title is currently held, the assessor’s parcel number, the existing deed if you have a copy of it, and current photo ID for every signer. If you are missing something on that list, call anyway — most of it can be found before the appointment.

A trust only controls what has actually been put into it, and real property moves into a trust by a deed that gets recorded. Whether yours should be is a question for the attorney who drew the trust. If the answer is yes, preparing, notarizing and recording that deed is exactly the work we do.

No. Drafting a trust around your circumstances is the practice of law and we are not attorneys. We notarize trusts drawn by your attorney, and we prepare and record the deeds that move property into one.

Once recorded, Nevada law protects the equity in your home up to $605,000 from general creditor claims — medical bills, credit cards, personal and business loans, accidents. The homestead law is NRS 115. It does not protect you against a mortgage or deed of trust, taxes, IRS liens, mechanic’s liens, or child support and alimony.

Land with a dwelling house on it and its appurtenances qualifies, so does a condominium unit, and so does a mobile home — whether or not you own the land it sits on. One dwelling at a time: the declaration is for the home you actually live in.

We do. Anything that touches real property goes to the county recorder for the property’s county, with the correct cover sheet and the correct fees. Those fees are the recorder’s, not ours, and they are passed through to you at what they cost.

It is emailed to you as soon as it comes back from the county, and the original is mailed with the right postage and mail class. You do not have to chase us for it.

NRS 240.100 caps it: $15 for taking an acknowledgment for the first signature of each signer and $7.50 for each additional signature, $15 for a jurat for each signature on the affidavit, $7.50 for administering an oath or affirmation, and $7.50 for a certified copy. Those are maximums set by the state, not a quote from us.

Yes, and it is a separate charge from the notarial act. Nevada requires that you are the one who asks us to travel, that we agree the hourly rate with you in advance, and that we tell you plainly it is not a fee the state requires. The statute caps it at $15 an hour for travel between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., and $30 an hour between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. You will hear the number before we get in the car.

No. Direct Deeds works on simple per-transaction pricing — you pay for the signing you need. No subscription, no retainer, no minimum.

Your home, your office, a hospital or care facility, a lobby between meetings — we travel to you by appointment, including evenings and weekends.

Current, unexpired government photo identification for every person signing, in the name the document is signed in. If the name on the ID and the name on the document do not match, tell us before the appointment rather than at the table.

Frequently, and it is a large part of the work. The signer has to be awake, aware of what they are signing, able to communicate that to us directly, and signing of their own free will. If they are not, we cannot notarize — and we will tell you so at the bedside rather than proceed.