Power of attorney, health care directive and guardianship in Nevada

Financial power of attorney in Nevada

Law and official form

Law

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Uniform Power of Attorney Act

Yes (effective October 1, 2009)

Official form

Statutory Form Power of Attorney (NRS 162A.620)Published by Nevada Legislature (Legislative Counsel Bureau) - the form is printed in the statute

You do not have to use it.

You do not have to use this form. The form's own text says it creates a durable power of attorney for financial matters, that it is effective immediately unless you say otherwise, and it includes a notary acknowledgment block. It does not cover health care decisions.

Law: NRS 162A.200-162A.660 (Statutes of Nevada 2009, p. 176); NRS 162A.230(1); NRS 162A.620

Signing rules

How to sign

You must sign the power of attorney (or have someone sign for you in your presence at your direction). The law does not require a notary or witnesses, but a signature acknowledged before a notary is presumed genuine, and the rules that make businesses accept a power of attorney apply to acknowledged ones. If you live in a hospital, residential facility for groups, skilled nursing facility or home for individual residential care when you sign, a certificate of your competency from an advanced practice registered nurse, physician, psychologist or psychiatrist must be attached. If you live in, or are about to move into, a hospital, assisted living facility or skilled nursing facility, you may not name that facility or its owner, operator or employee as agent in any power of attorney, unless the person is your spouse, legal guardian or next of kin (or is named only to help you qualify for Medicaid under the conditions in the statute).

Who signs

Signed by you, or by another person who signs your name in your conscious presence at your direction.

Notary

Not required

Witnesses

None required

Agent's acknowledgment

No separate acceptance form is required. An agent accepts by acting under the power of attorney or by other conduct showing acceptance.

Law: NRS 162A.300

Electronic signing

A power of attorney can be a 'record' kept in electronic form, and 'sign' includes an electronic signature.

Law: NRS 162A.130, 162A.140

Law: NRS 162A.220, 162A.360, 162A.370

Durable and springing

Is it durable?

A power of attorney is durable (it keeps working if you become incapacitated) unless it expressly says it ends when you become incapacitated.

Law: NRS 162A.210

Durable unless it says otherwise?

Yes: it continues if you lose capacity unless it says otherwise.

Starting later (springing)

A power of attorney can start on a future date or event, such as your incapacity. You can name who decides that the event happened. If it starts on incapacity and you named no one (or that person will not decide), it starts when an advanced practice registered nurse, physician, psychiatrist or licensed psychologist determines in writing that you are incapacitated.

Law: NRS 162A.260

What an agent can and cannot do

Needs express permission

• Create, amend, revoke or terminate an inter vivos (living) trust
• Make a gift
• Create or change rights of survivorship
• Create or change a beneficiary designation
• Delegate authority granted under the power of attorney
• Waive your right to be a beneficiary of a joint and survivor annuity, including a survivor benefit under a retirement plan
• Exercise fiduciary powers that you have authority to delegate
• Disclaim property, including a power of appointment
• Unless the document says otherwise, an agent who is not your spouse may not use these powers to create an interest in your property for the agent or for someone the agent must support

Law: NRS 162A.450

Agent duties, pay and court review

Agent duties

• Act in line with your reasonable expectations as far as the agent knows them, and otherwise in your best interest
• Act in good faith
• Act only within the authority the document gives
• Act loyally for your benefit and avoid conflicts of interest
• Act with care, competence and diligence
• Keep a record of all receipts, payments and transactions
• Cooperate with the person who makes your health care decisions
• Try to preserve your estate plan if the agent knows it and it is in your best interest
• If asked by you, your guardian, a protective agency or (after your death) your personal representative, disclose receipts and payments within 30 days

Agent pay

Unless the power of attorney says otherwise, the agent is entitled to reimbursement of expenses reasonably incurred for you. The statutory form states that the agent is entitled to reasonable compensation unless you say otherwise in the special instructions.

Law: NRS 162A.290; NRS 162A.620

Asking a court to review an agent

You, your agent, a guardian, your health care decision-maker, your spouse, parent or descendant, a presumptive heir, a beneficiary, a government agency that protects your welfare, a person asked to accept the power of attorney, or your caregiver or another person who shows sufficient interest may ask a court to construe the power of attorney or review the agent's conduct.

Law: NRS 162A.330

Law: NRS 162A.310

When it ends and how to revoke it

It ends when

• You die
• You become incapacitated, if the power of attorney is not durable
• You revoke it
• It says it ends, or its limited purpose is accomplished
• You revoke the agent's authority, or the agent dies, becomes incapacitated or resigns, and no other agent is named
• For the agent's authority: an action is filed to end or annul the agent's marriage to you, or for legal separation, unless the document says otherwise
• A guardian of your estate is appointed: a nondurable power of attorney ends, and a durable one is suspended unless the court orders otherwise

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Nevada (Divorce Law Map)

How to revoke

You can revoke the power of attorney or your agent's authority. The Act does not set a required method of revocation.

Telling others

A revocation does not affect an agent or another person who, without actual knowledge of it, acts in good faith under the power of attorney. Signing a new power of attorney does not revoke an earlier one unless the new one says so.

Law: NRS 162A.250, 162A.270; NRS 162A.270

Banks, other states and real estate

Banks and other businesses

A person asked to accept an acknowledged (notarized) power of attorney must accept it, or ask for an agent's certification, an English translation or a lawyer's opinion, within 10 business days, and must then accept it within 5 business days after receiving what was requested. They may not demand a different form. Exceptions include good-faith doubts about validity and reports of suspected abuse or exploitation. A person who wrongly refuses can be ordered by a court to accept it and made to pay reasonable attorney's fees and costs.

Law: NRS 162A.360, 162A.370

Signed in another state

A power of attorney signed in another state is valid in Nevada if it was validly signed under the law of that place (or meets the federal military power of attorney rules). A photocopy or electronically sent copy has the same effect as the original.

Law: NRS 162A.230

Health care directive in Nevada

The document and its form

Document

Power of attorney for health care

Official form

Advance Health-Care Directive (NRS 162A.855)Published by Nevada Legislature (Legislative Counsel Bureau) - the form is printed in the statuteVersion: Form added by Assembly Bill 414 (2023), effective January 1, 2024; it replaced the earlier statutory health care power of attorney form

You do not have to use it.

Living will

Declaration governing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment

The living will is a separate document.

An adult of sound mind can sign a declaration about withholding or withdrawing life-sustaining treatment, and may name another adult to make those decisions. It must be signed by you (or another person at your direction) and witnessed by two people. It applies when it has been given to your attending physician or advanced practice registered nurse and you are in a terminal condition and can no longer decide. A health care power of attorney that covers life-sustaining treatment also counts as a declaration.

Living will

Law: NRS 162A.855; NRS 449A.433, 449A.436, 449A.439, 449A.442

Signing rules

How to sign

Sign the document. Then either have your signature acknowledged before a notary public or have two adult witnesses sign. In a nursing home, staff, owners and operators of that home cannot be your witnesses.

Who signs

Signed by you.

Notary

A notary or witnesses (your choice)

Witnesses

2 (instead of a notary)

Who cannot witness

Witnesses must be adults. If you live in a nursing home, an owner, operator or employee of that nursing home cannot be a witness. The statutory form also tells you that a witness cannot be the person you name as your agent.

Nursing facilities and special settings

If you live in a nursing home when you sign, neither witness may be an owner, operator or employee of that nursing home.

Law: NRS 162A.790, 162A.855

Who can be your agent and what the agent can do

Who cannot be your agent

You cannot name your own health care provider, an employee of your provider, or an operator or employee of a health care facility as your agent, unless that person is your spouse, legal guardian or next of kin. In addition, if you live in or are about to move to a hospital, assisted living facility or skilled nursing facility, you cannot name that facility or its owner, operator or employee as agent in any power of attorney, with the same family exceptions.

Law: NRS 162A.840; NRS 162A.220

When the agent starts

A power of attorney for health care works as soon as it is signed unless it says it starts on a future date or on your incapacity. If it starts on incapacity, it takes effect when an advanced practice registered nurse, physician, psychiatrist or licensed psychologist determines in writing that you are incapacitated.

Law: NRS 162A.810

Decisions an agent cannot make

Your agent may not consent to commitment or placement in a mental health treatment facility, convulsive treatment, psychosurgery, sterilization, abortion, aversive intervention, experimental treatment or research, or any treatment you say in the document the agent may not consent to. Decisions about life-sustaining treatment must follow your known wishes.

Law: NRS 162A.850

Revoking and conflicting documents

Revoking your agent

You can revoke your agent's authority or the whole power of attorney for health care. Signing a new power of attorney for health care automatically revokes any earlier one.

Law: NRS 162A.820

Revoking your instructions

You can revoke a declaration (living will) at any time and in any way, whatever your mental or physical condition. It takes effect when you or a witness to the revocation tells your attending physician or other provider.

Law: NRS 449A.445

Telling others

The provider must put the revocation of a declaration in your medical record.

Law: NRS 449A.445

Divorce ends a spouse's authority

Yes · Divorce rules in Nevada (Divorce Law Map)

Conflicting documents

Signing a power of attorney for health care automatically revokes any earlier power of attorney to make health care decisions.

Law: NRS 162A.820(5)

Law: NRS 162A.820, 449A.445

If you have no directive

Who decides without a directive

Nevada's statute on decisions without a document is narrow: if you are in a terminal condition, can no longer decide and have no declaration, these relatives, in this order, may give written consent, witnessed by two people, to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining treatment. If a whole class is unavailable or declines, the next class decides; an equal split in a class does not pass the decision to the next class. A consent is not valid if it conflicts with your expressed wishes.

1. Spouse
2. An adult child (if more than one, a majority of those reasonably available)
3. Parents
4. An adult sibling (if more than one, a majority of those reasonably available)
5. The nearest other adult relative by blood or adoption who is reasonably available

Law: NRS 449A.454

Other states, registry and medical orders

Signed in another state

A power of attorney for health care signed in another state is valid in Nevada if it complied with that state's law or with the federal military power of attorney rules. A declaration signed in another state under that state's law or Nevada law is valid.

Law: NRS 162A.790(4); NRS 449A.481

Registry

Registry of Advance Directives for Health Care (Nevada Secretary of State)

POLST (medical orders)

Provider Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form

Mental health directive

An adult of sound mind can make an advance directive for psychiatric care. It must be signed and attested by two witnesses; neither witness may be your attending physician or provider, their employee, an owner or operator of a medical facility where you are a patient or resident, or the person you appoint. It is valid for 2 years unless revoked, and you can revoke it at any time while capable.

Law: NRS 449A.600-449A.645

Law: NRS 449A.700-449A.739; NRS 449A.500-449A.581

Guardianship and conservatorship in Nevada

What guardianship or conservatorship is

What it is called

Guardian of the person, guardian of the estate, or guardian of the person and estate; special guardian; temporary guardian

When a court may appoint one

A person is 'incapacitated' if, for reasons other than being a minor, they cannot receive and evaluate information or make or communicate decisions to the extent that they cannot meet essential requirements for physical health, safety or self-care without appropriate help. If the court finds the person is not incapacitated, it dismisses the petition; if the person has limited capacity, it may appoint a special guardian with specific powers; otherwise it may appoint a general guardian. The petition must say whether the person has powers of attorney or a written guardian nomination, include a physician's needs assessment, and attest that information on less restrictive alternatives was given to the person.

Law: NRS 159.019; NRS 159.054; NRS 159.044

Kinds

• General guardian of the person, the estate, or both
• Special guardian for a person of limited capacity
• Temporary guardian when there is a substantial and immediate risk of physical harm or need for immediate medical attention
• Temporary guardian when there is a substantial and immediate risk of financial loss

Law: NRS 159.019, 159.044, 159.054, 159.0523, 159.0525, 159.0613, 159.0753; NRS 19.013

Who can ask, which court and your own choice

Who may ask

The proposed protected person, a government agency, a nonprofit corporation or any interested person.

Law: NRS 159.044(1)

Court

Nevada district court.

Choosing your own

You can nominate a guardian of your estate in a power of attorney and a guardian of your person in a power of attorney for health care, or use a separate nomination form that you sign before two impartial adult witnesses and have notarized. The court gives preference to a nominated person, then to a relative, if qualified and suitable.

Law: NRS 162A.250; NRS 162A.800; NRS 159.0753; NRS 159.0613

Effect on a power of attorney

If a guardian of your estate is appointed, a nondurable power of attorney ends and a durable one is suspended unless the court lets the agent keep specific powers (the agent then files accountings). The same rule applies to a health care power of attorney when a guardian of the person is appointed.

Law: NRS 162A.250, 162A.800

Cost, fee waiver and forms

Filing fee

$5 to file a guardianship petition when the stated value of the estate is more than $2,500; no fee when it is $2,500 or less. No other fee may be charged for filing the petition.

Law: NRS 19.013

Forms

• Petition for Appointment of Guardian - Adult (PDF)
• Citation to Appear and Show Cause - Adult (PDF)
• Certificate of Incapacity - Adult (physician's certificate, PDF)
• All guardianship forms (Nevada Supreme Court Self-Help Center)

Steps

Steps

Other options and where to report abuse

Supported decision-making

Supported Decision-Making Act

Effective 2019 (Statutes of Nevada 2019, p. 460)

An adult can choose supporters to help them understand information, make decisions and communicate them, without the supporter deciding for them. The agreement cannot be used as evidence of incapacity, and the adult can still act on their own. Either side can end it at any time, orally or in writing, with notice to the others.

A written, dated agreement naming one or more supporters, listing the decisions they may and may not help with, and signed by each party in the presence of at least two adult witnesses.

Source: Official text

Less restrictive options

• Durable power of attorney for financial matters: Names an agent to handle money and property. Listed by Nevada law as a less restrictive alternative to guardianship.
• Durable power of attorney for health care: Names an agent to make medical decisions.
• Supported decision-making agreement: Supporters help the adult make and communicate their own decisions.

Report abuse or exploitation

Nevada Aging and Disability Services Division - Adult Protective Services · (702) 486-6930

Call or text the Eldercare Locator to find your local adult protective services: 1-800-677-1116 · eldercare.acl.gov

Law: NRS 162C.200, 162C.210, 162C.300

Good to know in Nevada

• Since January 1, 2024, Nevada has a new statutory Advance Health-Care Directive form, and health care powers of attorney need either a notary or two adult witnesses; only nursing-home owners, operators and staff are barred as witnesses (NRS 162A.790, 162A.855; AB 414, 2023).
• If you live in a hospital, residential facility for groups, skilled nursing facility or home for individual residential care, a financial power of attorney you sign there must have a certificate of your competency attached; residents of hospitals, assisted living and skilled nursing facilities generally may not name the facility or its owner, operator or staff as agent.

  Law: NRS 162A.220(2)-(4)

• The guardianship filing fee is set by statute: $5 if the estate is worth more than $2,500, and nothing if it is worth $2,500 or less.

  Law: NRS 19.013

• Since 2025, Nevada guardianship law defines 'less restrictive alternatives' (financial and health care powers of attorney and supported decision-making agreements), and petitions must attest that the person was told about them.

  Law: NRS 159.0215, 159.044

Changes in 2024–2026

Assembly Bill 414 (2023), effective January 1, 2024: new statutory Advance Health-Care Directive form, old statutory health care power of attorney form repealed, and witness rules for health care powers of attorney simplified. 2025 legislation (Statutes of Nevada 2025, p. 1973 and related pages) amended NRS chapter 159 to define less restrictive alternatives to guardianship and require petitions and guardian reports to address them.

Law: NRS 162A.855; NRS 162A.790; NRS 159.0215, 159.044, 159.081, 159.1905, 159.328; NRS 162A.740 (definition of health care facility) was also amended in 2025

Questions about powers of attorney in Nevada