Power of attorney in Nevada: form, signing and powers

Words used in Nevada

In Nevada you name an agent for money and property in a power of attorney, and an agent for medical decisions in a power of attorney for health care. End-of-life treatment wishes can also go in a separate declaration (living will). If an adult cannot manage and has no documents, a district court can appoint a guardian.

An agent (also called an attorney-in-fact) is the person you choose to act for you. You are the principal.

Money and property

Power of attorney; statutory form power of attorney

The person you choose

Agent

Health care

Power of attorney for health care; the 2023 statutory form is called an advance health-care directive

Treatment wishes

Declaration governing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment

Court-appointed decision-maker

Guardian of the person, guardian of the estate, or guardian of the person and estate; special guardian (for a person of limited capacity); temporary guardian

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

How to revoke a power of attorney in Nevada

Official forms in Nevada

Forms published by the state or its courts. You open them on the official site.

Financial power of attorney

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

Health care directive

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

Living will

• Declaration governing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment

Guardianship / conservatorship

• 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)

Free help in Nevada

• Find Legal Help (Nevada Supreme Court Self-Help Center list of legal aid and lawyer referral)
• Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada
• Nevada Supreme Court Self-Help Center: Guardianship
• Nevada Self-Help Center: How to Open an Adult Guardianship Case
• Nevada Self-Help Center: Guardianship Forms
• Find free legal aid at LawHelp.org

Report abuse or exploitation

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

More for Nevada

• Everything about powers of attorney in Nevada
• Health care directive
• Guardianship
• Signing checklist
• Revoke a power of attorney
• What is a power of attorney?
• Durable vs springing power of attorney