Nevada: Health Care Power of Attorney Requirements

Nevada keeps its medical power of attorney in the same chapter as its financial
one, but in a separate article: the Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care
Decisions, Nev. Rev. Stat. §§ 162A.700 to 162A.870. Nevada does not fold the
agent appointment into a combined "advance directive" the way many states do —
in fact, § 162A.715 defines an "advance health-care directive" as simply "a
power of attorney for health care." This page covers what it takes to appoint
your health care agent.

Requirements one by one

Governing law and document

The health care article applies "to any power of attorney containing the
authority to make health care decisions" (§ 162A.700). Nevada publishes an
optional statutory form at § 162A.855, and two specialized forms — one for an
adult with an intellectual disability (§ 162A.865) and one for an adult with
dementia (§ 162A.870). You are not required to use any of them; the legal
requirements below control whichever document you sign.

Who can sign

"Any adult person may execute" a Nevada health care power of attorney
(§ 162A.790(1)). The document "must be signed by the principal" (§ 162A.790(2)).
Nevada's statute does not provide for someone else signing on your behalf at
your direction, and it does not set a special capacity test beyond being an
adult — so plan to sign it yourself while you can.

Witnesses or notary

This is the core requirement, and Nevada gives you a choice. Your signature
"must be: (a) Acknowledged before a notary public; or (b) Witnessed by two adult
witnesses" (§ 162A.790(2)). You need one route or the other — a notarized
signature does not also need witnesses, and two witnesses do not also need a
notary.

Who can't witness or serve

Here Nevada is narrower than its own forms suggest. The only mandatory
witness disqualification in the execution statute is this: "Neither of the
witnesses to a principal's signature may be the owner, operator or employee of a
nursing home if the principal resides in the nursing home" (§ 162A.790(3)). The
older, broader list some forms and websites still show — no relatives, no health
care providers, at least one disinterested witness — comes from an earlier
version of this section that has since been amended out of the validity rule.

The limits on who may serve as your agent are stricter. You "may not name as
agent" your health care provider, an employee of that provider, or the operator
or an employee of a health care facility (§ 162A.840(1)). The one exception:
that person can serve if they are your "spouse, legal guardian or next of
kin" (§ 162A.840(2)).

When the agent can act

Nevada flips the usual default. In most states an agent's authority "springs"
into effect only when a doctor finds you incapacitated. In Nevada the power is
"effective when executed unless the principal provides in the power of attorney
that it becomes effective at a future date or upon incapacity" (§ 162A.810(1)) —
so by default it is live the moment you sign it. If you do choose the
springing option, the power turns on only when "an advanced practice registered
nurse, a physician, psychiatrist or licensed psychologist" determines in writing
that you are incapacitated (§ 162A.810(2)).

Powers and limits

Once effective, your agent makes health care decisions for you when you cannot
give informed consent yourself (§ 162A.790(1)). For life support specifically,
the agent "must make decisions concerning the use or nonuse of life-sustaining
treatment which conform to the known desires of the principal" (§ 162A.850(2)),
which is why stating your wishes in the document matters.

Some decisions are off-limits to every agent. Under § 162A.850(1), the agent may
not consent to:

• commitment or placement in a mental-illness treatment facility;
• convulsive treatment, psychosurgery, sterilization, or abortion;
• "aversive intervention" as defined in NRS 449A.203;
• experimental medical, biomedical, or behavioral treatment or research; or
• anything you yourself prohibit in the document.

How to revoke

The power ends when "the principal revokes the power of attorney" or on a
termination date you set (§ 162A.820(1)). Your agent's authority separately ends
if "an action is filed for the dissolution or annulment of the agent's marriage
to the principal, unless the power of attorney otherwise provides"
(§ 162A.820(2)(c)) — so filing for divorce from a spouse-agent cuts off their
authority even before the divorce is final. One caution: a revocation "is not
effective as to the agent or another person that, without actual knowledge of
the termination, acts in good faith" (§ 162A.820(4)), so tell your providers and
your agent when you revoke.

Out-of-state directives

A directive from another state travels well. One "executed in a jurisdiction
outside of this State is valid in this State if, when the power of attorney was
executed, the execution complied with the laws of that jurisdiction" — or with
the federal military power-of-attorney rule, 10 U.S.C. § 1044b (§ 162A.790(4)).

What trips people up

• The witness rules are looser than the forms make them look. Nevada's own
  statutory forms and many law-firm templates still print the old instruction
  that a witness cannot be a relative, an heir, or a health care provider. The
  binding execution statute today bars only nursing-home owners, operators, and
  employees, and only when you live in that nursing home (§ 162A.790(3)). Using
  the stricter witnesses is fine, but they are not required for validity.
• It works the moment you sign, unless you say otherwise. Because Nevada's
  default is immediate effect (§ 162A.810(1)), a signer who assumes the document
  "only kicks in if I'm incapacitated" is wrong unless they wrote that in. If you
  want it to wait, say so in the document.
• Your doctor cannot be your agent — with a family exception. A treating
  provider or facility employee is barred as agent (§ 162A.840(1)) unless they
  are your spouse, guardian, or next of kin (§ 162A.840(2)).

Common questions

Does a Nevada health care power of attorney have to be notarized?
No. You can either have your signature notarized or have two adults witness it
(§ 162A.790(2)). Either one is enough on its own.

Can a family member witness it?
Yes. The execution statute's only witness restriction involves nursing-home
staff where you reside (§ 162A.790(3)); relatives are not disqualified from
witnessing.

When does my agent's authority start?
Immediately when you sign, unless your document says it starts later or only on
incapacity (§ 162A.810(1)).

If I divorce my spouse, can they still make my medical decisions?
No — once a divorce or annulment action is filed, your spouse-agent's authority
ends unless the document says otherwise (§ 162A.820(2)(c)).

Statutes and sources

• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 162A.700 — the health care article applies to any power
  of attorney containing authority to make health care decisions.
  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-162a.html (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 162A.715 — "advance health-care directive" means a power
  of attorney for health care.
  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-162a.html (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 162A.790 — execution: adult signer, notary or two adult
  witnesses, nursing-home witness bar, and out-of-state validity.
  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-162a.html (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 162A.810 — the power is effective when executed unless it
  provides otherwise; springing-incapacity determination.
  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-162a.html (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 162A.820 — termination and revocation, including divorce
  ending a spouse-agent's authority.
  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-162a.html (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 162A.840 — who may not be named agent, with the
  spouse/guardian/next-of-kin exception.
  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-162a.html (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 162A.850 — categorical limits on the agent and the
  life-sustaining-treatment standard.
  https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-162a.html (accessed 2026-07-16)
• Nev. Rev. Stat. § 162A.855 — optional statutory advance-health-care-
  directive form. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-162a.html (accessed 2026-07-16)