How to Fill Out and File the Nevada Living Will Form

The Nevada living will form, formally the state’s advance health care directive under NRS 162A.855, lets you name someone to make medical decisions if you cannot speak for yourself and lets you write down your own wishes about life-sustaining treatment and organ donation.¹ Once you sign it in front of a notary or two qualifying witnesses, it is legally binding, and you can file it with the state’s free online registry so hospitals can pull it up in an emergency.

Where to Get the Current Form

The statutory form is printed inside NRS 162A.855 itself, so any version that follows that language will work.¹ The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization’s CaringInfo site offers a ready-to-print Nevada packet that combines the statutory language with plain-English instructions.² Nevada hospitals and legal aid offices often keep printed copies on hand as well.

One caution: if the form you find references NRS 162A.860, put it down. That section was repealed in 2023, and you need a form that follows the current NRS 162A.855.³

Filling Out the Form

Print your full legal name and date of birth at the top, matching the name on your ID so hospitals can tie the directive to your medical record. The rest of the form breaks into three parts.

Part 1: Naming Your Agent

Write in the name, address, phone number, and email of the person you want speaking for you. Below that, name an alternate agent who steps in if your first choice is unavailable, unable, or unwilling to serve. Naming an alternate also protects you if a court action is later filed to dissolve or annul your marriage to your primary agent, since that filing automatically ends the spouse-agent’s authority unless the directive says otherwise.

The form gives you space to limit what your agent can decide. Leave it blank and your agent can make any health care decision Nevada law permits. If you want to bar specific treatments or reserve certain decisions for yourself, write those limits in plain terms.

Nevada bars some people from serving as your agent. You cannot name your treating health care provider, an employee of that provider, a health care facility operator, or a facility employee, unless that person is also your spouse, legal guardian, or closest relative by blood.⁴

Part 2: Health Care Instructions

This is the living-will portion. It asks whether you want life-sustaining treatment continued, withheld, or withdrawn if you are terminally ill, permanently unconscious, or otherwise unable to communicate. Initial the preferences that fit, or write in custom instructions. Common items people address are ventilators, CPR, feeding tubes, IV hydration, and dialysis.

There is also space for broader guidance: how aggressively you want pain managed, whether you prefer comfort care over curative treatment, and any religious or personal values you want your agent and doctors to weigh. Specificity helps. “I do not want tube feeding if I am in a permanent vegetative state” gives clearer direction than “no extreme measures.”

Part 3: Organ and Tissue Donation

State whether you want to donate organs, tissues, or both, and whether the donation should be limited to transplantation, research, education, or some combination. You can also decline donation. Skipping this part does not affect the rest of the directive.

Signing to Make It Legal

The completed form is not enforceable until you execute it correctly. Under NRS 162A.790, you sign the directive and then either have your signature acknowledged by a notary public or have two adult witnesses sign with you.⁵

Notarization

A notary public watches you sign, confirms your identity, and applies their seal. It is the simpler route: one person, one visit. Notarization also tends to hold up better if the directive is ever used outside Nevada. Banks, shipping stores, and law offices commonly offer notary services for a small fee.

Two Witnesses

Both witnesses must be adults and must see you sign. The following cannot serve:²

Your named agent or alternate agent
A health care provider
An employee of a health care provider
An operator of a health care facility
An employee of a health care facility

If you live in a nursing home, neither witness can be the owner, operator, or any employee of that facility.⁵ At least one witness must also sign a declaration stating they are not related to you by blood, marriage, or adoption and are not entitled to inherit from you under any existing will or by operation of law.² A co-worker, neighbor, or friend who fits those rules is a safe pick for that slot.

Filing with the Nevada Lockbox

Nevada runs a free digital registry called the Nevada Lockbox, formally the Registry of Advance Directives for Health Care, through the Secretary of State’s office.⁶ Registration is optional. Your directive is legally valid without it. What the registry adds is 24-hour electronic access for hospitals and emergency departments.⁷

To register, fill out the Advance Directive Registration Agreement and mail it with a copy (not the original) of your signed directive to:⁸

The Nevada Lockbox
c/o Nevada Secretary of State
1 State of Nevada Way, Suite 310
Las Vegas, NV 89119

Do not include copies of your Social Security card, driver’s license, or any bank or credit card numbers. Documents containing that information will be redacted or returned. Within 14 business days, the office mails you a wallet card with your unique registration number. Keep the card in your wallet so emergency personnel can look up your directive on the spot.

Registry access is limited to you and to authorized health care providers who have your registration number.⁹ Family members and your agent do not get independent logins, which is why physical copies still matter.

Distributing Copies

Give a full copy to your named agent, your alternate agent, your primary care physician, and any hospital where you regularly receive care. Your doctor’s office will typically scan it into your electronic medical record. Keep a copy somewhere easy to find at home. A kitchen drawer or bedside table beats a locked safe deposit box when first responders arrive. Tell your agent where to look.

Changing or Revoking the Directive

You can revoke the directive at any time and in any manner, regardless of your physical or mental condition. Under NRS 162A.820, revocation can be oral, written, or expressed in any other clear way, and it takes effect once your attending physician or another health care provider is notified.¹⁰ Make sure the message actually reaches your medical team, not just your family.

Signing a new advance directive automatically revokes any previous one.¹⁰ Even so, gather and destroy the old copies to avoid confusion. If you registered the old version with the Lockbox, file the updated one there too, because the Secretary of State does not automatically learn that a prior directive was revoked.¹¹

Keeping the Directive Current

Treat the document as a living one. The National Institute on Aging recommends reviewing it at least once a year and updating it after major life changes: retirement, a move to another state, a new diagnosis, a divorce, or the death of your named agent.¹² A directive you wrote at 45 may not match what you want at 70. Any update means re-executing the form with a fresh notarization or new witnesses and redistributing copies to your agent, your doctors, and the Lockbox.

1
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 162A – Power of Attorney for Financial Matters and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions
2
CaringInfo. Nevada Advance Health Care Directive Form
3
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 162A.860 – Power of Attorney Form
4
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 162A – Power of Attorney for Financial Matters and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions – Section: NRS 162A.840
5
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 162A – Power of Attorney for Financial Matters and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions – Section: NRS 162A.790
6
Nevada Secretary of State. About Advance Directive Registry
7
Nevada Secretary of State. Nevada Lockbox
8
Nevada Secretary of State. File Advance Directive
9
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 449A – Care and Rights of Patients – Section: NRS 449A.718
10
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 162A – Power of Attorney for Financial Matters and Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions – Section: NRS 162A.820
11
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 449A – Care and Rights of Patients – Section: NRS 449A.724
12
National Institute on Aging. Advance Care Planning: Advance Directives for Health Care