A Nevada living will, also known as an “Advance Directive,” is a legal document that lets you record your wishes for medical treatment and end-of-life care in advance. You use it to state those decisions now, in case illness or incapacity later leaves you unable to communicate them.
Last Updated: September 2026. This guide is reviewed and updated regularly to reflect current Nevada law. If you notice an error or outdated information, please contact us.
The purpose of a living will is to provide instructions on whether or not life-sustaining treatment should be administered if a person becomes terminally ill, incapacitated, or in a persistent vegetative state. Nevada also offers the Nevada Lockbox, a state digital registry where residents can upload their advance directives so that healthcare providers can access them as needed.[2]
In Nevada, a living will must meet the signing and witness rules set out in the state’s advance directive statutes. Meeting these rules is what makes the document legally binding and lets it reflect your actual wishes for medical treatment and end-of-life care.
To be valid in Nevada, a living will must meet three requirements:
| Document Name | Nevada Living Will Form |
| State Form Name | Nevada Advance Directive / Declaration |
| Signing Requirements | Two Witnesses |
| Validity Requirements | Nev. Rev. Stat. § 449A.433 |
| State Laws: Nevada Revised Statutes, Sections 449A.400 to 449A.481 | |
Give copies of your signed living will to your health care agent, your physician, and a family member. Keeping the only copy in a drawer at home means no one can find it when it is needed.
This form combines a living will with a medical power of attorney, so it has more sections than a living will alone. Work through it in order: state your health care treatment wishes first, then appoint the health care agent, through the power of attorney section, who will carry out your care decisions if you cannot speak for yourself. Two witnesses must see you sign it.
A Nevada living will is valid when the declarant is 18 or older, of sound mind, and signs the declaration, or has it signed at their direction, with two witnesses attesting.[1.1] The witnesses must be personally known to the declarant and present when the declarant signs or acknowledges the signature.[1.4] Each witness signs only to confirm that the declarant voluntarily signed the writing in their presence.[1.2]
“The declarant voluntarily signed this writing in my presence.”
Nevada law also sets out its own sample declaration wording you can use as a model. It covers an incurable, irreversible condition your physician or advanced practice registered nurse expects to cause death within a relatively short time, once you can no longer make your own medical decisions. In that case, your treatment may be withheld or withdrawn as you direct.[1.2]
A Nevada advance directive takes effect once it is properly signed and stays in force until you revoke it. You can sign a new one at any time to keep your health care wishes current.
In practice, people update or revoke a living will in one of a few ways. They write a new living will or a signed statement revoking the old one, destroy the document with the intent to revoke it, or tell someone directly, with a witness present, that they want to revoke it.
Under NRS 449A.445, you may revoke your declaration at any time and in any manner, whatever your mental or physical condition. The revocation takes effect when you, or a witness to it, communicate it to your attending physician or other provider.[1.5]
Other Living Will Forms by State
General information, not legal or tax advice.
