Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer: Nevada’s living-will declaration needs two witnesses, and it lets someone else sign at your direction. But the more important Nevada fact is that this is one of several instruments in the same chapter, and they do not share execution rules — the psychiatric advance directive, for one, requires two witnesses and a notary. Executing the wrong instrument’s requirements is the failure mode here.
The execution box — the life-sustaining-treatment declaration
- Who may execute: a person of sound mind, 18 or older.
- Signature: by the declarant, or another at the declarant’s direction.
- Witnesses: two, attesting.
- Notary: not required by this section.
- You may also name a decision-maker inside the declaration itself.
What the statute says
A person of sound mind and 18 or more years of age may execute at any time a declaration governing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. The declarant may designate another natural person of sound mind and 18 or more years of age to make decisions governing the withholding or withdrawal of life-sustaining treatment. The declaration must be signed by the declarant, or another at the declarant’s direction,
— NRS §449A.433(1)
Two features are worth drawing out. Signature by proxy is permitted — “or another at the declarant’s direction” — which matters for someone competent to decide but unable to hold a pen. And the declaration can itself designate a person to make the withholding or withdrawal decisions, so it is not purely a statement of wishes.
This section sets out no list of people disqualified from witnessing. That does not mean no restriction exists anywhere in Nevada law — other instruments in the same chapter carry their own — only that this section does not impose one.
The Nevada trap: same chapter, different rules
Chapter 449A contains more than one instrument, and their execution requirements genuinely differ. The clearest illustration is the statutory notice on the psychiatric advance directive form:
TO BE VALID, THIS ADVANCE DIRECTIVE MUST BE SIGNED BY TWO QUALIFIED WITNESSES, PERSONALLY KNOWN TO YOU, WHO ARE PRESENT WHEN YOU SIGN OR ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR SIGNATURE. IT MUST ALSO BE ACKNOWLEDGED BEFORE A NOTARY PUBLIC. NOTICE TO PHYSICIAN OR OTHER PROVIDER OF HEALTH CARE Under Nevada law, a perso
— NRS ch. 449A — statutory notice on the psychiatric advance directive form
Read that carefully: two qualified witnesses and acknowledgement before a notary public. Not one or the other — both. That is a stricter standard than the life-sustaining-treatment declaration above, and stricter than any of the neighbouring states we have published.
Nevada’s durable power of attorney for health care carries its own separate witness restrictions, excluding the person appointed as attorney-in-fact, the principal’s attending physician or provider or their employee, and the owner or operator of a facility where the principal is a patient, or their employee.
So “what does Nevada require?” has no single answer. It depends which document you are signing, and a combined packet may contain several. Check the execution block against the instrument, not against a general impression of state law.
This is the medical instrument, not the financial one
These documents cover health care decisions. None of them lets anyone pay a bill, reach an account or manage property — that is a financial power of attorney, separate again.
Power of attorney requirements by state
What could not be verified
We have quoted NRS 449A.433(1) and the statutory notice appearing on the psychiatric advance directive form, and described the durable-power witness exclusions. We have not reproduced the full statutory forms, nor covered revocation, when a declaration becomes operative, physician non-compliance, or the rules for a pregnant declarant. Chapter 449A is long and contains several instruments; this page is about the life-sustaining-treatment declaration and the boundary between it and the others.
Related: Oklahoma, which has no notary route · South Dakota, two adults or a notary · requirements by state.
General information drawn from state statutes and official state or court forms, not legal advice. These instruments are governed by the law of the state where the property sits or the document is signed, and formalities differ from state to state — execution, witnessing and recording requirements are the parts that void a document when they are missed. Your own state’s current statute governs.