Default Health-Care Surrogate Priority in Nevada

Short answer Nevada's express default family order is tied to requesting and signing a Provider Order for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) form for an adult who lacks capacity and has no legal representative or valid form. It ranks a spouse, available adult children, parents, available adult siblings, the nearest other adult relative, and a qualifying caring adult. The form records orders for resuscitation and life-sustaining treatment; this order is not a general consent ladder for every treatment.

State

Nevada

Statute checked

October 8, 2026

Sources

4 statutes

Survey

Compare all 50 states and DC

At a glance

When the default route opens	Adult lacks capacity for resuscitation/life-sustaining wishes; no representative and no valid POLST signed by patient or representative (§ 449A.551(3)–(4)).
Care or setting covered	POLST for emergency and life-sustaining treatment, intended for any care setting; family route is for requesting and signing that form (§§ 449A.542, 449A.548(3)–(4), 449A.551).
Guardian or appointed agent	Patient if capable; otherwise legal guardian, designated life-support decision maker, or health-care POA agent as representative before default surrogate (§§ 449A.545, 449A.551(3)–(4)).
Family and partner order	Spouse; available adult-child majority; parents; available adult-sibling majority; nearest other adult relative by blood or adoption (§ 449A.551(7)(a)(1)–(5)).
Friend or other nonfamily person	Final class is an adult showing special care or concern, familiar with patient's values, and willing and able to decide (§ 449A.551(7)(a)(6)).
Decision within one class	Available adult-child and sibling majority; an even division does not move authority to next class (§ 449A.551(6)(a), (7)(a)).
Who is available and eligible	Next class acts when prior class is not reasonably available for consultation and capable, or declines; decision must be in good faith and consistent with expressed intention (§ 449A.551(6)).
Decisions limited or excluded	Clinician completes POLST from preferences and medical indications; surrogate form decision cannot conflict with patient's expressed intention (§ 449A.551(3), (6)(b)).
No surrogate or disputed authority	Evenly divided class cannot yield to lower class; clinician's good-faith validity decision is conclusive under this POLST section (§ 449A.551(6)).

Requirements one by one

The POLST route

Under § 449A.551(3)–(4), an adult's representative may request and execute a POLST form when the adult lacks capacity to decide about resuscitation and life-sustaining treatment. If there is no representative and no valid form already executed, a surrogate may do so. Under § 449A.545, a representative is a guardian, designated life-support decision maker, or health-care power-of-attorney agent. The clinician completes the form using patient preferences and medical indications.

Under § 449A.551(7), the surrogate order is spouse, available adult-child majority, parents, available adult-sibling majority, nearest available other adult relative by blood or adoption, and an adult who knows the patient's values and has shown special care or concern. The last adult must also be willing and able to decide. Section 449A.551(6) moves to the next class if a prior class is unavailable, incapable, or declines, but an even split does not authorize the next class. A surrogate's decision must be in good faith and consistent with the patient's expressed intention.

What trips people up

The § 449A.551 family order authorizes requesting and signing a POLST form. Under § 449A.542, the form records patient wishes and orders for resuscitation and life-sustaining treatment; § 449A.548(3)–(4) says it gives directions for many settings. Its statewide portability does not extend the family order to every ordinary health-care decision.

Common questions

Can a close friend sign? The final § 449A.551(7)(a)(6) class covers a caring adult familiar with the patient's values who is willing and able to decide, after higher classes cannot act.

What if adult children divide evenly? Under § 449A.551(6)(a), an even class division does not let a lower class take over the POLST decision.

Who checks the decision? Under § 449A.551(6)(c), the clinician's good-faith decision that a surrogate's POLST action is valid or invalid is conclusive for this section.

Statutes and sources

Verbatim official excerpts, section URLs, and access dates are in the source fields above.

Source links

Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.

Nev. Rev. Stat. § 449A.542 · accessed 2026-10-08

Nev. Rev. Stat. § 449A.545 · accessed 2026-10-08

Nev. Rev. Stat. § 449A.548(3)–(4) · accessed 2026-10-08

Nev. Rev. Stat. § 449A.551(3)–(7) · accessed 2026-10-08

This page summarizes default health-care decision rules, not advice about an individual patient. Capacity, existing directives, the care setting, and urgent treatment can change who may decide. Check current official law and obtain professional advice for a specific decision.

What does Nevada law mean for your facts?

You just read the general rule. Ask your own question and see which parts of current Nevada law apply to your situation, with citations you can check.

Opens in Ezel Pro.

Starts from the statutes this survey is built on
Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
Chat, drafting and research in one workspace