Nevada Revised Statutes Section 440.280 - Public Health and Safety

Duty of registering birth: Persons required to file; time for filing; required information.

1. If a birth occurs in a hospital or the mother and child are immediately transported to a hospital, the person in charge of the hospital or his designated representative shall obtain the necessary information, prepare a birth certificate, secure the signatures required by the certificate and file it within 10 days with the health officer of the registration district where the birth occurred. The physician in attendance shall provide the medical information required by the certificate and certify to the fact of birth within 72 hours after the birth. If the physician does not certify to the fact of birth within the required 72 hours, the person in charge of the hospital or his designated representative shall complete and sign the certification.

2. If a birth occurs outside a hospital and the mother and child are not immediately transported to a hospital, the birth certificate must be prepared and filed by one of the following persons in the following order of priority:

(a) The physician in attendance at or immediately after the birth.

(b) Any other person in attendance at or immediately after the birth.

(c) The father, mother or, if the father is absent and the mother is incapacitated, the person in charge of the premises where the birth occurred.

3. If a birth occurs in a moving conveyance, the place of birth is the place where the child is removed from the conveyance.

4. In cities, the certificate of birth must be filed sooner than 10 days after the birth if so required by municipal ordinance or regulation.

5. If the mother was:

(a) Married at the time of birth, the name of her husband must be entered on the certificate as the father of the child unless:

(1) A court has issued an order establishing that a person other than the mother’s husband is the father of the child; or

(2) The mother and a person other than the mother’s husband have signed an affidavit for the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity developed by the Board pursuant to NRS 440.283.

(b) Widowed at the time of birth but married at the time of conception, the name of her husband at the time of conception must be entered on the certificate as the father of the child unless:

(1) A court has issued an order establishing that a person other than the mother’s husband at the time of conception is the father of the child; or

(2) The mother and a person other than the mother’s husband at the time of conception have signed an affidavit for the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity developed by the Board pursuant to NRS 440.283.

6. If the mother was unmarried at the time of birth, the name of the father may be entered on the original certificate of birth only if:

(a) The provisions of paragraph (b) of subsection 5 are applicable;

(b) A court has issued an order establishing that the person is the father of the child; or

(c) The mother and father of the child have signed an affidavit for the voluntary acknowledgment of paternity developed by the Board pursuant to NRS 440.283. If both the father and mother execute an affidavit consenting to the use of the surname of the father as the surname of the child, the name of the father must be entered on the original certificate of birth and the surname of the father must be entered thereon as the surname of the child.

7. An order entered or an affidavit executed pursuant to subsection 6 must be submitted to the local health officer, his authorized representative, or the attending physician or midwife before a proper certificate of birth is forwarded to the State Registrar. The order or affidavit must then be delivered to the State Registrar for filing. The State Registrar’s file of orders and affidavits must be sealed and the contents of the file may be examined only upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction or at the request of the father or mother or the Welfare Division of the Department of Human Resources as necessary to carry out the provisions of 42 U.S.C. § 654a. The local health officer shall complete the original certificate of birth in accordance with subsection 6 and other provisions of this chapter.

8. As used in this section, “court” has the meaning ascribed to it in NRS 125B.004.

Last modified: February 26, 2006