Group IV: Parties · Last amended March 1, 2019 · Last verified July 14, 2026
In one sentenceRule 25 governs what happens to a lawsuit when a party dies, becomes incapacitated, transfers away the interest at stake, or, for a public officer sued in an official capacity, leaves office, and sets out how and when a substitute party steps in.
(1)Substitution if the Claim Is Not Extinguished. If a party dies and the claim is not extinguished, the court may order substitution of the proper party. A motion for substitution may be made by any party or by the decedent’s successor or representative. If the motion is not made within 180 days after service of a statement noting the death, the claims by or against the decedent must be dismissed.
(2)Continuation Among the Remaining Parties. After a party’s death, if the right sought to be enforced survives only to or against the remaining parties, the action does not abate, but proceeds in favor of or against the remaining parties. The death should be noted on the record.
(3)Service. A motion to substitute must be served on the parties as provided in Rule 5 and on nonparties as provided in Rule 4. A statement noting death must be served in the same manner.
(b)Incapacitated Persons. If a party becomes incapacitated, the court may, on motion, permit the action to be continued by or against the party’s representative. The motion must be served as provided in Rule 25(a)(3).
(c)Transfer of Interest. If an interest is transferred, the action may be continued by or against the original party unless the court, on motion, orders the transferee to be substituted in the action or joined with the original party. The motion must be served as provided in Rule 25(a)(3).
(d)Public Officers; Death or Separation From Office. An action does not abate when a public officer who is a party in an official capacity dies, resigns, or otherwise ceases to hold office while the action is pending. The officer’s successor is automatically substituted as a party. Later proceedings should be in the substituted party’s name, but any misnomer not affecting the parties’ substantial rights must be disregarded. The court may order substitution at any time, but the absence of such an order does not affect the substitution.
Notes
Drafter’s Note, Amendment Effective January 1, 2005: The amendments are technical.
Advisory Committee Note — 2019 Amendment: The amendments generally conform Rule 25 to FRCP 25. Subsection (a). Rule 25(a) works in conjunction with NRS 7.075, which requires an attorney whose client dies to file a notice of death and a motion for substitution within 90 days after the death. Under Rule 25(a)(1), any party or the decedent’s successor or representative has 180 days after service of a notice of death or a statement noting the death in which to file a motion for substitution. Although Rule 25(a)(1) changes the time to file the motion for substitution from 90 to 180 days after service of a statement noting a party’s death, it otherwise generally tracks FRCP 25(a)(1). As with FRCP 6(b) and 25(a)(1), a motion for substitution under Rule 25(a)(1) is not among the motions Rule 6(b)(2) excludes from its extension-of-time provisions. The district court thus has discretion, under Rule 6(b)(1), to enlarge the time to file a motion to substitute, despite the use of the word “must” in NRCP 25(a)(1). See 7C Charles Alan Wright, Arthur Miller & Mary Kay Kane, Federal Practice and Procedure[ Civil § 1955, at 681- 84 (3d. ed. 2007) (noting that, despite the use of “must” in FRCP 25(a), “[Wismissal is not mandatory” when a party cannot file a motion for substitution within the allotted time; under FRCP 6, “the court may extend the period for substitution if a request is made before” the period expires and “also may allow substitution on motion made after expiration of the [substitution] period on a showing that the failure to act earlier was the result of excusable neglect, although an extension of time also may be refused if the court find the reasons for the delay to be inexcusable”). The remaining parties may also seek to continue the action in a manner not involving substitution of the decedent’s successor or representative. Subsections (b), (c), and (d). The amendments conform Rules 25(b), (c), and (d) to the corresponding federal rule. Former NRCP 25(d)(2) is moved to Rule 17(d).
Litigation does not always end just because something happens to one of the parties. Rule 25 covers a party's death first: if the underlying claim survives the person's death, the court can substitute in the proper party, whether the decedent's successor, representative, or someone else with standing to continue the case. Anyone can file the motion for substitution, but there is a clock on it, 180 days after someone formally notes the death on the record, and missing that window means the claims by or against the deceased party get dismissed. If the right being pursued only survives among the parties still living, the case continues without needing any substitution at all; the death just gets noted.
A similar process covers a party who becomes incapacitated during the litigation, letting the court permit the case to continue through that party's representative on motion. When someone transfers away the interest at the center of a lawsuit while the case is still pending, the case does not have to pause or change hands automatically; it can keep going in the name of the original party unless the court orders the new owner substituted in or added alongside the original party. All of these motions, along with any statement noting a death, have to be served on the existing parties and, where relevant, on people who are not yet parties. Public officers get their own rule: when someone sued in an official capacity dies, resigns, or otherwise leaves office, the case does not abate at all, and that person's successor is automatically substituted, whether or not the court ever gets around to entering an order saying so.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to a lawsuit if a party dies while the case is pending?
If the claim survives the death, the court can substitute in the decedent's successor or representative. Anyone can bring that motion, but it must be filed within 180 days after the death is formally noted on the record, or the claims by or against the deceased party are dismissed.
Does every case end automatically when a party dies?
No. If the right being pursued survives only among the remaining parties, the case continues in their favor or against them without any need for substitution. The death just gets noted for the record.
What if a party becomes incapacitated rather than dying?
The court can permit the case to continue through that party's representative, on a motion served the same way a substitution motion for a deceased party would be served.
If someone sells or transfers the property at issue during a lawsuit, does the case have to be refiled against the new owner?
No. The case can continue in the name of the original party unless the court, on motion, orders the new owner substituted in or joined alongside the original party.
What happens when a public officer who is sued in their official capacity leaves office?
The case does not abate. The officer's successor is automatically substituted as the party, and the case proceeds under the successor's name, whether or not the court ever enters a formal order recognizing the substitution.
Source & verification. Rule text, official Advisory Committee
Notes, and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Nevada Rules of Civil
Procedure, adopted by the Supreme Court of Nevada. Last verified July 14, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as:party dies during lawsuitsubstitution of parties ruleincapacitated party in litigationpublic officer successor substitutedtransfer of interest during lawsuit