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New Mexico estate administration

New Mexico probate: rules, process, costs, executor fees and deadlines

Small-estate limit: $50,000

This guide explains probate in New Mexico: New Mexico divides probate between county Probate Courts and state District Courts. Informal probate and appointment may begin in either, at a $30 statewide Probate Court fee (§ 34-7-14); formal estate proceedings are exclusively in District Court, at the $117 civil docket fee (§ 34-6-40). The $50,000 successor affidavit itself does not perfect real-estate title.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

Answer first

New Mexico simplified probate route

After 30 days, a successor may use an affidavit if the entire estate, wherever located and less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $50,000 and no personal-representative application is pending or granted. The affidavit collects tangible personal property and cannot perfect title to real estate. Section 45-3-1203 separately permits summary distribution when the net estate does not exceed enumerated allowances and administration, last-illness, and funeral expenses.

Collection of personal property by affidavit
1. Where and when
Private by design: entries stay in this browser.
2. What they left

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Asset 1

Asset 2

Your working estimate

New Mexico estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeMore information neededInformal probate and appointment in county Probate Court (NMSA 1978 § 34-7-14)2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.More information neededFormal or contested estate proceeding in District Court (NMSA 1978 § 34-6-40)2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.
Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation, not a percentage schedule. If a will provides compensation and no contract with the decedent controls, the representative may renounce the will provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation, or renounce all or part of the fee.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

What the reviewed rules establish

Simplified route

$50,000

After 30 days, a successor may use an affidavit if the entire estate, wherever located and less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $50,000 and no personal-representative application is pending or granted. The affidavit collects tangible personal property and cannot perfect title to real estate. Section 45-3-1203 separately permits summary distribution when the net estate does not exceed enumerated allowances and administration, last-illness, and funeral expenses.

Eligibility and caveats

Court cost

Varies locally

New Mexico splits the opening fee by court. Informal probate and appointment filed in the county Probate Court cost $30 (NMSA 1978 § 34-7-14, "a filing fee of thirty dollars ($30.00) for each probate case"). A formal or contested estate proceeding — which District Court has exclusive original jurisdiction over — costs the $117 district-court civil docket fee (NMSA 1978 § 34-6-40). If a case properly filed in Probate Court is later transferred to District Court, no additional District Court filing fee is charged (§ 34-7-10(B)).

Filing-cost detail

Executor compensation

Court-reviewed

A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation, not a percentage schedule. If a will provides compensation and no contract with the decedent controls, the representative may renounce the will provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation, or renounce all or part of the fee.

Compensation detail

Creditor deadline

Multiple triggers

New Mexico has separate four-month publication, later-of-publication-or-60-day actual-notice, and one-year-from-death outer limits. A single days field would misstate the trigger framework.

NMSA 1978 §§ 45-3-801, -803 (New Mexico Compilation Commission / NMOneSource; reviewed August 9, 2026)

Timeline and creditor details

New Mexico decision map

The four facts that change the New Mexico route

Use this map before opening a form or entering a number. It keeps the New Mexico amount test, time gate, court cost, and creditor record separate so one easy figure does not stand in for the whole administration.

QuestionRecorded New Mexico answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Collection of personal property by affidavitConfirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?probate property within the rule's stated scope; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$50,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?30 days after death; New Mexico has separate four-month publication, later-of-publication-or-60-day actual-notice, and one-year-from-death outer limits. A single days field would misstate the trigger framework.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?2 published schedules; the proceeding and value basis control the total.Ask the Probate Court (informal) / District Court (formal) about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation, not a percentage schedule. If a will provides compensation and no contract with the decedent controls, the representative may renounce the will provision before qualifying and take reasonable compensation, or renounce all or part of the fee. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Arithmetic illustration

See the New Mexico amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded New Mexico ceiling is $50,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $37,500 sits below the New Mexico figure and $62,500 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what New Mexico counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the New Mexico ceilingWhat it does not decide
$37,500Below $50,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$62,500Above $50,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Start with the row that is still unknown, then take that question to the named court or source.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

New Mexico has a dual track: county Probate Courts and District Courts share original jurisdiction over informal probate/appointment, while District Court has exclusive original jurisdiction over formal estate proceedings.

The opening fee is set statewide by statute for each court: $30 in the county Probate Court (NMSA 1978 § 34-7-14) and a $117 civil docket fee in District Court (NMSA 1978 § 34-6-40). Use the state directory to reach the correct court.

Source trail

Records used by this New Mexico map

Limits and unresolved costs

  • NMOneSource’s HTML item is a shell and the official PDF text has highly spaced extraction; assertions must match the harvested spacing exactly.
  • The official PDF exposes no edition-level currentness marker; per-section amendment histories are pinned instead (34-7-14 reenacted 2023; 34-6-40 last amended 2009).
  • District Court's $117 fee is the base civil docket fee; judicial districts running an ADR program add a $15 surcharge (§ 34-6-45) and rule-set electronic-services fees (§ 34-6-48) may also attach, so the delivered total in some districts exceeds $117.
  • Attorney fees, bond premiums, publication, certified copies, tax work, and asset-sale costs are not included unless expressly shown.
  • Asset title, beneficiary designations, creditor claims, and will terms can change the route.
Use this as a starting point.

This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.

Continue

What New Mexico courts publish

The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.

Limits on court material

  • New Mexico has a dual track: county Probate Courts and District Courts share original jurisdiction over informal probate/appointment, while District Court has exclusive original jurisdiction over formal estate proceedings.
  • The opening fee is set statewide by statute for each court: $30 in the county Probate Court (NMSA 1978 § 34-7-14) and a $117 civil docket fee in District Court (NMSA 1978 § 34-6-40). Use the state directory to reach the correct court.

Primary sources

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.