Wills and estate planning in New Mexico

Researched 2026-10-20 · confidence: medium · 2026 figures

In plain words: in New Mexico a will is valid when it's signed in front of 2 adult witnesses. There is no state estate tax. The federal estate tax exemption is $15,000,000 a person in 2026.

Witnesses to a will	2
Handwritten (holographic) will	Not recognised
Self-proving affidavit	Available
Electronic wills	Not allowed
Power of attorney	No notary · Uniform Power of Attorney Act
Health care directive	0 witnesses
State estate tax	No
State inheritance tax	No
Community property	Yes
Age of majority / UTMA age	18 / 21

Signing a will

Statute: NMSA 1978, § 45-2-502.

Signing by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any provision of it (NMSA § 45-2-505).

Stricter than the model Uniform Probate Code: both witnesses must sign in the presence of the testator and of each other, after watching the testator sign; acknowledgment alone is not enough (§ 45-2-502(C)). New Mexico has no holographic-will provision and no electronic-wills act; one secondary source claiming holographic wills are valid was treated as wrong. Execute in a single ceremony with the self-proving affidavit (§ 45-2-504).

Power of attorney

Statute: New Mexico Uniform Power of Attorney Act, NMSA 1978, § 45-5B-101 et seq. (execution § 45-5B-105; express-authority powers § 45-5B-201; statutory form § 45-5B-301).

Notarization is not required for validity, but an acknowledged signature is presumed genuine (§ 45-5B-105). Notarize in practice, and always for real-estate use; a POA used to convey real property should be recorded with the county clerk. Standard UPOAA hot powers need an express grant (§ 45-5B-201): trusts, gifts, survivorship, beneficiary designations, delegation, and similar. The Act was formerly codified at 46B-1-101 and recompiled into Chapter 45, Article 5B in 2012. The § 45-5B-201 and § 45-5B-301 numbers follow the UPOAA pattern and were not individually fetched.

Health care directive

Called: Advance Health-Care Directive (Optional Advance Health-Care Directive form).

Statute: Uniform Health-Care Decisions Act, NMSA 1978, § 24-7A-1 et seq. (form § 24-7A-4).

No witnesses or notary are legally required. A health-care power of attorney must only be in writing and signed by the principal (§ 24-7A-2(B)). The optional statutory form (§ 24-7A-4) says 2 witnesses are 'recommended but not required'. For portability, the app should still offer 2 adult witnesses or a notary. No state-agency form URL was confirmed; the form text is in § 24-7A-4.

If there's no will: what a spouse gets

The surviving spouse takes all community property (the decedent's half plus their own) and one-fourth of the decedent's separate property when descendants survive, with the rest of the separate property going to the descendants (NMSA § 45-2-102).

A spouse's right to a share

New Mexico has no elective share; the surviving spouse owns one-half of the community property outright (NMSA § 45-2-807), and the UPC elective-share part is not adopted.

Estate and inheritance tax

No state estate tax.

No inheritance tax.

Probate

Uniform Probate Code state with informal probate. Personal property (not real property) up to $50,000 can be collected by affidavit 30 days after death (NMSA § 45-3-1201); this figure has been unchanged since 2012 per secondary sources.

Money God drafts a New Mexico will, power of attorney and health care directive from a short interview, then you send it to your attorney for review before signing.

Try Money God free

Sources

Researched from state statutes and official forms. Laws change; this page is information, not legal advice. Every Money God draft is reviewed by a licensed attorney in your state before you sign it.