2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 45 - Uniform Probate Code
Article 3 - Probate of Wills and Administration
Part 7 - DUTIES AND POWERS OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES
Section 45-3-705 - Duty of personal representative; notice to heirs and devisees.

A. Not later than thirty days after appointment, every personal representative, except a special administrator, shall give notice of the appointment to the heirs and devisees, including, if there has been no formal testacy proceeding and if the personal representative was appointed on the assumption that the decedent died intestate, the devisees in any will mentioned in the application or petition for appointment of a personal representative.

B. The notice shall be delivered or sent by ordinary mail to each of the heirs and devisees whose address is reasonably available to the personal representative. The duty does not extend to require notice to persons:

(1) who have been adjudicated in a prior formal testacy proceeding to have no interest in the estate; or

(2) who are born more than thirty days after the personal representative's appointment, including children born by posthumous conception.

C. The notice shall:

(1) include the name and address of the personal representative;

(2) indicate that it is being sent to persons who have or may have some interest in the estate being administered;

(3) indicate whether bond has been filed; and

(4) describe the court where papers relating to the estate are on file.

D. The notice shall state that the estate is being administered by the personal representative pursuant to the provisions of the Uniform Probate Code without supervision by the court but that recipients are entitled to information regarding the administration from the personal representative and can petition the court in any matter relating to the estate, including distribution of assets and expenses of administration.

E. The personal representative shall file a statement with the appointing court giving the names and addresses of those persons notified pursuant to Subsection A of this section.

F. The personal representative's failure to give notice pursuant to this section is a breach of duty to the persons concerned but does not affect the validity of the appointment, the personal representative's powers or other duties. A personal representative may inform other persons of the appointment by delivery or ordinary mail.

History: 1953 Comp., § 32A-3-705, enacted by Laws 1975, ch. 257, § 3-705; 1993, ch. 174, § 69; 2017, ch. 41, § 18.

The 2017 amendment, effective January 1, 2018, increased the time within which a personal representative must give notice of his or her appointment as personal representative, and revised the provision related to who is entitled to notice; in Subsection A, after "Not later than", deleted "ten" and added "thirty"; in Subsection B, in the introductory sentence, after "delivered or", deleted "mailed" and added "sent by ordinary mail", added new paragraph designation "(1)", and after "estate", added "or" and added Paragraph B(2); added new subsection designation "C." and redesignated former Subsections C through E as Subsections D through F, respectively; and in Subsection F, after "delivery or", added "ordinary".

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, added Subsection C and redesignated former Subsections C and D as Subsections D and E.

Breach of duty. — A personal representative breached the personal representative's duty to give timely notice to heirs and devisees under 45-3-705 NMSA 1978 when the personal representative did not mail the requisite notice to the decedent's grandchildren to whom the decedent left property until after the estate had been distributed. In re Estate of Gardner, 1992-NMCA-122, 114 N.M. 793, 845 P.2d 1247.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 33 C.J.S. Executors and Administrators § 72.