New Mexico Small Estates: the small estate affidavit
The short answer
New Mexico calls its simplified route the small estate affidavit, and it is set out in NMSA 1978 § 45-3-1201. It can't be used if there is any real estate. You have to wait a set number of days after the death before using it. Real estate has its own separate route in this state, with its own limit and its own wait. The card above states both. The current limit and the date we last read the statute are on the card below.
New Mexico’s small estate affidavit
New Mexico sets this out in NMSA 1978 § 45-3-1201. It can't be used if there is any real estate. The figure itself, and the date we last read that statute, are on the card below.[1]
New Mexico
- Procedure:
- small estate affidavit
- Limit:
- $50,000
- Wait:
- 30 days
- Real estate:
- separate procedure
It can't be used if there is any real estate.
A surviving spouse can transfer the main home with a separate affidavit 6 months after the death, if its assessed value is $500,000 or less.
NMSA 1978 § 45-3-1201 — official page read September 18, 2026
Real estate has its own separate route in this state, with its own limit and its own wait. The card above states both. A surviving spouse can transfer the main home with a separate affidavit 6 months after the death, if its assessed value is $500,000 or less.[1]
The small estate affidavit is one piece of settling an estate in New Mexico. Answer a few questions and Go Forward builds the rest of the list for your situation — the notifications, the accounts, the paperwork — in the order it needs doing.
Build my plan →Steps this page connects to: Check whether probate is required · Order certified death certificates · List what the estate holds
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Sources
- NMSA 1978 § 45-3-1201 (small estate affidavit) — New Mexico — official statute or court self-help page. Read September 18, 2026.
Each state above links to the statute or court page we read, with the date we read it.
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