46th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2003

RELATING TO PROBATE; REQUIRING A PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE TO MAKE REPORTS TO INTERESTED PARTIES AND COMPLETE ADMINISTRATION OF INTESTATE SUCCESSION WITHIN THREE YEARS; DECLARING AN EMERGENCY.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

Section 1. Section 45-3-703 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1975, Chapter 257, Section 3-703) is amended to read:

"45-3-703. GENERAL DUTIES--RELATION AND LIABILITY TO PERSONS INTERESTED IN ESTATE--STANDING TO SUE.--

A. A personal representative is under a duty to settle and distribute the estate of a decedent in accordance with the terms of any probated and effective will and the Uniform Probate Code and as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with the best interests of the estate subject to Subsection F of this section. He shall use the authority conferred upon him by the Uniform Probate Code, the terms of the will, if any, and any order in proceedings to which he is party for the best interests of successors to the estate.

B. A personal representative shall not be surcharged for acts of administration or distribution if the conduct in question was authorized at the time. Subject to other obligations of administration, an informally probated will is authority to administer and distribute the estate according to its terms.

C. An order of appointment of a personal representative, whether issued in informal or formal proceedings, is authority to distribute apparently intestate assets to the heirs of the decedent if, at the time of distribution, the personal representative is not aware of:

(1) a pending testacy proceeding;

(2) a proceeding to vacate an order entered in an earlier testacy proceeding;

(3) a formal proceeding questioning his appointment or fitness to continue; or

(4) a supervised administration proceeding.

D. Nothing in this section affects the duty of the personal representative to administer and distribute the estate in accordance with the rights of claimants, the surviving spouse, any minor and dependent children and any pretermitted child of the decedent.

E. Except as to proceedings which do not survive the death of the decedent, a personal representative of a decedent domiciled in New Mexico at his death has the same standing to sue and be sued in the courts of New Mexico and the courts of any other jurisdiction as his decedent had immediately prior to death.

F. A personal representative shall complete the disposition of the management and settlement of a decedent's estate and give a final report to all interested parties no later than three years after the commencement of the administration of the estate by the personal representative. The probate or district court may extend the three-year period upon a showing of good cause by the personal representative. The final report shall include an inventory of all property devised by the estate and its devisees, as well as any remuneration received by the personal representative pursuant to the administration of the estate."

Section 2. A new section of the Uniform Probate Code, Section 45-3-705.1 NMSA 1978, is enacted to read:

"45-3-705.1 [NEW MATERIAL] DUTY OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE--PERIODIC REPORT.--At least once every three months, a personal representative shall give a report to all interested parties concerning the status of the administration of the decedent's estate. For purposes of this section, "interested party" means a devisee, heir or relation with an intestate claim known to the personal representative. Other persons must petition the probate or district court to be declared an interested party."

Section 3. EMERGENCY.--It is necessary for the public peace, health and safety that this act take effect immediately.