HB0302

HOUSE BILL 302

56th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - second session, 2024

INTRODUCED BY

Debra M. Sariñana and Harry Garcia and Daniel A. Ivey-Soto and Alan T. Martinez and John Block

AN ACT

RELATING TO THE MILITARY; PROVIDING EXEMPTION FROM STATE LICENSING REQUIREMENTS FOR CHILD CARE PROGRAMS OR FACILITIES LICENSED OR CERTIFIED BY THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE OR UNITED STATES COAST GUARD; EXPANDING THE LIST OF PROTECTED CLASSES OF THE HUMAN RIGHTS ACT TO INCLUDE MILITARY STATUS; AMENDING SECTIONS OF THE NMSA 1978 TO ADD SPACE FORCE TO THE DEFINITIONS OF "ARMED FORCES" AND "UNIFORMED SERVICES" THAT INVOLVE PROGRAMS AND SERVICES FOR WHICH MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES ARE ELIGIBLE.

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

SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] LICENSE-EXEMPT CHILD CARE FACILITIES--MILITARY FACILITIES.--A program or a facility certified as a family child care provider by a branch of the United States department of defense or by the United States coast guard shall be exempt from child care facility licensure requirements provided pursuant to state law. This section does not apply to family child care providers who also provide child care services to children not affiliated with a branch of the United States department of defense or the United States coast guard.

SECTION 2. Section 1-1-5.4 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2015, Chapter 145, Section 3) is amended to read:

"1-1-5.4. UNIFORMED-SERVICE VOTER.--As used in the Election Code, "uniformed-service voter" means an individual who is a United States citizen, whose voting residence is in this state, who otherwise satisfies this state's voter eligibility requirements and who is:

A. a member of the active or reserve components of the army, navy, air force, space force, marine corps or coast guard of the United States who is on active duty and who by reason of that active duty is absent from the state;

B. a member of the merchant marine, the commissioned corps of the public health service, the astronaut program of the national aeronautics and space administration or the commissioned corps of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration of the United States and who by reason of that service is absent from the state;

C. a member on activated status of the national guard or state militia and who by reason of that active duty is absent from the member's county of residence; or

D. a spouse or dependent of a member referred to in Subsection A, B or C of this section and who, by reason of active duty or service of the member, is absent from the state; provided the spouse or dependent is an individual recognized as a spouse or dependent by the entity under which the member is serving."

SECTION 3. Section 21-1-4.5 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2005, Chapter 168, Section 1, as amended) is amended to read:

"21-1-4.5. RESIDENT TUITION FOR VETERANS OF THE ARMED FORCES OF THE UNITED STATES AND FAMILIES OF MEMBERS OF THE ARMED FORCES.--

A. A veteran of the armed forces of the United States shall be deemed an in-state resident for purposes of determining tuition and fees at all state institutions of higher learning, provided that the veteran is eligible for veterans' education benefits under federal law. In order for a veteran who is not a resident of New Mexico to receive in-state tuition rates, the veteran shall use the veteran's federal educational benefits at a state public post-secondary institution.

B. A spouse or child of an active member of the armed forces who is assigned to duty in New Mexico shall be deemed an in-state resident for purposes of determining tuition and fees at all state institutions of higher learning.

C. A spouse or child of an active member of the armed forces who is assigned to duty elsewhere immediately following assignment to duty in New Mexico shall be deemed an in-state resident for purposes of determining tuition and fees at all state institutions of higher learning as long as the spouse or child resides continuously in New Mexico.

D. A spouse or child of an active member of the armed forces who dies or is killed shall be deemed an in-state resident for purposes of determining tuition and fees at all state institutions of higher learning if the spouse or child becomes a resident of New Mexico within sixty days of the date of death.

E. A veteran of the armed forces who pays tuition and fees at the rate provided for New Mexico residents under this section is entitled to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for New Mexico residents in any subsequent term or semester while the veteran is enrolled in a degree or certificate program.

F. If an active member of the armed forces is stationed outside New Mexico and the member's spouse or child establishes residence in New Mexico and files with a state institution of higher learning at which the spouse or child plans to register a letter of intent to establish and continue residing in New Mexico, the spouse or child shall be deemed an in-state resident for purposes of determining tuition and fees at that state institution of higher learning without regard to length of time that the spouse or child has resided in the state.

G. A spouse or child of an active member of the armed forces who pays tuition and fees at the rate provided for New Mexico residents under this section is entitled to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for New Mexico residents in any subsequent term or semester while the person is continuously enrolled in the same degree or certificate program. For purposes of this subsection, a person is not required to enroll in a summer term to remain continuously enrolled in a degree or certificate program. A person's eligibility to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for New Mexico residents under this subsection does not terminate because the person is no longer a child or spouse of a member of the armed forces.

H. A spouse or child of a veteran of the armed forces is entitled to pay tuition and fees at the rate provided for New Mexico residents; provided that the spouse or child is eligible for benefits pursuant to the federal Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008 or any other federal law authorizing educational benefits for a veteran and the dependents of a veteran.

I. As used in this section, "armed forces" means the United States army, navy, air force, space force, marine corps or coast guard.

J. As used in this section, "veteran" means a person who:

(1) was regularly enlisted, drafted, inducted or commissioned in the:

(a) armed forces of the United States and was accepted for and assigned to active duty in the armed forces of the United States;

(b) army reserve, navy reserve, marine corps reserve, air force reserve, space force reserve, coast guard reserve, army national guard or air national guard and was accepted for and assigned to duty for a minimum of six continuous years; or

(c) United States public health service commissioned corps or the national oceanic and atmospheric administration commissioned officer corps and served in the capacity of a commissioned officer while on active duty in defense of the United States; and

(2) was not separated from such service under circumstances amounting to dishonorable discharge."

SECTION 4. Section 28-1-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 196, Section 2, as amended) is amended to read:

"28-1-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Human Rights Act:

A. "person" means one or more individuals, a partnership, association, organization, corporation, joint venture, legal representative, trustees, receivers, or the state and all of its political subdivisions;

B. "employer" means any person employing four or more persons and any person acting for an employer;

C. "commission" means the human rights commission;

D. "director" or "bureau" means the human rights bureau of the labor relations division of the workforce solutions department;

E. "employee" means any person in the employ of an employer or an applicant for employment;

F. "labor organization" means any organization that exists for the purpose in whole or in part of collective bargaining or of dealing with employers concerning grievances, terms or conditions of employment or of other mutual aid or protection in connection with employment;

G. "employment agency" means any person regularly undertaking with or without compensation to procure opportunities to work or to procure, recruit or refer employees;

H. "public accommodation" means any governmental entity or any establishment that provides or offers its services, facilities, accommodations or goods to the public, but does not include a bona fide private club or other place or establishment that is by its nature and use distinctly private;

I. "public contractor" means a person who receives public funds as a result of contracting with a governmental entity;

J. "political subdivision" means any:

(1) county;

(2) incorporated city, town or village;

(3) drainage, conservancy, irrigation, water and sanitation or other district;

(4) mutual domestic association;

(5) public water cooperative association; or

(6) community ditch association;

K. "housing accommodation" means any building or portion of a building that is constructed or to be constructed, which is used or intended for use as the residence or sleeping place of any individual;

L. "real property" means lands, leaseholds or commercial or industrial buildings, whether constructed or to be constructed, offered for sale or rent, and any land rented or leased for the use, parking or storage of house trailers;

M. "secretary" means the secretary of workforce solutions;

N. "unlawful discriminatory practices" means those unlawful practices and acts specified in Section 28-1-7 NMSA 1978;

O. "physical or mental disability" means a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of a person's major life activities. A person is also considered to have a mental or physical disability if the person has a record of a physical or mental disability or is regarded as having a physical or mental disability;

P. "major life activities" means functions such as caring for one's self, performing manual tasks, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, learning and working;

Q. "applicant for employment" means a person applying for a position as an employee;

R. "sex" means a person's categorization as male, female or intersex based on biology, physiology and physical characteristics;

S. "sexual orientation" means a person's physical, romantic or emotional attraction to persons of the same or a different gender or the absence of any such attraction;

T. "gender identity" means a person's self-perception, based on the person's appearance, behavior or physical characteristics, that the person exhibits more masculinity or femininity or the absence of masculinity or femininity whether or not it matches the person's gender or sex assigned at birth;

U. "gender" means an individual or societal expectation or perception of a person as masculine or feminine based on appearance, behavior or physical characteristics;

V. "reasonable accommodation" means modification or adaptation of the work environment, work schedule, work rules or job responsibilities, and reached through good faith efforts to explore less restrictive or less expensive alternatives to enable an employee to perform the essential functions of the job and that does not impose an undue hardship on the employer;

W. "undue hardship" means an accommodation requiring significant difficulty or expense when considered in light of the following factors:

(1) the nature and cost of the accommodation;

(2) the financial resources of the employer involved in the provision of the reasonable accommodation;

(3) the number of persons the employer employs;

(4) the effect of the accommodation on

expenses and resources;

(5) the impact of the accommodation otherwise upon the employer's business;

(6) the overall financial resources of the employer;

(7) the overall size of the business of an employer with respect to the number, type and location of its facilities;

(8) the type of operation of the employer, including the composition, structure and functions of the workforce of the employer; or

(9) the geographic separateness or administrative or fiscal relationship to the employer of the employer's facilities;

X. "cultural or religious headdresses" includes hijabs, head wraps or other headdresses used as part of an individual's personal cultural or religious beliefs;

Y. "protective hairstyles" includes such hairstyles as braids, locs, twists, tight coils or curls, cornrows, bantu knots, afros, weaves, wigs or head wraps;

Z. "race" includes traits historically associated with race, including hair texture, length of hair, protective hairstyles or cultural or religious headdresses;

AA. "state" means the state of New Mexico or any of its agencies, departments, boards, instrumentalities or institutions;

BB. "governmental entity" means the state or any public body;

CC. "public body" means a state or local government, an advisory board, a commission, an agency or an entity created by the constitution of New Mexico or any branch of government that receives public funding, including political subdivisions, special tax districts, school districts and institutions of higher education; [and]

DD. "services" means any function, program, activity or benefit; and

EE. "military status" means a person's active membership in the armed forces or state defense force or being a veteran of the armed forces or state defense force and includes a spouse or child of an active member or veteran of the armed forces or state defense force."

SECTION 5. Section 28-1-7 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 196, Section 7, as amended) is amended to read:

"28-1-7. UNLAWFUL DISCRIMINATORY PRACTICE.--It is an unlawful discriminatory practice for:

A. an employer, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification or other statutory prohibition, to refuse to hire, to discharge, to promote or demote or to discriminate in matters of compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment against any person otherwise qualified because of race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, physical or mental disability, [or] serious medical condition or military status, or, if the employer has fifty or more employees, spousal affiliation; provided, however, that 29 U.S.C. Section 631(c)(1) and (2) shall apply to discrimination based on age;

B. a labor organization to exclude a person or to expel or otherwise discriminate against any of its members or against any employer or employee because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, [or] serious medical condition or military status;

C. any employer, labor organization or joint apprenticeship committee to refuse to admit or employ any person in any program established to provide an apprenticeship or other training or retraining because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, physical or mental disability, [or] serious medical condition or military status, or, if the employer has fifty or more employees, spousal affiliation;

D. any person, employer, employment agency or labor organization to print or circulate or cause to be printed or circulated any statement, advertisement or publication, to use any form of application for employment or membership or to make any inquiry regarding prospective membership or employment that expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification or discrimination as to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, physical or mental disability, [or] serious medical condition or military status, or, if the employer has fifty or more employees, spousal affiliation, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification;

E. an employment agency to refuse to list and properly classify for employment or refer a person for employment in a known available job, for which the person is otherwise qualified, because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability or serious medical condition, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification, or to comply with a request from an employer for referral of applicants for employment if the request indicates, either directly or indirectly, that the employer discriminates in employment on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation, physical or mental disability, [or] serious medical condition, unless based on a bona fide occupational qualification, or military status;

F. any person in any public accommodation to make a distinction, directly or indirectly, in offering or refusing to offer its services, facilities, accommodations or goods to any person because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation, [or] physical or mental disability or military status; provided that the physical or mental disability is unrelated to a person's ability to acquire or rent and maintain particular real property or housing accommodation;

G. any person to:

(1) refuse to sell, rent, assign, lease or sublease or offer for sale, rental, lease, assignment or sublease any housing accommodation or real property to any person or to refuse to negotiate for the sale, rental, lease, assignment or sublease of any housing accommodation or real property to any person because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation, [or] physical or mental disability or military status; provided that the physical or mental disability is unrelated to a person's ability to acquire or rent and maintain particular real property or housing accommodation;

(2) discriminate against any person in the terms, conditions or privileges of the sale, rental, assignment, lease or sublease of any housing accommodation or real property or in the provision of facilities or services in connection therewith because of race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation, [or] physical or mental disability or military status; provided that the physical or mental disability is unrelated to a person's ability to acquire or rent and maintain particular real property or housing accommodation; or

(3) print, circulate, display or mail or cause to be printed, circulated, displayed or mailed any statement, advertisement, publication or sign or use any form of application for the purchase, rental, lease, assignment or sublease of any housing accommodation or real property or to make any record or inquiry regarding the prospective purchase, rental, lease, assignment or sublease of any housing accommodation or real property that expresses any preference, limitation or discrimination as to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation, [or] physical or mental disability or military status; provided that the physical or mental disability is unrelated to a person's ability to acquire or rent and maintain particular real property or housing accommodation;

H. any person to whom application is made either for financial assistance for the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, repair or maintenance of any housing accommodation or real property or for any type of consumer credit, including financial assistance for the acquisition of any consumer good as defined by Section 55-9-102 NMSA 1978, to:

(1) consider the race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation or physical or mental disability of any individual in the granting, withholding, extending, modifying or renewing or in the fixing of the rates, terms, conditions or provisions of any financial assistance or in the extension of services in connection with the request for financial assistance; or

(2) use any form of application for financial assistance or to make any record or inquiry in connection with applications for financial assistance that expresses, directly or indirectly, any limitation, specification or discrimination as to race, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, spousal affiliation or physical or mental disability;

I. any person or employer to:

(1) aid, abet, incite, compel or coerce the doing of any unlawful discriminatory practice or to attempt to do so;

(2) engage in any form of threats, reprisal or discrimination against any person who has opposed any unlawful discriminatory practice or has filed a complaint, testified or participated in any proceeding under the Human Rights Act; or

(3) willfully obstruct or prevent any person from complying with the provisions of the Human Rights Act or to resist, prevent, impede or interfere with the commission or any of its members, staff or representatives in the performance of their duties under the Human Rights Act;

J. any employer to refuse or fail to accommodate a person's physical or mental disability or serious medical condition, unless such accommodation is unreasonable or an undue hardship;

K. any employer to refuse or fail to make reasonable accommodation for an employee or job applicant with a need arising from pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth;

L. any employer to require an employee with a need arising from pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth to take paid or unpaid leave if another reasonable accommodation can be provided unless the employee voluntarily requests to be placed on leave or the employee is placed on leave pursuant to federal law; or

M. a governmental entity or a public contractor to refuse or otherwise limit or put conditions on services to a person because of race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth or condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, physical or mental disability, serious medical condition or spousal affiliation; provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed to require a governmental entity or a public contractor to provide services or programs beyond services or programs to the specific populations that the governmental entity or public contractor is tasked with serving."

SECTION 6. Section 40-10D-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2014, Chapter 4, Section 2) is amended to read:

"40-10D-2. DEFINITIONS.--As used in the Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act:

A. "adult" means an individual who has attained eighteen years of age or is an emancipated minor;

B. "caretaking authority" means the right to live with and care for a child on a day-to-day basis. "Caretaking authority" includes physical custody, parenting time, right to access and visitation;

C. "child" means:

(1) an unemancipated individual who has not attained eighteen years of age; or

(2) an adult son or daughter by birth or adoption, or under law of this state other than the Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act, who is the subject of a court order concerning custodial responsibility;

D. "court" means a tribunal, including an administrative agency, authorized under law of this state other than the Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act, to make, enforce or modify a decision regarding custodial responsibility;

E. "custodial responsibility" includes all powers and duties relating to caretaking authority and decision-making authority for a child. "Custodial responsibility" includes physical custody, legal custody, parenting time, right to access, visitation and authority to grant limited contact with a child;

F. "decision-making authority" means the power to make important decisions regarding a child, including decisions regarding the child's education, religious training, health care, extracurricular activities and travel. "Decision-making authority" does not include the power to make decisions that necessarily accompany a grant of caretaking authority;

G. "deploying parent" means a service member who is deployed or has been notified of impending deployment and is:

(1) a parent of a child under law of this state other than the Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act; or

(2) an individual who has custodial responsibility for a child under law of this state other than the Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act;

H. "deployment" means the movement or mobilization of a service member for more than ninety days but less than eighteen months pursuant to uniformed service orders that:

(1) are designated as unaccompanied;

(2) do not authorize dependent travel; or

(3) otherwise do not permit the movement of family members to the location to which the service member is deployed;

I. "family member" means a sibling, aunt, uncle, cousin, stepparent or grandparent of a child or an individual recognized to be in a familial relationship with a child under law of this state other than the Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act;

J. "limited contact" means the authority of a nonparent to visit a child for a limited time. "Limited contact" includes authority to take the child to a place other than the residence of the child;

K. "nonparent" means an individual other than a deploying parent or other parent;

L. "other parent" means an individual who, in common with a deploying parent, is:

(1) a parent of a child under law of this state other than the Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act; or

(2) an individual who has custodial responsibility for a child under law of this state other than the Deployed Parents Custody and Visitation Act;

M. "record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form;

N. "return from deployment" means the conclusion of a service member's deployment as specified in uniformed service orders;

O. "service member" means a member of a uniformed service;

P. "sign" means with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record to:

(1) execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

(2) attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound or process;

Q. "state" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin Islands or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States; and

R. "uniformed service" means:

(1) active and reserve components of the army, navy, air force, space force, marine corps or coast guard of the United States;

(2) the United States merchant marine;

(3) the commissioned corps of the United States public health service;

(4) the commissioned corps of the national oceanic and atmospheric administration of the United States; or

(5) the national guard of a state."

SECTION 7. Section 45-1-201 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1993, Chapter 174, Section 4, as amended) is amended to read:

"45-1-201. DEFINITIONS.--

A. As used in the Uniform Probate Code, except as provided in Subsection B of this section and unless the context otherwise requires:

(1) "agent" includes an attorney-in-fact under a durable or nondurable power of attorney, an individual authorized to make decisions concerning another's health care and an individual authorized to make decisions for another under a natural death act;

(2) "application" means a written request to a court for an order of informal probate or appointment pursuant to Chapter 45, Article 3 NMSA 1978;

(3) "authenticated", with reference to copies, means certified or exemplified;

(4) "beneficiary", as it relates to a trust beneficiary, includes a person who has any present or future interest, vested or contingent, and also includes the owner of an interest by assignment or other transfer; as it relates to a charitable trust, includes any person entitled to enforce the trust; as it relates to a "beneficiary of a beneficiary designation", refers to a beneficiary of an insurance or annuity policy, of an account with POD designation, of a security registered in beneficiary form (TOD) or of a pension, profit-sharing, retirement or similar benefit plan or other nonprobate transfer at death; and, as it relates to a "beneficiary designated in a governing instrument", includes a grantee of a deed, a devisee, a trust beneficiary, a beneficiary of a beneficiary designation, a donee, appointee or taker in default of a power of appointment or a person in whose favor a power of attorney or a power held in any individual, fiduciary or representative capacity is exercised;

(5) "beneficiary designation" refers to a governing instrument naming a beneficiary of an insurance or annuity policy, of an account with POD designation, of a security registered in beneficiary form (TOD) or of a pension, profit-sharing, retirement or similar benefit plan or other nonprobate transfer at death;

(6) "child" includes an individual entitled to take as a child pursuant to the Uniform Probate Code by intestate succession from the parent whose relationship is involved and excludes a person who is only a stepchild, a foster child, a grandchild or any more remote descendant;

(7) "claims", in respect to estates of decedents and protected persons, includes liabilities of the decedent or protected person, whether arising in contract, in tort or otherwise and liabilities of the estate that arise at or after the death of the decedent or after the appointment of a conservator, including funeral expenses and expenses of administration. "Claims" does not include estate or inheritance taxes or demands or disputes regarding title of a decedent, an incapacitated person or a minor protected person to specific assets alleged to be included in the estate;

(8) "conservator" has the same meaning as set forth in Section 45-5-101 NMSA 1978;

(9) "descendant" of an individual means all of the individual's descendants of all generations, with the relationship of parent and child at each generation being determined by the definition of child and parent contained in the Uniform Probate Code;

(10) "devise", when used as a noun, means a testamentary disposition of real or personal property and, when used as a verb, means to dispose of real or personal property by will;

(11) "devisee" means a person designated in a will to receive a devise. For the purposes of Chapter 45, Article 3 NMSA 1978, in the case of a devise to an existing trust or trustee or to a trustee or trust described by will, the trust or trustee is the devisee and the beneficiaries are not devisees;

(12) "distributee" means a person who has received property of a decedent from the decedent's personal representative other than as a creditor or purchaser. A testamentary trustee is a distributee only to the extent of distributed assets or increment thereto remaining in the testamentary trustee's hands. A beneficiary of a testamentary trust to whom the trustee has distributed property received from a personal representative is a distributee of the personal representative. For the purposes of this paragraph, "testamentary trustee" includes a trustee to whom assets are transferred by will, to the extent of the devised assets;

(13) "electronic" means relating to technology having electronic, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic or similar capabilities;

(14) "emancipated minor" means a person sixteen years of age or older who:

(a) has entered into a valid marriage, whether or not the marriage was terminated by dissolution;

(b) is a member of the active or reserve components of the army, navy, air force, space force, marine corps or coast guard of the United States who is on active duty or a member of the national guard who is on activated status; or

(15) "estate" includes the property of the decedent, trust or other person whose affairs are subject to the Uniform Probate Code as the property was originally constituted and as it exists from time to time during administration;

(16) "exempt property" means that property of a decedent's estate that is described in Sections 45-2-402 and 45-2-403 NMSA 1978;

(17) "fiduciary" includes a personal representative, guardian, guardian ad litem, conservator and trustee;

(18) "foreign personal representative" means a personal representative appointed by another jurisdiction;

(19) "formal proceedings" means proceedings conducted before a district judge with notice to interested persons;

(20) "governing instrument" means a deed, will, trust, insurance or annuity policy, account with POD designation, security registered in beneficiary form (TOD), transfer on death (TOD) deed, pension, profit-sharing, retirement or similar benefit plan, instrument creating or exercising a power of appointment or a power of attorney or a dispositive, appointive or nominative instrument of a similar type;

(21) "guardian" means a person who has qualified to provide for the care, custody or control of the person of a minor or incapacitated person pursuant to parental or court appointment. "Guardian" includes a limited, emergency and temporary guardian but not a guardian ad litem;

(22) "guardian ad litem" means a person appointed by the district court to represent and protect the interests of a minor or an incapacitated person in connection with litigation or any other court proceeding;

(23) "heirs", except as controlled by Section 45-2-711 NMSA 1978, means persons, including the surviving spouse and the state, who are entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to the property of a decedent;

(24) "incapacitated person" means an individual described in Section 45-5-101 NMSA 1978;

(25) "informal proceedings" means those proceedings conducted without notice to interested persons before the court for probate of a will or appointment of a personal representative, except as provided for in Section 45-3-306 NMSA 1978;

(26) "interested person" includes heirs, devisees, children, spouses, creditors, beneficiaries and any others having a property right in or claim against a trust estate or the estate of a decedent, a minor protected person or an incapacitated person. "Interested person" also includes persons having priority for appointment as personal representatives and other fiduciaries representing interested persons. The meaning as it relates to particular persons may vary from time to time and shall be determined according to the particular purposes of, and matter involved in, a proceeding; (27) "issue" of an individual means the individual's descendants;

(28) "lease" includes an oil, gas or other mineral lease;

(29) "letters" includes letters testamentary, letters of guardianship, letters of administration and letters of conservatorship;

(30) "minor" means an unemancipated individual who has not reached eighteen years of age;

(31) "mortgage" means any conveyance, agreement or arrangement in which property is encumbered or used as security;

(32) "nonresident decedent" means a decedent who was domiciled in another jurisdiction at the time of death;

(33) "organization" means a corporation, business trust, limited liability company, estate, trust, partnership, joint venture, association, government or governmental subdivision or agency or any other legal or commercial entity;

(34) "parent" includes any person entitled to take, or who would be entitled to take if the child died without a will, as a parent pursuant to the Uniform Probate Code by intestate succession from the child whose relationship is in question and excludes any person who is only a stepparent, foster parent or grandparent;

(35) "payor" means a trustee, insurer, business entity, employer, government, governmental agency or subdivision or any other person authorized or obligated by law or a governing instrument to make payments;

(36) "person" means an individual or an organization;

(37) "personal representative" includes executor, administrator, successor personal representative, special administrator and persons who perform substantially the same function under the law governing their status. "General personal representative" excludes special administrator;

(38) "petition" means a written motion or other request to the district court for an order after notice;

(39) "proceeding" includes action at law and suit in equity;

(40) "property" includes both real and personal property or any right or interest therein and means anything that may be the subject of ownership;

(41) "protected person" has the same meaning as set forth in Section 45-5-101 NMSA 1978;

(42) "protective proceeding" means a conservatorship proceeding pursuant to Section 45-5-401 NMSA 1978;

(43) "record" means information that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic or other medium and is retrievable in perceivable form;

(44) "security" includes any note, stock, treasury stock, bond, debenture, evidence of indebtedness, certificate of interest or participation in an oil, gas or mining title or lease or in payments out of production under such a title or lease, collateral trust certificate, transferable share, voting trust certificate or, in general, any interest or instrument commonly known as a security or any certificate of interest or participation, any temporary or interim certificate, receipt or certificate of deposit for or any warrant or right to subscribe to or purchase any of the foregoing;

(45) "settlement", in reference to a decedent's estate, includes the full process of administration, distribution and closing;

(46) "sign" means with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record other than a will:

(a) to execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or

(b) to attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound or process;

(47) "special administrator" means a personal representative as described by Sections 45-3-614 through

45-3-618 NMSA 1978;

(48) "state" means a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico or any territory or insular possession subject to the jurisdiction of the United States. "State" also includes any Indian nation, tribe, pueblo or band located within the United States and recognized by federal law or formally acknowledged by a state of the United States;

(49) "successor personal representative" means a personal representative, other than a special administrator, who is appointed to succeed a previously appointed personal representative;

(50) "successors" means persons, other than creditors, who are entitled to property of a decedent under the decedent's will or the Uniform Probate Code;

(51) "supervised administration" refers to the proceedings described in Article 3, Part 5 of the Uniform Probate Code;

(52) "survive" means that an individual has neither predeceased an event, including the death of another individual, nor is deemed to have predeceased an event pursuant to Section 45-2-104 or 45-2-702 NMSA 1978. "Survive" includes its derivatives, such as "survives", "survived", "survivor" and "surviving";

(53) "testacy proceeding" means a proceeding to establish a will or determine intestacy;

(54) "testator" includes an individual of either gender;

(55) "trust" includes an express trust, private or charitable, with additions thereto, wherever and however created. "Trust" also includes a trust created or determined by judgment or decree under which the trust is to be administered in the manner of an express trust. "Trust" excludes other constructive trusts and excludes resulting trusts, conservatorships, personal representatives, trust accounts as defined in Article 6 of the Uniform Probate Code, custodial arrangements, including those created under the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act, business trusts providing for certificates to be issued to beneficiaries, common trust funds, voting trusts, security arrangements, liquidation trusts, trusts for the primary purpose of paying debts, dividends, interest, salaries, wages, profits, pensions or employee benefits of any kind and any arrangement under which a person is nominee or escrowee for another;

(56) "trustee" includes an original, additional or successor trustee, whether or not appointed or confirmed by court; and

(57) "will" includes a codicil and any testamentary instrument that merely appoints a personal representative, revokes or revises another will, nominates a guardian or expressly excludes or limits the right of an individual or class to succeed to property of the decedent passing by intestate succession. "Will" does not include a holographic will.

B. The definitions in Subsection A of this section are made subject to additional definitions contained in subsequent articles that are applicable to specific articles, parts or sections."

SECTION 8. Section 66-3-303 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1978, Chapter 35, Section 79) is amended to read:

"66-3-303. REGISTRATION BY MILITARY PERSONNEL.--Officers and enlisted personnel of the United States army, navy, marine corps, coast guard, space force and air force may operate their personal passenger vehicles in this state subject to the provisions of Section [64-3-301 NMSA 1953] 66-3-301 NMSA 1978."

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