New Mexico's Requirements for a Will

Summary of New Mexico's Will Requirements:

Statutes Governing New Mexico's Will Requirements:

Who may make will

An individual eighteen or more years of age who is of sound mind may make a will.

New Mexico Statutes, 45-2-501

Execution; witnessed wills

Except as provided in Sections 45-2-506 and 45-2-513 NMSA 1978, a will must be:

A.  in writing;

B.  signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator's conscious presence and by the testator's direction; and

C.  signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed in the presence of the testator and of each other after each witnessed the signing of the will as described in Subsection B of this section.

New Mexico Statutes, 45-2-502

Self-proved will

A.  A will may be simultaneously executed, attested and made self-proved by acknowledgment thereof by the testator and affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal, in substantially the following form:

"I, ________________________, the testator, sign my name to this instrument this ____________ day of ______________, and being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that I sign and execute this instrument as my will and that I sign it willingly (or willingly direct another to sign for me), that I execute it as my free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that I am eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence.

______________________
Testator

We, ________________________, ________________________, the witnesses, sign our names to this instrument, and being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signs and executes this instrument as his will and that he signs it willingly (or willingly directs another to sign for him), and that each of us, in the presence of the testator, and in the presence of each other hereby signs this will as witness to the testator's signing, and that to the best of our knowledge the testator is eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence.

__________________________________
Witness

__________________________________
Witness


The State of ______________________

County of ________________________


Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by _________________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by ________________ and __________________, witnesses, this ____________ day of ______________.

(Seal)
Signed ____________________________

__________________________________
(Official capacity of officer".

B.  An attested will may be made self-proved at any time after its execution by the acknowledgment thereof by the testator and the affidavits of the witnesses, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which the acknowledgment occurs and evidenced by the officer's certificate, under official seal, attached or annexed to the will in substantially the following form:

The State of __________________

County of ____________________

We, __________________, __________________ and __________________, the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument, being first duly sworn, do hereby declare to the undersigned authority that the testator signed and executed the instrument as the testator's will and that he signed willingly (or willingly directed another to sign for him), and that he executed it as his free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that each of the witnesses, in the presence of the testator, and in the presence of each other signed the will as witness, and that to the best of our knowledge the testator was at that time eighteen years of age or older, of sound mind and under no constraint or undue influence.

___________________________
Testator

___________________________
Witness

___________________________
Witness


Subscribed, sworn to and acknowledged before me by __________________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by __________________ and __________________, witnesses, this ____________ of ______________.


(Seal)
Signed ____________________________
___________________________
(Official capacity of officer)".

C.  A signature affixed to a self-proving affidavit attached to a will is considered a signature affixed to the will if necessary to prove the will's due execution.

New Mexico Statutes, 45-2-504

Who may witness

A.  An individual generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will.

B.  The signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any provision of it.

New Mexico Statutes, 45-2-505

Choice of law as to execution

A written will is valid if executed in compliance with Section 45-2-502 NMSA 1978 or if its execution complies with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed or of the law of the place where at the time of execution or at the time of death the testator is domiciled or is a national.

New Mexico Statutes, 45-2-506

[Reference - New Mexico Requirements for a Will]