N.M. Stat. § 40-10B-3 (2026)

As used in the Kinship Guardianship Act:
    A. "caregiver" means an adult, who is not a parent of a child, with whom a child
resides and who provides that child with the care, maintenance and supervision
consistent with the duties and responsibilities of a parent of the child;

   B. "child" means an individual who is a minor;

   C. "department" means the children, youth and families department;

   D. "guardian" means a person appointed as a guardian by a court or Indian tribal
authority;

   E. "Indian" means, whether an adult or child, a person who is:

       (1)    a member of an Indian tribe; or

       (2)    eligible for membership in an Indian tribe;

    F. "Indian child" means an Indian person, or a person whom there is reason to know
is an Indian person, under eighteen years of age, who is neither:

       (1)    married; or

       (2)    emancipated;

   G. "Indian child's tribe" means:

    (1)     the Indian tribe in which an Indian child is a member or eligible for
membership; or

      (2)    in the case of an Indian child who is a member or eligible for membership
in more than one tribe, the Indian tribe with which the Indian child has more significant
contacts;

   H. "Indian custodian" means an Indian who, pursuant to tribal law or custom or
pursuant to state law:

       (1)    is an adult with legal custody of an Indian child; or

       (2)    has been transferred temporary physical care, custody and control by the
parent of the Indian child;

   I. "Indian tribe" means an Indian nation, tribe, pueblo or other band, organized
group or community of Indians recognized as eligible for the services provided to
Indians by the secretary of the interior because of their status as Indians, including an
Alaska native village as defined in 43 U.S.C. Section 1602(c) or a regional corporation
as defined in 43 U.S.C. Section 1606. For the purposes of notification to and
communication with a tribe as required in the Indian Family Protection Act [32A-28-1 to
32A-28-42 NMSA 1978], "Indian tribe" also includes those tribal officials and staff who
are responsible for child welfare and social services matters;

    J. "kinship" means the relationship that exists between a child and a relative of the
child, a godparent, a member of the child's tribe or clan or an adult with whom the child
has a significant bond;

   K. "parent" means a biological or adoptive parent of a child whose parental rights
have not been terminated and includes an individual identified as a parent under the
New Mexico Uniform Parentage Act [40-11A-101 to 40-11A-903 NMSA 1978]; and

   L. "relative" means an individual related to a child as a spouse, parent, stepparent,
brother, sister, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister, uncle, aunt, niece,
nephew, first cousin or any person denoted by the prefix "grand" or "great", or the
spouse or former spouse of the persons specified.

History: Laws 2001, ch. 167, § 3; 2020, ch. 51, § 2; 2023, ch. 90, § 22.

                                      ANNOTATIONS

The 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, defined "Indian," "Indian child," "Indian
child's tribe," "Indian custodian," and "Indian tribe", revised the definitions of "guardian"
and "parent," and removed the definitions of "guardianship assistance agreement,"
"guardianship assistance payments," "guardianship assistance program," "legal
custody," "subsidized guardianship," and "voluntary placement agreement"; in
Subsection D, after "authority", deleted "or a person authorized to care for the child by a
parental power of attorney as permitted by law"; deleted former Subsections E through
G; added new Subsections E through I and redesignated former Subsection H as
Subsection J; deleted former Subsection I and redesignated former Subsections J and
K as Subsections K and L, respectively; in Subsection K, after "terminated", added "and
includes an individual identified as a parent under the New Mexico Uniform Parentage
Act; and"; and deleted former Subsections L and M.

The 2020 amendment, effective May 20, 2020, defined "department", "guardian",
"guardianship assistance agreement", "guardianship assistance payments",
"guardianship assistance program", "legal custody", "subsidized guardianship" and
"voluntary placement agreement" as used in the Kinship Guardianship Act; added new
Subsections C through G and redesignated former Subsection C as Subsection H;
added a new Subsection I and redesignated former Subsections D and E as
Subsections J and K, respectively; and added Subsections L and M.