N.M. Stat. » N.M. Stat. / Chapter 45 / Article 5
New Mexico Statutes

N.M. Stat. § 45-5-303.1 (2026)

Duties of guardian ad litem.

✓ current as of May 2026
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A. The guardian ad litem shall:

       (1)    interview in person the alleged incapacitated person prior to the hearing;

       (2)    present the alleged incapacitated person's declared position to the court;

      (3)    identify and present all available less restrictive alternatives to
guardianship;

      (4)   interview the qualified health care professional, the visitor and the
proposed guardian;
      (5)     review both the medical report submitted by the qualified health care
professional and the report by the visitor;

      (6)    obtain independent medical or psychological assessments, or both, if
necessary; and

      (7)    file a written report with the court prior to the hearing on the petition for
appointment.

   B. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the duties of the guardian ad litem
terminate and the guardian ad litem is discharged from duties upon entry of the order
appointing the guardian and acceptance of the appointment by the guardian.

History: 1978 Comp., § 45-5-303.1, enacted by Laws 1989, ch. 252, § 6; 1993, ch. 301,
§ 4; 2019, ch. 228, § 3; 2021, ch. 128, § 6.

                                      ANNOTATIONS

The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, required guardians ad litem to identify
and present all available less restrictive alternatives to guardianship; in Subsection A,
added a new Paragraph A(3) and redesignated the succeeding paragraphs accordingly.

The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, required a guardian ad litem to file a
written report with the court prior to a hearing on a petition for appointment; in
Subsection A, added new Paragraph A(6).

The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, designated Subsection A; in Subsection
A, deleted "appointed by the court pursuant to Subsection C of Section 45-5-303 NMSA
1978" following "litem" in the introductory paragraph, redesignated former Subsections
A to E as Paragraphs (1) to (5), inserted "in person" in Paragraph (1), and substituted
"report" for "affidavit" in Paragraph (4); added Subsection B; and made a minor stylistic
change.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 2019–2019 · leading case: Richards v. McEachern, 2020-NMCA-023.
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Richards v. McEachern, 2020-NMCA-023. · cites it 4× “connection with litigation or any other court proceeding”); § 45-1-201(B) (stating that “[t]he 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”);…”
N.M. Stat. § 45-5-303.1(B): 1 case
Richards v. McEachern, 2020-NMCA-023. “connection with litigation or any other court proceeding”); § 45-1-201(B) (stating that “[t]he 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”);…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.