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Colfax County, NM Probate Information
Quick facts
| Category | Colfax County Probate Court | Eighth Judicial District Court |
|---|---|---|
| What it handles | Informal, uncontested probate only. The county states it in its own words: New Mexico county probate courts may admit original wills to informal probate, informally appoint a personal representative, appoint a special administrator in an informal proceeding, and appoint a successor personal representative when the original one dies or resigns (NMSA 1978, Sections 45-1-302(C) and 45-3-301 to 45-3-309). An informal case is decided on the verified application without a hearing | Everything formal or contested, exclusively: formal testacy and formal appointment proceedings, supervised administration, determination of heirs, will construction, will contests, disputes over who owns property as between the estate and someone claiming against it, disclaimers and tax apportionment (NMSA 1978, Section 45-1-302(A) and (B)). It can also open an informal probate, because the two courts have concurrent jurisdiction over informal matters (Section 45-1-302.1) |
| Courthouse address | The Colfax County Building, 230 North Third Street, Raton, NM 87740, for the probate judge's office and the appointment. The Colfax County Clerk's Office, which is the clerk of the probate court (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-22(A)), is a separate office at 333 Savage Ave, Raton, NM 87740, and it is the office whose fee schedule prices a new probate case | The Colfax County Courthouse, 1413 South Second Street, Raton, NM 87740, one of the three district courthouses the Eighth Judicial District staffs, alongside Taos and Clayton. The district publishes no statement routing Colfax County filings elsewhere, so this is the counter |
| Mailing address | PO Box 1498, Raton, NM 87740, published by the probate judge's office with the 87740 ZIP alongside the street address. The County Clerk's Office uses a different box, P.O. Box 159, Raton, NM 87740, so address the envelope to the office you actually mean | Colfax County Courthouse, 1413 S. Second St., Raton, NM 87740. The district publishes the street address as the mailing address |
| Phone | (575) 445-9565 for the probate judge's office, and (575) 445-5551 for the Colfax County Clerk's Office. Neither is the county's general line, which is (575) 445-9661 (verified July 2026) | 575-445-5584, the Colfax County Courthouse clerk's line published by the district (verified July 2026) |
| Fax | (575) 445-2902, published on the probate judge's page, and also the Colfax County Building's general fax; the County Clerk's Office publishes (575) 445-4031. Nothing the county publishes says either office accepts a probate filing by fax, and the original will has to arrive physically in any event | 575-445-2626, published for the Colfax County Courthouse |
| Hours | The probate court is open 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and the county adds that appointments are required. The County Clerk's Office keeps a different and much wider schedule, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, open during the lunch hour and closed on Fridays. Call (575) 445-9565 before you drive in | 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday, open during the lunch hour, published for all three of the district's courthouses and repeated in the district's own business hours announcement |
| Filing fee | $30.00 for each probate case (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14). The Colfax County Clerk's Office publishes it on its own fee schedule as Probate new cases $30.00, and the county's probate page says there is a filing fee of $30.00 once the forms are completed. The Clerk's fee page states that all checks and money orders must be made payable to the Colfax County Clerk's Office. It publishes no list of accepted payment methods for this fee, so ask when you call | $132.00 for a probate case, which the Eighth Judicial District publishes on its own fee page as covering civil cases including probates, new and re-opened. The statutory build is $117 for docketing a civil cause (NMSA 1978, Section 34-6-40(A)) plus $15 in a judicial district running an alternative dispute resolution program (Section 34-6-45(A)), and the Eighth confirms it has implemented such a program. Accepted payment is cash, money order, cashier's check or credit card, with a 2.25 percent service fee on card payments and no American Express. Personal checks are not accepted |
| Local forms | One item of its own, and it is sold rather than posted. The county says you can purchase a packet of probate forms and instructions from the probate judge for a $5.00 fee, or download the same forms free from the New Mexico Courts probate forms library. Colfax publishes no packet PDF of its own, so the statewide Form 4B set is the only version you can get without going to the office | None of its own for probate. The district hosts the statewide Form 4B set on its own probate forms page, with the plain-language guide and the Dine translation. Its priced packets are for divorce, name change and similar matters, not probate |
| E-filing | None. New Mexico's electronic filing system is approved for use by the district courts (Rule 1-005.2(A)(3) NMRA) and no probate court appears in any e-filing authority. You file on paper at the counter in Raton or by mail, and the original will has to reach the court physically | eFile & Serve, Tyler's Odyssey File & Serve, is mandatory for attorneys (Rule 1-005.2 NMRA). Self-represented parties are prohibited from e-filing and file on paper; the clerk scans a paper filing into the system (Rule 1-005.2(B)(1) and (I)(2) NMRA) |
| Case search | None. Colfax County Probate Court cases are county records, they are in no statewide system, and Colfax publishes no probate index of its own. Ask the Colfax County Clerk's Office for a case file or a certified copy; the county lists probate files among the public records that office maintains. The Clerk's online Public Record Search is the index of recorded land documents, not of probate cases | Case Lookup, the free statewide index, covers New Mexico's district courts, so an Eighth Judicial District case appears there. It is an index only, with no document images, and it offers no probate court option |
| Remote appearance | Nothing published. An informal probate is decided on the papers and needs no hearing, and the judge is seen by appointment, so ask what the office will do by telephone or mail when you call | Nothing published for probate. The district posts the New Mexico Judiciary Remote Proceedings and Meeting Standards and a standing decorum order dated June 14, 2024, but no probate-specific rule. Ask the Raton clerk's office at 575-445-5584 |
| No office mailbox is published. The only address on the county's clerk page belongs to a named individual, so use the telephone lines or the post office boxes | The district publishes one proposed text mailbox per judicial division, for orders and other documents that need a judge's review and are not e-filed, and tells you to call the administrative assistant for the judge assigned to your case. Ask the clerk which division your case is in. These are not general help lines and not filing addresses | |
| Website | https://www.co.colfax.nm.us/government/probate_judge.php for the probate judge's office, hours and the $5.00 packet, and https://www.co.colfax.nm.us/government/county_clerk.php for the clerk of the probate court, with the county's published probate charges at https://www.co.colfax.nm.us/government/recording.php | https://eighthdistrict.nmcourts.gov/location-hours-contacts/ for locations, hours and contacts, and https://eighthdistrict.nmcourts.gov/about-this-district/fees-costs-filing/ for the district's own fee page |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Know what the estate holds before you book the appointment. Which route fits, and which of the two Colfax County forums you use, depends on whether there is a will, who is entitled to be appointed, whether anyone is likely to object, and what kind of property is involved. Some estates here never need a court at all, because the property passes by survivorship, by a transfer on death deed, by a payable on death designation or by a beneficiary designation, and some qualify for one of New Mexico's affidavit routes that are handled at a bank or at the County Clerk's recording counter rather than in a courtroom. Those statewide routes and their dollar limits are covered on the New Mexico state page. Sorting it out first matters more in Colfax County than in a city, because the probate court is open two half-days a week by appointment, the County Clerk's Office is closed on Fridays, and there is no e-filing and no online docket in either forum, so a wrong or incomplete filing costs a week rather than a resubmission.
Then list every asset and every debt in detail. New Mexico requires the application for informal probate to be verified as accurate and complete (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-301), and by verifying it you submit personally to the court's jurisdiction in any later proceeding for fraud or perjury, so a missed account is not a small thing. Within three months of appointment the personal representative must prepare an inventory of everything the person owned at death, with a value for each item as of the date of death (Section 45-3-706). Sunset's asset discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for exactly this step, so the application you take to your appointment in Raton describes the estate accurately the first time.
Which court handles jurisdiction
New Mexico probate is filed in the county where the person lived at the time of death (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-201(A)(1)). If the person was not a New Mexico resident, it is filed in any New Mexico county where they owned property at the time of death (Section 45-3-201(A)(2)). Within Colfax County you have a choice of court: the Colfax County Probate Court for an informal, uncontested probate, or the Eighth Judicial District Court for anything formal or contested (Sections 45-1-302 and 45-1-302.1). Where a proceeding could be brought in more than one place, the court where it is first commenced has the exclusive right to proceed (Section 45-1-303(A)).
The Colfax County Probate Court sits in the Colfax County Building at 230 North Third Street in Raton, the county seat, and serves the whole county: Raton itself, Springer, Cimarron, Eagle Nest, Angel Fire, Maxwell, Ute Park, Miami and the ranch and mountain country between them. It is a county office within New Mexico's judicial branch, funded by the county (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-4), and the position of probate judge is a part-time, elected one (Sections 34-7-1 and 34-7-2). The county describes the court as established under Article VI of the State Constitution and says plainly that the probate judge and clerk are prohibited by law from giving legal advice. Its hours are whatever the clerk of the probate court sets and publishes on the county's website (Section 34-7-8), and here that is 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with appointments required.
The clerk of the probate court is the Colfax County Clerk, because the county clerk of each county is designated as the clerk of the probate court in that county (Section 34-7-22(A)). Colfax County says so in its own words, listing among the county clerk's constitutional duties acting as clerk of the probate court in handling informal proceedings only, and listing probate files among the public records the office maintains. What makes Colfax County different from most small New Mexico counties is that this office is not in the same building as the judge. The County Clerk's Office is at 333 Savage Ave, mailing to P.O. Box 159, on (575) 445-5551, open 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and closed on Fridays, and it is the office whose published fee schedule carries the probate case fee. Plan on the judge's office for the appointment and the packet, and the Clerk's Office for the fee, the file and certified copies, and call first to confirm where the completed papers should go.
The Eighth Judicial District Court covers Colfax, Taos and Union Counties. A multi-county district is an administrative fact rather than a venue rule, and in Colfax County the practical news is good: the district staffs a courthouse in this county. It publishes the Colfax County Courthouse at 1413 South Second Street in Raton with its own clerk's telephone, 575-445-5584, its own fax, 575-445-2626, its own mailing address and hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, open during the lunch hour, alongside the Taos County Courthouse at 105 Albright St. in Taos and the Union County Courthouse at 100 Court St. in Clayton. Unlike some New Mexico districts, it publishes no statement routing this county's filings to another county's clerk, so a formal or contested Colfax County estate is filed in Raton. Nothing about the district's shape changes venue: you do not file in a district, you file in the county where venue lies.
Two other courts in Colfax County are not the place for an estate, and one of them is in the same doorway. The Raton Magistrate Court is at 1413 South Second Street, the same address as the district courthouse, on 575-445-2220, and the Springer Magistrate Court is at 15 Airport Road SW in Springer, on 575-483-2417. A magistrate court is a court of limited jurisdiction handling small civil claims, misdemeanors and traffic matters, and it has no probate jurisdiction at all. If you are walking into 1413 South Second Street with probate papers, say district court at the door.
The jurisdiction process
- Wait the five days, and check the three-year window. A New Mexico court cannot issue a written statement of informal probate or an order of informal appointment until at least 120 hours have elapsed since the death (NMSA 1978, Sections 45-3-302 and 45-3-307(A)), and if the person was not a New Mexico resident the court must wait 30 days before ordering an informal appointment unless the domiciliary personal representative is the applicant or the will directs New Mexico law. At the other end, a probate or appointment proceeding cannot be commenced more than three years after the death (Section 45-3-108(A)), although a limited late proceeding remains available after that, chiefly to confirm title to real property in the heirs.
- Call the probate judge's office and make the appointment. The Colfax County Probate Court is open 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the county states that appointments are required, so this is the first call rather than a walk-in: (575) 445-9565. If you are organizing this from out of state, use the same call to ask how the office wants to receive an original will and where it wants the completed papers delivered.
- Get the forms. Colfax County sells a packet of probate forms and instructions from the probate judge's office for $5.00, and the county points readers to the same forms free at the New Mexico Courts probate forms library. The county publishes no packet of its own online, so the downloadable version is the statewide Form 4B set. The Eighth Judicial District also hosts that set on its own probate forms page.
- Fill in the opening forms before your appointment. With a will, that is Form 4B-302 NMRA, the application for informal probate of will and for informal appointment of personal representative, and Form 4B-304 NMRA, the order. With no will, it is Form 4B-301 NMRA, the application for informal appointment of personal representative, and Form 4B-303 NMRA, the order. Both routes then use Form 4B-305 NMRA, the acceptance of appointment, and the letters form, which is Form 4B-307 NMRA for letters testamentary where there is a will and Form 4B-306 NMRA for letters of administration where there is not. New Mexico's statutory term for the person who settles the estate is personal representative; executor and administrator are correct informal usages for the same office. The application has to be verified as accurate and complete (Section 45-3-301), and the priority order for who may be appointed is set by Section 45-3-203(A).
- Bring the originals to the appointment. Where there is a will, the original, duly executed and apparently unrevoked will must be in the court's possession (Section 45-3-303(A)(5)); a will with the required signatures and an attestation clause showing proper execution is probated without further proof (Section 45-3-303(C)). Bring a certified copy of the death certificate as well. Note the county's own caution: the probate judge and the clerk are prohibited by law from giving legal advice, so they can tell you what a form asks for but not what to write on it.
- File on paper and pay the $30.00. There is no electronic filing in a New Mexico probate court: the statewide system is approved for use by the district courts (Rule 1-005.2(A)(3) NMRA), the Probate Court Rules contain no electronic filing rule, and the original will has to be physically delivered in any event. The filing fee is $30.00 for each probate case (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14), and the Colfax County Clerk's Office publishes it on its own fee schedule as Probate new cases $30.00. That fee page also states that all checks and money orders must be made payable to the Colfax County Clerk's Office. It publishes no list of accepted payment methods for the probate fee, so ask when you call. If the estate cannot afford the fee, ask for free process on Form 4B-201 NMRA, the affidavit of poverty and indigency, with Form 4B-202 NMRA as the order.
- Collect the letters. If the judge makes the findings the statute requires, the court issues a written statement of informal probate and letters (Sections 45-3-302, 45-3-307 and 45-3-103), and administration of the estate is commenced by the issuance of letters. Before receiving them the personal representative qualifies by filing any required bond and a statement of acceptance (Section 45-3-601). Order enough certified copies for the banks, title company and transfer agents you will deal with: the Colfax County Clerk's Office prices probate copies at $.50 per page and probate certified copies at $.50, which is well under the ceiling New Mexico sets for a county clerk acting as probate clerk (Section 14-8-14(B)). Note that the court may decline an application for informal appointment for any reason, which is not an adjudication and does not stop a formal appointment later (Section 45-3-309).
- Give notice within 30 days, and file the proof. Not later than 30 days after appointment the personal representative must give notice of the appointment to the heirs and devisees, by delivery or ordinary mail, stating the personal representative's name and address, that the recipient has or may have an interest, whether a bond has been filed, and where the papers are on file, and must then file a statement with the court naming who was notified (Section 45-3-705). Form 4B-401 NMRA is the notice and Form 4B-402 NMRA is the proof. Note that in an informal case notice comes after the probate, not before: no other notice of informal probate is required (Section 45-3-306(A)).
- Prepare the inventory within three months. The personal representative prepares an inventory of the property owned at death, in reasonable detail, with an estimated value as of the date of death and any encumbrance noted, within three months of appointment (Section 45-3-706). It must be sent to interested persons who ask for it, and filing it with the court is permitted but not required. Form 4B-601 NMRA is the inventory.
- Decide whether to publish a notice to creditors. Publication is optional in New Mexico. A personal representative may publish notice once a week for three successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county where the proceeding is pending, giving creditors four months from the first publication to present claims, and may also give written notice to a known creditor (Section 45-3-801). It is a tool for cutting claims off early rather than a required step, and the personal representative is not liable for giving or failing to give it. Independently of any notice, claims arising before the death are barred one year after the death (Section 45-3-803(A)). Form 4B-501 NMRA covers both kinds of notice.
- Know the fork to the district court, and that it costs nothing extra. If anyone contests the will, if the heirs are in dispute, if the estate needs a court order about who owns something, if a formal appointment or formal closing is asked for, or if a hearing is required, the case goes to the Eighth Judicial District Court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over those matters (NMSA 1978, Section 45-1-302(A) and (B); Rule 1B-101(B)(2) NMRA; Rule 1B-701 NMRA). Form 4B-1001 NMRA is the transfer order, and Section 34-7-10(B) provides that where a case was properly filed within the probate court's jurisdiction and is later transferred, no filing fee shall be charged in the district court. The district counter is at 1413 South Second Street in Raton, in this county, so the move does not mean a drive to Taos or Clayton. Note also that while a formal testacy proceeding is pending, the probate court cannot act on any informal application (Section 45-3-401(C)).
- Administer, then close. Pay the valid debts and the taxes, deal with the property, and distribute what is left. An informally appointed personal representative has the same power over the title to estate property that an absolute owner would have, exercisable without notice, hearing or court order (Section 45-3-711(A)), so real property in Colfax County can be conveyed by personal representative's deed, recorded with the Colfax County Clerk at $25.00 per document. What the probate court cannot do is decide a dispute about that title, which belongs to the district court in formal proceedings (Section 45-1-302(B)). Outside supervised administration there is no routine annual court accounting in New Mexico, though Form 4B-602 NMRA exists where one is needed. To close informally, file a verified closing statement no earlier than six months after the original appointment (Section 45-3-1003(A)), on Form 4B-701 NMRA, and if no proceeding is pending one year after it is filed the appointment terminates.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Colfax County
Colfax County has one item of its own and it is sold rather than posted. The county's probate page says, in its own words, that you can purchase a packet of probate forms and instructions from the probate judge for a $5.00 fee or download the same forms at the New Mexico Courts probate forms library, and that there is a filing fee of $30.00 once they are completed. The county publishes no packet PDF, no local cover sheet and no local checklist, so if you are not going in person to buy the $5.00 packet, the statewide Supreme Court set is what you will be filling in. That is not a gap: the Form 4B series is a complete, current, free set written for exactly this kind of case.
The forms you will actually use to open an informal probate are Form 4B-302 NMRA and Form 4B-304 NMRA where there is a will, or Form 4B-301 NMRA and Form 4B-303 NMRA where there is not, followed by Form 4B-305 NMRA for the acceptance and Form 4B-307 NMRA or Form 4B-306 NMRA for the letters. After appointment come Form 4B-401 NMRA and Form 4B-402 NMRA for the notice and its proof, Form 4B-501 NMRA if you choose to notify creditors, Form 4B-601 NMRA for the inventory and Form 4B-701 NMRA for the closing statement. Form 4B-101 NMRA is the flow chart for opening and closing a probate court case, and its first step is the choice of forum this page is built around. Form 4B-201 NMRA and Form 4B-202 NMRA are the free process affidavit and order. Cite them the way New Mexico does, as Form 4B-302 NMRA, and note that the whole set was renumbered by Supreme Court Order No. 18-8300-014, effective for all cases pending or filed on or after December 31, 2018, so older form numbers you find in a search result are superseded.
One statewide gap to plan around: there is no Form 4B for the affidavit routes that avoid probate altogether, no renunciation or waiver form (consent is a signature block inside Forms 4B-301 and 4B-302), no proof of publication form (the newspaper supplies its own affidavit), and no notice of hearing form, because the 4B set is written for informal cases and a contested matter transfers out on Form 4B-1001 NMRA.
The Eighth Judicial District Court publishes no probate forms of its own. What it does is host the statewide Form 4B set on its own probate forms page, together with the New Mexico Courts plain-language probate guide and the Dine translation, which is a convenient single page if you would rather download from the court than from the state site. Its priced packets, at $25.00 and $5.00, are for divorce, paternity, name change, driver's license restoration and similar matters, and there is no probate packet among them.
| Resource | What it provides |
|---|---|
| Colfax County Probate Judge (co.colfax.nm.us) | The county's own probate page: the office at 230 North Third Street, PO Box 1498, the telephone and fax, the Tuesday and Thursday morning hours with appointments required, the county's statement of what the court can do, and the $5.00 packet of forms and instructions sold at the office |
| Colfax County Clerk's Office (co.colfax.nm.us) | The clerk of the probate court (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-22(A)) at 333 Savage Ave, P.O. Box 159: the county's own statement of the duty, the office hours, and the confirmation that probate files are among the public records it maintains |
| Colfax County Clerk's Office recording and copy fees (co.colfax.nm.us) | The county's published charges, including Probate new cases $30.00, probate copies at $.50 per page, probate certified copies at $.50, the $25.00 per document recording fee, and the direction that checks and money orders be made payable to the Colfax County Clerk's Office |
| New Mexico Courts probate forms, the 4B set (nmcourts.gov) | The current statewide library, and the download the county's own page points at: the Form 4B-101 flow chart for opening and closing a probate court case, the applications, orders, acceptances and letters, the notice and proof of notice, the notice to creditors, the inventory and accounting, the closing statements, proof of authority, the special administration set and Form 4B-1001 for transfer to the district court, plus a plain-language guide and a Dine translation |
| Eighth Judicial District probate forms (eighthdistrict.nmcourts.gov) | The same statewide 4B set hosted by the district that serves Colfax, Taos and Union Counties, with the probate guide and the Dine translation. The district publishes no probate forms of its own |
| Eighth Judicial District fees, costs and filing (eighthdistrict.nmcourts.gov) | The district's fee table, its accepted payment methods, its priced packets (none of which is a probate packet) and its reproduction of Rule 1-099 NMRA on docket fees and copy charges |
Fees
Colfax County publishes probate prices of its own, which most small New Mexico counties do not, and they sit on the County Clerk's Recording Fees Schedule rather than on the probate judge's page. That is consistent with the county's own description of the clerk's duties, which includes acting as clerk of the probate court in handling informal proceedings. Nothing on the sheet displaces the statute: the probate filing fee it prints is the statewide figure in NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14. What it adds is the local pricing for the things a personal representative here actually buys, including the certified copies of letters that banks and title companies ask for, and the recording of a personal representative's deed. The Eighth Judicial District publishes a separate and fuller fee table for the other forum.
| Item | Published fee and authority |
|---|---|
| Opening a probate case in the Colfax County Probate Court | $30.00. The Colfax County Clerk's Office fee schedule prints it as Probate new cases $30.00, and the county's probate judge page says there is a filing fee of $30.00 once the forms are completed. The statute is NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14: clerks of the probate courts shall receive a filing fee of thirty dollars ($30.00) for each probate case |
| Who to make it out to | The Colfax County Clerk's Office. Its fee page states that all checks and money orders must be made payable to the Colfax County Clerk's Office. Few New Mexico counties publish a payee at all. The page does not say which payment forms the office takes for a probate case, although it does specify cash only for a marriage license, so call (575) 445-5551 before you write anything |
| Printed probate packet | $5.00, purchased from the probate judge's office. The county's own wording is that you can purchase a packet of probate forms and instructions from the probate judge for a $5.00 fee or download the same forms free from the New Mexico Courts probate forms library. It is optional |
| Copies and certified copies from the Colfax County Clerk's Office | Probate copies $.50 per page and probate certified copies $.50 (county fee schedule), which is cheaper than the office's general copy charge of $1.00 per page and well under the ceiling New Mexico sets for a county clerk acting as probate clerk, which caps document copies at $1.00 per page and allows a reasonable certification fee (NMSA 1978, Section 14-8-14(B)). The office also prices faxes at $2.00 per page |
| Recording a personal representative's deed with the Colfax County Clerk | $25.00 for each document filed or recorded, with an additional $25.00 for each further block of ten or fewer entries where a document has more than ten index entries. The county explains on the face of the page that it reviews the grantors, grantees and legal description of each document to count the entries, and that every name indexed counts as one. This is the same office and the same counter, and it is also where a surviving spouse's homestead affidavit is recorded |
| Opening a probate case in the Eighth Judicial District Court | $132.00. The district's own fee page lists civil cases including probates, new and re-opened, at that figure. The statutory build is $117 for docketing a civil cause (NMSA 1978, Section 34-6-40(A)) plus $15 in a judicial district running an alternative dispute resolution program (Section 34-6-45(A)), and the Eighth states on its own services page that it has implemented such a program, which is what makes the $15 payable here |
| Eighth Judicial District copies and certification | Photocopies $.35 per page; certification and seal $1.50 each; tape or CD duplication $4.00. Its fee page also reproduces the Rule 1-099 NMRA schedule, which prices taking an acknowledgment at $1.50 with $0.75 for each additional person at the same time, copies of records at $0.35, and a certificate and seal authenticating any paper as a true copy at $1.50 (district fee page, verified July 2026) |
| No second fee if the case moves up | Nothing. Where a case was properly filed within the probate court's jurisdiction and is later transferred to the district court, no filing fee shall be charged in the district court (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-10(B)) |
| If you cannot afford the fee | New Mexico calls it free process, not a fee waiver. In the Colfax County Probate Court, ask on Form 4B-201 NMRA, the affidavit of poverty and indigency, with Form 4B-202 NMRA as the order. In the Eighth Judicial District Court it runs under Rule 23-114 NMRA on Forms 4-222, 4-223 and 4-224 NMRA, and Form 4-223 lets the court leave the $15 alternative dispute resolution fee in place and excludes certification, publication and copy charges unless they are granted too |
How the district takes payment is published in its own words and is worth reading before you drive to 1413 South Second Street: acceptable forms of payment are cash, money order, cashier's check and credit card, and personal checks are not accepted. The card option is newer than most directories: the district announced new credit card rates in January 2025 and its notice says fines, fees, postage, copies and recordings can be paid by credit or debit card at the counter or online, with a 2.25 percent service fee per payment and no American Express. The district also publishes one useful rule about repeat fees, taken from Rule 1-099 NMRA: no docket fee is charged for filing any paper within ninety days after the final disposition of a case.
Local nuance
Colfax County-specific considerations
The two county offices you need are in two different buildings, with two different post office boxes and two different weekly schedules, and the county never joins them up on one page. The Colfax County Probate Court is in the Colfax County Building at 230 North Third Street, mailing to PO Box 1498, on (575) 445-9565, and it is where the appointment happens and where the $5.00 packet is sold. The Colfax County Clerk's Office, which is the clerk of the probate court (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-22(A)) and which the county describes as clerk of the probate court in handling informal proceedings, is at 333 Savage Ave, mailing to P.O. Box 159, on (575) 445-5551, and it is the office that publishes the $30.00 probate case fee, keeps the probate files and sells certified copies. Address the envelope to the office you actually mean, and ring the judge's office first to confirm where it wants the completed papers.
The probate court keeps two half-days a week and appointments are required, so the calendar decides your week. New Mexico makes the position of probate judge a part-time one (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-1(B)) and provides that the probate court shall be open at such times as determined by the clerk of the probate court and published on the county's website (Section 34-7-8). Colfax County publishes 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and adds that appointments are required. The County Clerk's Office runs on a different and much longer four-day week, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, open through lunch and closed on Fridays, which is also the schedule the county publishes for the Colfax County Building. Between the two, Friday is not a day to drive in from Angel Fire, Cimarron or Springer, and the county publishes a holiday schedule of ten closures for 2026.
The district court counter is in this county, which is not true everywhere in rural New Mexico, and it shares a doorway with a court that cannot help you. The Eighth Judicial District staffs three district courthouses, in Raton, Taos and Clayton, and publishes the Colfax County Courthouse at 1413 South Second Street with its own clerk's telephone, 575-445-5584, its own fax, 575-445-2626, and hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, open during the lunch hour. It publishes no statement sending Colfax County filings to another county's clerk. The Raton Magistrate Court is at the same street address on 575-445-2220, and a magistrate court has no probate jurisdiction at all, so say district court at the door. The Springer Magistrate Court, at 15 Airport Road SW on 575-483-2417, is the other magistrate court in the county and is equally not the place for an estate.
The district runs a mediation program, and it names probate. The Eighth Judicial District states that it has implemented an alternative dispute resolution program, that mediation is available to all litigants in domestic relations cases on a sliding scale fee basis, and that certain consumer debt and probate matters may also be assigned to court-connected mediation with mediators under contract with the court, with judges also referring cases to private mediators. Two things follow for a Colfax County reader. A contested estate that reaches the district court here may be sent to mediation rather than straight to a hearing. And that same program is the statutory reason the district's filing fee is $132.00 rather than $117.00, because the extra $15 is charged only in a district that has established an alternative dispute resolution program (NMSA 1978, Section 34-6-45(A)).
The district's only walk-in help desk is in another county, and it does not cover probate. The Eighth Judicial District Help Desk is in the main lobby of the Taos County Courthouse on 575-751-8634, open 11:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. on Fridays, with public computers available from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Its published list of services is domestic violence forms, samples of district court forms to review for purchase at the clerk's office, review of domestic violence and dissolution of marriage filings, district court procedures, general legal information and brief attorney consultations subject to attorney availability. Probate is not on that list, and the desk's own notice says its staff cannot give legal advice. For a Colfax County probate the better first call is the New Mexico Courts HelpLine on 1-855-268-7804.
Nothing about a Colfax County probate case is online, and one county search will mislead you. County probate court cases are not in any statewide system: the free statewide Case Lookup tool offers District, Magistrate, Metropolitan and Municipal as its court types and has no probate court option, and no probate court appears in the New Mexico Courts locator either. Colfax County publishes no probate index of its own. The Colfax County Clerk does publish a Public Record Search, but it is the Clerk's index of recorded documents, the place a personal representative's deed or a surviving spouse's homestead affidavit ends up, it charges a service fee for images, and finding nothing there tells you nothing about whether a probate case exists. To find out what is on file in an estate, ask the Clerk's Office at (575) 445-5551; the county lists probate files among the public records that office maintains.
Recent updates
| Item | What it means in Colfax County |
|---|---|
| Every New Mexico probate judgeship is on the ballot on November 3, 2026, with the winner taking office January 1, 2027 | The probate judge is an elected county official and the position is part-time (NMSA 1978, Sections 34-7-1 and 34-7-2). The current cohort's terms were extended to December 31, 2026 by Laws 2023, chapter 44, Section 15(B), so the Colfax County seat, like all 33, turns over at the start of 2027. This page names the office rather than the officeholder for that reason. The court, its address, its Tuesday and Thursday morning hours and its $30.00 fee do not change with the election |
| The Eighth Judicial District has an alternative dispute resolution program, and it reaches probate | The district states that it has implemented an ADR program, that mediation is available to all litigants in domestic relations cases on a sliding scale, and that certain consumer debt and probate matters may also be assigned to court-connected mediation with mediators under contract with the court (verified July 2026). That program is also why the district's civil filing fee is $132.00 rather than the $117 base, because the extra $15 applies only in a district that has established one (NMSA 1978, Sections 34-6-40(A) and 34-6-45(A)) |
| The Eighth Judicial District began taking credit and debit cards, with a service fee, in January 2025 | The district's notice of January 23, 2025 says fines, fees, postage, copies and recordings can now be paid by credit or debit card at the counter or online, with a 2.25 percent service fee per payment and no American Express. Its fee page still states that personal checks are not accepted, so the accepted forms are cash, money order, cashier's check and card (verified July 2026) |
| The Eighth Judicial District confirmed its business hours in May 2025 | The district's announcement of May 8, 2025 states that regular business hours of the offices of the Eighth Judicial District are 8 am to 4 pm, open through the noon hour, and its Location, Hours & Contacts page publishes the same 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. schedule for the Colfax County Courthouse in Raton and for the Taos and Clayton courthouses. Directories that show a lunch closure for this district are wrong (verified July 2026) |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Colfax County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | If the home in Raton, Angel Fire or elsewhere in the county was held with a right of survivorship or passes by a recorded transfer on death deed, it goes to the survivor with no court involved, and accounts with payable on death or beneficiary designations do the same. Where the home was community property and passes to the survivor, New Mexico has a recorded affidavit route that avoids probate entirely and is handled at the Colfax County Clerk's recording counter at 333 Savage Ave rather than in court; that route and its assessed-value limit are covered on the New Mexico state page. Where assets stood in the deceased person's sole name, the spouse calls (575) 445-9565 for an appointment with the Colfax County Probate Court and applies informally on Form 4B-302 NMRA with a will or Form 4B-301 NMRA without one. A surviving spouse who is a devisee ranks second in the appointment priority, behind only a person named in a probated will (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-203(A)). | Asset discovery to establish how the home and the accounts are actually titled and how much really has to reach a court. Packet generation for the application, the acceptance and the notices, ready to take to the Tuesday or Thursday appointment in Raton. A vetted attorney referral if title or a claim turns out to be disputed, which would move the matter to the Eighth Judicial District Court. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | Start by checking whether a court is needed at all: New Mexico lets a claiming successor collect personal property from a bank or transfer agent on an affidavit thirty days after the death, with no court filing and no fee, where the whole estate is under the statewide limit and no real estate is involved. That route is covered on the New Mexico state page. Where a probate is needed, the informal route in the Colfax County Probate Court costs $30.00 (Section 34-7-14) against $132.00 in the district court, and it is decided on the papers with no hearing. Doing it from out of state means post and telephone: there is no e-filing in either forum, the original will has to reach the court physically, and the probate office is open only on Tuesday and Thursday mornings by appointment, so call (575) 445-9565 before mailing anything to PO Box 1498 and be sure you are not addressing the County Clerk's separate box. | Asset discovery to value the estate from out of state and work out which route it qualifies for before anyone books a flight. Packet generation for the affidavit or the application, assembled so it can be posted to Raton and accepted the first time. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | Selling real property does not by itself force the case into the district court. An informally appointed personal representative has the same power over the title to estate property that an absolute owner would have, exercisable without notice, hearing or court order (Section 45-3-711(A)), so a parent appointed by the Colfax County Probate Court can convey by personal representative's deed, recorded with the Colfax County Clerk at $25.00 per document. With no will the parent applies on Form 4B-301 NMRA and receives letters of administration on Form 4B-306 NMRA, ranking behind any surviving spouse and any children in the priority order of Section 45-3-203(A), so obtain the renunciations or consents of anyone ahead. Notice follows within 30 days (Section 45-3-705) and the inventory within three months (Section 45-3-706). What does move the case to the Eighth Judicial District Court is a dispute about who owns the property, because determining title as between the estate and an adverse claimant is exclusively a district court matter in formal proceedings (Section 45-1-302(B)); the district counter for that is at 1413 South Second Street in Raton, and Section 34-7-10(B) means the transfer costs no second filing fee. | Asset discovery for the accounts, insurance, vehicles, Colfax County real property and debts. Packet generation for the application, the notices and the inventory. Attorney referral where the sale, a mortgage payoff, a dispute among heirs or a title question makes counsel worthwhile. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Colfax County Probate Judge (co.colfax.nm.us), (575) 445-9565, fax (575) 445-2902, 230 North Third Street, PO Box 1498, Raton, NM 87740 | The informal probate forum for the county, open 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays with appointments required, and the office that sells the $5.00 packet of probate forms and instructions. The county states that the probate judge and clerk are prohibited by law from giving legal advice (see also Rule 23-113 NMRA) |
| Colfax County Clerk's Office (co.colfax.nm.us), (575) 445-5551, fax (575) 445-4031, 333 Savage Ave, P.O. Box 159, Raton, NM 87740 | The clerk of the probate court (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-22(A)), open 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, open during the lunch hour and closed on Fridays. This is where the $30.00 fee is published, where probate files are kept, where certified copies are requested and where a personal representative's deed is recorded |
| Colfax County Clerk's Office fees (co.colfax.nm.us) | The county's own charges for a new probate case, probate copies and certified copies, recording and faxes, and the direction that checks and money orders be made payable to the Colfax County Clerk's Office |
| Eighth Judicial District, location, hours and contacts (eighthdistrict.nmcourts.gov), 575-445-5584 | The formal and contested forum for Colfax, Taos and Union Counties. It publishes the Colfax County Courthouse at 1413 South Second Street, Raton, with its own clerk's telephone and fax, open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and open during the lunch hour, alongside the Taos and Clayton courthouses |
| Eighth Judicial District fees, costs and filing (eighthdistrict.nmcourts.gov) | The district's own fee page: $132.00 for a civil case including a probate, copies at $.35 per page, certification and seal at $1.50, and payment by cash, money order, cashier's check or credit card only, with personal checks not accepted |
| Eighth Judicial District alternative dispute resolution (eighthdistrict.nmcourts.gov) | The district's own statement that it has implemented an ADR program and that certain consumer debt and probate matters may be assigned to court-connected mediation with mediators under contract with the court |
| Colfax County District Court docket, Raton (eighthdistrict.nmcourts.gov) | The district's published hearing schedule for the Raton courthouse, covering the current day plus six days ahead. Useful for a formal matter; an informal probate has no hearing to appear on it |
| Eighth Judicial District Help Desk (eighthdistrict.nmcourts.gov), 575-751-8634 | The district's only walk-in desk, in the main lobby of the Taos County Courthouse in Taos County, open 11:00 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 11:00 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. on Fridays. Its published services cover domestic violence and divorce filings, district court procedures and general legal information, and probate is not among them; staff cannot give legal advice |
| New Mexico Courts HelpLine (nmcourts.gov), 1-855-268-7804 | The judiciary's own information service, Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturdays 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., in English and Spanish with interpreters available. It can provide court-approved forms and explain what a form is asking for and point you to free or low-cost legal services, but it cannot tell you what to write on a form or apply any law to your situation. The most useful statewide resource for a self-represented probate filer in a county with no probate self-help center |
| New Mexico Courts probate forms (nmcourts.gov) | The free statewide Form 4B library, the same forms the county's own page points at, plus a plain-language guide and a Dine translation |
| New Mexico Courts self-representation (nmcourts.gov) | The judiciary's self-representation site, with a probate page carrying the same 4B forms. Note that the free Guide & File document tool elsewhere on the site covers free process, divorce and orders of protection only, and has no probate interview |
| New Mexico Courts Case Lookup (nmcourts.gov) | The free statewide case index, covering the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, district, magistrate and municipal courts. It reaches an Eighth Judicial District case and it does not reach a Colfax County Probate Court case, because it has no probate court option. It is an index only, with no documents |
| Legal Resources for the Elderly Program, State Bar of New Mexico (sbnm.org), 505-797-6005 or 1-800-876-6657 | A free statewide legal helpline for New Mexico residents aged 55 and older, with no income restrictions, in English and Spanish. Phone lines are open and accepting voicemails Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Mountain Time. It names probate and transfer on death deeds among the areas it advises on, which makes it the strongest probate-specific free resource in the state |
| Modest Means Helpline, State Bar of New Mexico (sbnm.org), 505-797-6013 or 888-857-9935 | Advice by telephone for New Mexico residents of modest means, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mountain Time, with referrals to pro bono attorneys in limited cases. Callers aged 55 or older should use the elderly program instead |
| New Mexico Free Legal Answers (nm.freelegalanswers.org) | Free written answers to civil legal questions from volunteer New Mexico attorneys, for people who qualify. Useful for a single question about a Colfax County estate rather than for representation |
| New Mexico Compilation Commission (nmonesource.com) | The official free text of NMSA 1978 and the rules and forms, published by the state's own compiler. The place to read Sections 34-7-14, 45-1-302 and 45-3-201 for yourself |
When to hire an attorney
Most Colfax County estates are uncontested, and the county has built its process around families doing this themselves: an informal probate is decided on the papers for $30.00 (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14) with no hearing, and the county sells a packet of forms and instructions for $5.00. The limit is one the county states itself, that the probate judge and clerk are prohibited by law from giving legal advice, and court staff in both forums are barred from it (Rule 23-113 NMRA). Consider counsel when a will is likely to be contested or the heirs disagree, when someone outside the family claims an interest in ranch ground, water rights, grazing leases, coal or mineral interests, when the estate is insolvent or a creditor is pressing, when a personal representative's deed or a sale has to be drafted (the courts' own guide warns that deeds can be tricky to draft and execute properly), when a resort or second home in Angel Fire or Eagle Nest brings out-of-state co-owners into it, when heirs cannot be located, when a guardianship or conservatorship has to run alongside the estate, or whenever the matter has to move to the Eighth Judicial District Court, which is the only forum that can decide any of it. Note too that the Eighth may send a contested probate to court-connected mediation, which is a point at which having represented advice is worth a good deal. Sunset can connect families to a vetted New Mexico probate attorney serving Colfax County.
How Sunset helps
Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Colfax County real property and unclaimed property, so you know what the estate holds before estate settlement filings begin. New Mexico requires the application for informal probate to be verified as accurate and complete (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-301), and requires an inventory with date of death values within three months of appointment (Section 45-3-706).
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the paperwork for your route, whether an informal application on Form 4B-302 or Form 4B-301 NMRA or one of New Mexico's affidavit routes, ready to take to a Tuesday or Thursday appointment at 230 North Third Street in Raton or to post to PO Box 1498.
Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested, when title is disputed, or when it otherwise has to go to the Eighth Judicial District Court, Sunset connects families to a vetted New Mexico probate attorney serving Colfax County.
Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).
Frequently asked questions
Do I file in the Colfax County Probate Court or the Eighth Judicial District Court?
Both can open an informal probate, and only the district court can do anything else. The Colfax County Probate Court handles informal, uncontested probate: admitting an original will informally, appointing a personal representative informally, appointing a special administrator, and issuing letters (NMSA 1978, Section 45-1-302(C)), which is close to the county's own description of the court. The Eighth Judicial District Court has exclusive jurisdiction over formal proceedings, determinations of testacy and of heirs, will construction, will contests, supervised administration, disputes about who owns property as between the estate and an adverse claimant, disclaimers and tax apportionment (Section 45-1-302(A) and (B)), and it also has concurrent jurisdiction over informal matters (Section 45-1-302.1). In practice almost everyone starts in the probate court, because it costs $30.00 rather than $132.00 and because Section 34-7-10(B) means there is no second filing fee if the case has to be transferred up. In Colfax County both counters are in Raton, so the choice is not a question of distance.
Where exactly do I file a probate in Colfax County?
For an informal probate, start at the Colfax County Probate Court in the Colfax County Building at 230 North Third Street, Raton, NM 87740, mailing to PO Box 1498, on (575) 445-9565, and expect to make an appointment. Be aware that the clerk of the probate court is the Colfax County Clerk (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-22(A)), which the county confirms in its own list of the clerk's duties, and that office is at a different address, 333 Savage Ave, with a different post office box, P.O. Box 159, and a different telephone, (575) 445-5551. It is the office whose published fee schedule prices a new probate case at $30.00 and which keeps the probate files. Ask on the telephone which of the two wants your completed papers. A formal or contested case goes to the Eighth Judicial District Court at the Colfax County Courthouse, 1413 South Second Street, Raton. File in Colfax County if the person who died lived here (Section 45-3-201(A)(1)), or if they lived out of state and owned property here (Section 45-3-201(A)(2)). Plan the trip around the hours: the probate court is open 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays with appointments required, the County Clerk's Office is open 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and closed on Fridays, and the district counter is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, through the lunch hour. Two half-days a week is normal rather than unusual in New Mexico, because the position of probate judge is a part-time one (Section 34-7-1(B)) and the court is open at such times as the clerk of the probate court determines and publishes on the county's website (Section 34-7-8).
How much does it cost to file probate in Colfax County?
$30.00 in the Colfax County Probate Court and $132.00 in the Eighth Judicial District Court. The probate court fee is set by statute at thirty dollars for each probate case (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14), and the Colfax County Clerk's Office publishes it on its own fee schedule as Probate new cases $30.00, alongside probate copies at $.50 per page and probate certified copies at $.50. That page also says all checks and money orders must be made payable to the Colfax County Clerk's Office, which is more than most New Mexico counties publish, though it does not list which payment forms the probate fee can be paid in, so ask. The district court figure is what the Eighth publishes for civil cases including probates, and it is built from $117 for docketing a civil cause (Section 34-6-40(A)) plus $15 in a judicial district running an alternative dispute resolution program (Section 34-6-45(A)), which the Eighth states it has. The district takes cash, money orders, cashier's checks and credit cards, with a 2.25 percent service fee on cards and no American Express, and it does not take personal checks. If the estate cannot afford the fee, ask for free process on Form 4B-201 NMRA in the probate court or under Rule 23-114 NMRA in the district court.
Can I e-file a probate case in Colfax County?
Not in the probate court, and not as a self-represented filer in the district court either. New Mexico's electronic filing system, Tyler's Odyssey File & Serve branded by the courts as eFile & Serve, is defined by rule as the system approved for use by the district courts (Rule 1-005.2(A)(3) NMRA); no probate court appears in any e-filing authority, and the Probate Court Rules contain no electronic filing rule. And even at the district court, self-represented parties are prohibited from electronically filing documents and shall continue to file documents through traditional methods (Rule 1-005.2(B)(1) NMRA), with the clerk converting a paper filing into electronic format (Rule 1-005.2(I)(2)). So you file on paper at the counter or by post in both forums, and the original will has to be physically delivered, which means an out-of-state filer posts it or brings it.
What happens if someone contests the will in Colfax County?
The case leaves the probate court. A probate court case must be transferred to the district court when a contest arises, when a formal appointment or formal closing is requested, when a determination of testacy or heirship is requested, when a hearing is required, or when any interested party or the judge asks for it (Rule 1B-101(B)(2) NMRA, with the procedure in Rule 1B-701 NMRA), and the district court has exclusive original jurisdiction over all of it (NMSA 1978, Section 45-1-302(A)). Form 4B-1001 NMRA is the transfer order, and the transfer costs nothing: where a case was properly filed within the probate court's jurisdiction and later transferred, no filing fee shall be charged in the district court (Section 34-7-10(B)). In Colfax County the case moves across town rather than out of the county, to 1413 South Second Street in Raton. Be aware that the Eighth Judicial District runs an alternative dispute resolution program and says certain probate matters may be assigned to court-connected mediation. Note also that a probate judge may decline an application for informal appointment for any reason, which is not an adjudication and does not prevent a formal appointment later (Section 45-3-309), and that while a formal testacy proceeding is pending the probate court cannot act on any informal application (Section 45-3-401(C)).
How do I look up a Colfax County probate case?
By asking the Colfax County Clerk's Office at (575) 445-5551 or at the counter at 333 Savage Ave, because the county lists probate files among the public records that office maintains. Case Lookup, the free statewide index, covers New Mexico's district, magistrate, metropolitan and municipal courts and has no probate court option at all; the New Mexico Courts locator lists no probate courts either. Each county probate court keeps its own records, and other counties' probate court records are not available online. Colfax County publishes no probate index of its own. Do not be misled by the Clerk's online Public Record Search: that is the index of recorded documents, where a personal representative's deed or a homestead affidavit is found, it charges a service fee for images, and it says nothing about whether a probate case exists. An Eighth Judicial District Court case, by contrast, does appear in Case Lookup, as an index entry without documents.
Are there local Colfax County probate forms?
One, and you have to go to the office for it. The county says you can purchase a packet of probate forms and instructions from the probate judge for a $5.00 fee, or download the same forms free at the New Mexico Courts probate forms library. Colfax County publishes no packet PDF, no local cover sheet and no local checklist on its website, so the downloadable version is the statewide Supreme Court Form 4B set, cited as Form 4B-302 NMRA and renumbered by Supreme Court Order No. 18-8300-014 effective for cases pending or filed on or after December 31, 2018. The Eighth Judicial District publishes no probate forms of its own either, although it hosts the statewide set, the plain-language probate guide and the Dine translation on its own probate forms page.
Do I have to travel to Raton to settle an estate in Colfax County?
Usually at least once, because the original will and the death certificate have to reach the court physically and the probate judge sees filers by appointment. Beyond that, most of an uncontested estate here runs on post and telephone. The application and the later filings can be posted to PO Box 1498, Raton, NM 87740, though anything meant for the clerk of the probate court goes to the County Clerk's separate box, P.O. Box 159. What you cannot do is e-file, in either forum, so plan around the post, around a court open only on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and around a County Clerk's Office that is closed on Fridays. Neither the county nor the Eighth Judicial District publishes any rule about appearing by telephone or video in a probate matter, so if something needs the judge, ask rather than assume it can be done from home.
Where is the Eighth Judicial District Court for Colfax County, and does it take filings in Raton?
Yes. The Eighth Judicial District serves Colfax, Taos and Union Counties and staffs three district courthouses, one in each county. The Colfax County Courthouse is at 1413 South Second Street, Raton, NM 87740, with its own clerk's telephone, 575-445-5584, its own fax, 575-445-2626, its own mailing address and hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, open during the lunch hour. The district publishes no statement routing Colfax County filings to another county's clerk, which some New Mexico districts do, so a formal probate is filed here rather than in Taos or Clayton. One warning about the address: the Raton Magistrate Court is at the same street address, on 575-445-2220, and a magistrate court has no probate jurisdiction, so ask for the district court clerk.
How long does an informal probate take in Colfax County?
The statutory clock, rather than any local docket, sets the shape of it, and neither Colfax County nor the Eighth Judicial District publishes a processing time for probate. Nothing can be granted until at least 120 hours have passed since the death (NMSA 1978, Sections 45-3-302 and 45-3-307(A)). An informal case is decided on the verified application without a hearing, so once the judge has the complete papers, letters can issue quickly, although a court sitting two mornings a week by appointment is worth allowing an extra week for. After appointment, notice to the heirs and devisees goes out within 30 days and the proof is filed (Section 45-3-705), the inventory is prepared within three months (Section 45-3-706), and the estate cannot be closed informally earlier than six months after the original appointment (Section 45-3-1003(A)). Claims arising before the death are barred one year after the death whether or not anything was published (Section 45-3-803(A)). Six to twelve months is therefore the realistic span for a straightforward estate, driven by those periods rather than by any queue in Raton.
Shaped by the families we've helped
Thank you to the thousands of families who have trusted Sunset to help settle their loved ones' estates. This page is shaped by the questions they actually asked and the obstacles they actually hit — and that hard-won experience is what keeps it accurate, current, and genuinely useful to the families who come next.