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Doña Ana County, NM Probate Information
Quick facts
| Detail | Doña Ana County Probate Court | Third Judicial District Court |
|---|---|---|
| What it handles | Informal, uncontested probate only. The court publishes its own jurisdiction statement: admitting wills to informal probate, appointing personal representatives informally without a hearing, and appointing special administrators (NMSA 1978, Section 45-1-302(C)). It adds that formal probates, determinations of heirship, contested cases and trust matters cannot be heard there and must be filed in the district court. | Every formal and contested probate matter, exclusively: formal testacy and formal appointment, supervised administration, determination of heirs, will construction and will contests, title disputes between the estate and an adverse claimant, trusts and disclaimers (Section 45-1-302(A) and (B)). It may also take an informal probate (Section 45-1-302.1), and the county's own probate pages tell applicants so. There is no separate probate department and no probate judge; a probate is a civil case. |
| Courthouse address | Doña Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Room 1-201, Las Cruces, NM 88007. | 201 W. Picacho Ave., Las Cruces, NM 88005. |
| Mailing address | Doña Ana County Probate Court, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Room 1-201, Las Cruces, NM 88007. The office publishes no PO Box. | Third Judicial District Court, 201 W. Picacho Ave., Las Cruces, NM 88005. The court publishes no PO Box; records requests are addressed to the same street address, marked for the Records Custodian. |
| Phone | (575) 525-6132 is the probate judge's line, and the office publishes both numbers for new applications and questions about existing cases. (575) 525-6115 reaches the probate judge assistants and is the number the office gives for document requests. A TDD line is published at (575) 525-5951. | (575) 523-8200 is the main court line. The Clerk's Office, which is where case questions go, is (575) 528-8316. The Self-Help Division is (575) 528-8399. |
| Fax | (575) 525-6159. | The court publishes no fax number on its Location, Hours and Contacts page. Use the counter or mail. |
| Hours | 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and the office states that it does not close for lunch. You may visit on a walk-in basis with no appointment needed. The judge keeps separate published hours, Tuesday through Thursday, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., which is when a signature is most likely to be available. | 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and the court states that it is open during the lunch hour. Money is handled on a tighter clock than the door: all monetary transactions must be completed by 4:00 p.m., and by 3:00 p.m. on the last day of each month. |
| Filing fee | $30 for each probate case (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14). The court publishes the same figure as its docket fee, and the County Clerk's fee schedule carries it under a probate heading as "New Case $30.00". Checks, money orders and cashier's checks are made payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk. | $132 to open a civil case, which is what a formal probate is: $117 by statute (Section 34-6-40(A)) plus the $15 alternative dispute resolution fee (Section 34-6-45(A)). The court's own fee schedule reads "Civil or Children's case $132.00" and cites Sections 34-6-40, 34-6-44 and 34-6-45. No second filing fee is charged if a case properly filed in the probate court is later transferred up (Section 34-7-10(B)). |
| Payment accepted | At the counter: cards with a $3.00 processing fee, cash, checks, money orders or cashier's checks. For an application dropped off for review the office takes only checks, money orders or cashier's checks payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk, and states that it does not accept cash or cards in that situation. | Attorney business firm checks, cash, money order or certified check. No personal checks are accepted (Rule 1-099 NMRA). The court's methods-of-payment notice adds card with a 2.4 per cent surcharge and warns that change over $20.00 will not be given. |
| Local forms | Yes. The county publishes two curated download sets, Probate Forms With a Will and Probate Forms Without a Will, each opening with Rule 1B-101 general instructions, a Checklist for Probate Process and a DIY Checklist, and each marked with a "STOP HERE" divider showing which documents wait until after you are appointed. A printed packet costs $5 at the counter (Doña Ana County Clerk fee schedule). | None of its own. The county states plainly that the district court does not offer probate packets for self-represented cases, and that the county's pro se forms may be used there once the caption is changed to the Third Judicial District Court. The district's forms library does host the full statewide Form 4B set, the New Mexico courts' probate guide and its Diné translation. |
| E-filing | None. Probate court filing is on paper, at the counter or by mail. The electronic filing system is defined for the district courts only (Rule 1-005.2(A)(3) NMRA), and the Probate Court Rules, Rules 1B-101 to 1B-701 NMRA, contain no electronic filing rule. The original will and an original death certificate have to arrive physically. | eFile & Serve, Tyler's Odyssey File & Serve, at newmexico.tylertech.cloud/ofsweb. It is mandatory for attorneys (Rule 1-005.2 NMRA). Self-represented parties are prohibited from e-filing and file on paper; the clerk converts the paper filing into electronic form (Rule 1-005.2(B)(1) and (I)(2) NMRA). |
| Case search | Yes, and it is an exception in New Mexico. The County Clerk's Documents Online portal searches Doña Ana County Probate Court cases from 1987 to the present. You request a username and password from the Clerk's Office first, then search by decedent name or case number under the probate search type. The county's own caveat is that only minimal information is available online, so the file itself still comes from the Clerk's Office or the probate office. | New Mexico Courts Case Lookup, caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup, indexes district, magistrate, metropolitan and municipal court cases. Doña Ana County district court case numbers begin D-307, which is the court's own county code. There is no probate court option in the court-type filter, and it is an index only, with no document images. |
| Remote appearance | Not applicable. An informal probate is decided on the papers and there is no hearing to attend. | The court publishes no general remote-appearance policy for civil cases. Whether a hearing is held in person or by video or telephone is set by the presiding judge, so ask the assigned judge's chambers when a hearing is scheduled. |
| Website | donaana.gov, Departments, Elected Officials, Probate Judge | thirddistrict.nmcourts.gov |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you pick a form or a counter in Doña Ana County, work out what the estate holds and who is entitled to it. The verified application that opens an informal probate has to state the decedent's date of death, age, and county and state of domicile at death, and it has to name the surviving spouse, children, heirs and devisees with their addresses (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-301). You are swearing to it: the Doña Ana County Probate Court requires the initial application to be signed in front of a notary and says applicants must submit complete, accurate and truthful pleadings, and by verifying the application you submit personally to the court's jurisdiction in any later proceeding for fraud or perjury (Section 45-3-301(G)). The office also warns that white-out is not permitted, that a mistake must be lined through and initialed, and that documents should be printed single sided, so a rushed packet is a return trip.
The same inventory decides whether you need a probate at all. The county says so in its own words: not all estates require a probate or a personal representative, and much depends on how the decedent's property was titled. Accounts with a payable on death beneficiary, property held in joint tenancy and real estate covered by a recorded transfer on death deed pass outside probate entirely. So list every bank and credit union account, retirement and brokerage account, life insurance policy, vehicle, business interest and parcel of Doña Ana County real estate, along with every debt, before you file. Sunset's asset-discovery work, which searches more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for exactly this step.
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)). The Doña Ana County Probate Court publishes the same rule in its own words: you use it if the decedent was domiciled in Doña Ana County at the time of death, or lived outside New Mexico but owned property in Doña Ana County. Both courts on this page serve the whole county, which the county describes as 3,814 square miles bordering El Paso County in Texas, Luna, Sierra and Otero counties in New Mexico and the state of Chihuahua in Mexico, and which takes in Las Cruces, Anthony, Sunland Park, the Town of Mesilla, the Village of Hatch, Chaparral, the community of Doña Ana and the rest of the Mesilla Valley.
Within Doña Ana County you have a choice of court. The Doña Ana County Probate Court takes an informal, uncontested probate, and the Third Judicial District Court takes anything formal or contested and may also take an informal probate (Sections 45-1-302 and 45-1-302.1). The county spells the choice out on its own Approved Docket page, telling applicants they have the option of opening a probate case at the district court at 201 W. Picacho Ave. instead, with a $132 docketing fee due at the time of application. Almost everyone handling a Doña Ana estate without a lawyer uses the probate court, because it costs $30 rather than $132 (Sections 34-7-14, 34-6-40 and 34-6-45), it takes walk-in paper filings, and Section 34-7-10(B) means there is no second filing fee if the case has to move up. The Doña Ana County Probate Court is a county office within New Mexico's judicial branch, funded by the county (Section 34-7-4), and the probate judge is an elected, part-time county official (Sections 34-7-1 and 34-7-2). The County Clerk is the clerk of the probate court (Section 34-7-22(A)), and the Clerk's own page confirms it.
The Third Judicial District is one of only two New Mexico judicial districts made up of a single county, the other being Bernalillo County's Second, and Doña Ana County is that whole district (Section 34-6-1(C)). That matters practically: unlike readers in the eleven multi-county districts, you are never sent to a district courthouse in a neighboring county, and the clerk who takes a Doña Ana formal probate is in Las Cruces. Two Las Cruces buildings and one in Anthony can still be confused. The probate court is at 845 N. Motel Blvd., Room 1-201; the district court is at 201 W. Picacho Ave.; and the Doña Ana Magistrate Court at 110 Calle de Alegra in Las Cruces, along with the Anthony magistrate court at 220 Crossett Lane, hears landlord and tenant matters, small civil claims, misdemeanors and traffic, and has no probate jurisdiction at all. Nothing about an estate is filed at a magistrate court.
The jurisdiction process
- Confirm the case belongs in Doña Ana County and check the timing. Venue is the county of domicile at death, or a county where a non-resident owned property (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-201(A)). Nothing can be granted for the first 120 hours after the death (Sections 45-3-302 and 45-3-307(A)), and a probate is normally opened within three years of the death (Section 45-3-108). The county publishes both limits on its own probate FAQ.
- Choose your forum. If nobody is fighting, there is a will or a clear set of heirs, and you only need authority to act, file informally at the Doña Ana County Probate Court, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Room 1-201. If you need a determination of heirs, a ruling on whether a will is valid, a court order about who owns something, supervised administration, or anything with a hearing, that is exclusively the Third Judicial District Court at 201 W. Picacho Ave. (Section 45-1-302(A) and (B)).
- Gather the documents the counter will ask for. The county lists them: the original and valid will including any codicils, which must be in the court's possession before it can be probated (Section 45-3-303(A)(5)); an original death certificate, which it says must accompany the initial application; a marriage certificate where there is a surviving spouse; and the names, addresses and, for minors, ages of the surviving spouse, children, heirs and devisees (Section 45-3-301).
- Get the forms. Download the county's own Probate Forms With a Will or Probate Forms Without a Will set from the Probate Judge pages at donaana.gov, which open with the Rule 1B-101 general instructions, a Checklist for Probate Process and a DIY Checklist, or buy the printed packet for $5 (Doña Ana County Clerk fee schedule). The statewide equivalents are Form 4B-301 (no will) and Form 4B-302 (with will) at nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate.
- Sign in front of a notary. The county requires the initial application to be signed by the applicant in the presence of a notary public. If you need one at no charge, the Third Judicial District Court's Self-Help Center on the first floor at 201 W. Picacho Ave. notarizes court forms free, 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., first come first served.
- File on paper and pay the fee. Take the application, order, acceptance and proposed letters to Room 1-201 at 845 N. Motel Blvd. between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., or mail them to the same address, and pay the $30 fee (Section 34-7-14). There is no e-filing at any New Mexico probate court. Present originals: the court keeps the original and returns endorsed copies to you. If you are dropping the application off for review rather than paying at the window, the office takes only a check, money order or cashier's check payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk. If the court does not accept the estate, the county says all payments and pleadings are returned to you, but once the case is opened there are no refunds and you are given a receipt. If you cannot afford the fee, ask for free process on Form 4B-201 with the order at Form 4B-202 (Section 34-6-27(B)).
- Let the court review and open the case. An informal probate is decided on the papers and does not require a hearing. Once the judge signs the order appointing the personal representative, the court issues Letters Testamentary where there is a will (Form 4B-307) or Letters of Administration where there is not (Form 4B-306), and this county sends you away with endorsed copies of the docket including six certified copies of those letters, which is what banks, title companies and transfer agents ask to see. Administration of the estate begins with the issuance of letters (Section 45-3-103). The court may also decline an informal appointment for any reason, which is not an adjudication and does not stop you filing formally (Section 45-3-309).
- Tell the family within 30 days. Not later than 30 days after appointment the personal representative must give written notice of the appointment to the heirs and devisees, by delivery or ordinary mail, and must file a statement with the court naming who was notified (Section 45-3-705). The county's own download sets place these next, after the "STOP HERE" divider: Form 4B-401 for the notice and Form 4B-402 for the proof.
- Prepare an inventory within three months of appointment, listing each item with its date-of-death value and any encumbrance (Section 45-3-706). You must send a copy to any interested person who asks for one. Filing it with the court is optional in New Mexico, not required. Form 4B-601.
- Deal with creditors. Publishing a notice to creditors once a week for three successive weeks in a Doña Ana County newspaper of general circulation is permitted, not required, and it starts a four-month claim window (Section 45-3-801, Form 4B-501). Whether or not you publish, claims that arose before the death are barred one year after the death (Section 45-3-803).
- Transfer any real estate at the County Clerk, not the 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), and Section 45-3-715(A)(23) for sales), so a Doña Ana County house is conveyed by a personal representative's deed recorded with the Doña Ana County Clerk in the same Government Center building at 845 N. Motel Blvd. Recording is $25 for each document of up to ten index entries (Section 14-8-15), with checks payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk's Office. What the probate court cannot do is decide a dispute about that title; that is the district court's, in a formal proceeding (Section 45-1-302(B)).
- If it turns contested, the case moves up. If anyone contests the will, if the heirs are in dispute, if a formal appointment or formal closing is requested, if a determination of testacy or heirship is needed, or if any hearing is required, the matter goes to the Third Judicial District Court (Section 45-1-302; Rule 1B-101(B)(2) NMRA), on Form 4B-1001, order transferring case from probate court to district court. A disqualified or interested probate judge transfers the proceeding the same way (Section 34-7-9). Section 34-7-10(B) is the reason this is safe: if the case was properly filed in the probate court and is later transferred, no filing fee is charged in the district court. A pending formal case in the district court also freezes the probate court, which may not act on an informal application while it is pending (Section 45-3-401(C)).
- Close the estate. After the property is distributed, file a verified closing statement with the appointing court no earlier than six months after the original appointment (Section 45-3-1003, Form 4B-701; Form 4B-702 is the small-estate version). If no proceedings involving the personal representative are pending in the district court one year after the closing statement is filed, the appointment terminates. Outside supervised administration, which is district court only, there is no routine annual accounting to the court in New Mexico.
Forms and documents
Probate forms in Doña Ana County
Doña Ana County is one of the few New Mexico counties whose probate court publishes materials of its own, and they are free to download from the Probate Judge pages at donaana.gov. The county organizes them as two sequenced sets rather than a single list, which is the most useful thing about them: you work down the set in order and stop where the court tells you to stop.
| Form or packet | What it is |
|---|---|
| Probate Forms With a Will | The county's ordered with-will set: Rule 1B-101 general instructions, a Checklist for Probate Process, Form 4B-302 (application), Form 4B-304 (order), Form 4B-305 (acceptance of appointment), Form 4B-307 (letters testamentary) and a DIY Checklist, followed by a "STOP HERE" divider and then Forms 4B-401, 4B-402, 4B-501, 4B-601, 4B-602 and 4B-701. |
| Probate Forms Without a Will | The same shape for an intestate estate: Rule 1B-101 general instructions, a Checklist for Probate Process, Form 4B-301 (application), Form 4B-303 (order), Form 4B-305 (acceptance), Form 4B-306 (letters of administration) and a DIY Checklist, then the same "STOP HERE" divider and post-appointment forms. |
| The "STOP HERE" divider | The county's own instruction inside both sets: the remaining documents should not be completed until after the court appoints you as personal representative of the estate. It is the clearest published statement in the county of which forms are filed when. |
| Checklist for Probate Process and DIY Checklist | Two county checklists that sit inside each set, one walking the process and one aimed at a self-represented filer. |
| Printed packet, $5 | The probate application packet sold over the counter, listed on the County Clerk's own fee schedule as "Probate Forms Packet $5.00" (Doña Ana County Clerk fee schedule, verified July 27, 2026). |
One genuinely local point about those forms: the county publishes that all pro se forms provided by the Doña Ana County Probate Court may be used at the Third Judicial District Court once the caption on every form is changed to read State of New Mexico, County of Doña Ana, In the Third Judicial District Court. The county adds that the district court does not offer probate packets for self-represented cases at all, so if you switch forums the county's packet is the practical starting point.
The statewide set is the Supreme Court's Form 4B series at nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate, cited as Form 4B-302 NMRA and used with the Probate Court Rules, Rules 1B-101 to 1B-701 NMRA. Beyond the ones the county packages, the set includes 4B-101 (the opening and closing flow chart), 4B-201 and 4B-202 (free process), 4B-702 (the small-estate closing statement), 4B-801 and 4B-802 (proof of authority), 4B-901 to 4B-904 (special administration) and 4B-1001 (order transferring a case to the district court). The whole set was renumbered by Supreme Court Order No. 18-8300-014, effective for cases pending or filed on or after December 31, 2018, so older numbering you find elsewhere is superseded. Note that the county FAQ still sends readers to an older Supreme Court address for the forms; nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate is the live library.
The Third Judicial District Court publishes no probate forms of its own, but its forms library hosts the full statewide Form 4B set, the New Mexico courts' plain-language probate guide and a Diné translation of the probate materials. There is no statewide 4B form for the small-estate affidavit or for the surviving spouse's homestead affidavit, no waiver or renunciation 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 informal-only and contested matters transfer out on Form 4B-1001.
Fees
Both offices publish charges beyond the statutory filing fee, and in Doña Ana County the County Clerk's fee schedule carries a probate block of its own, which is unusual and useful. All figures below were read from the offices' own pages on July 27, 2026.
| Charge | Amount | Office and authority |
|---|---|---|
| Probate case, docket fee | $30 | Doña Ana County Probate Court, and the County Clerk's fee schedule under probate, "New Case $30.00" (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14) |
| Probate forms packet | $5 | Doña Ana County Clerk fee schedule, "Probate Forms Packet $5.00" |
| Copies at the probate court and the County Clerk | $1.00 per page | Doña Ana County Clerk fee schedule. Copies of probate documents sent by email are free. The statutory ceiling for a probate clerk's document copies is $1.00 per page (Section 14-8-14(B)), so this county charges the ceiling for paper and nothing for email |
| Certifying a general document | $1.00 per document | Doña Ana County Clerk fee schedule |
| Exemplification at the probate court | $5, plus standard fees | Doña Ana County Clerk fee schedule |
| Card processing fee at the probate counter | $3.00 | Doña Ana County Probate Court. Cards are not accepted at all on an application dropped off for review |
| Recording a personal representative's deed or a surviving spouse's homestead affidavit | $25 for each document of up to ten index entries | Doña Ana County Clerk, 845 N. Motel Blvd. (Section 14-8-15). A document with more than ten entries costs another $25 for each further block of ten or fewer. Checks payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk's Office |
| Civil case, which is what a formal probate is | $132 | Third Judicial District Court fee schedule, citing NMSA 1978, Sections 34-6-40, 34-6-44 and 34-6-45. It is $117 by statute (Section 34-6-40(A)) plus the $15 alternative dispute resolution fee (Section 34-6-45(A)) |
| Copies at the district court | 35 cents per page, $1.00 per color page | Third Judicial District Court (Rule 1-099 NMRA). The same 35 cents applies to a public records copy |
| Certification at the district court | $1.50 per document | Third Judicial District Court (Rule 1-099 NMRA) |
| Exemplification at the district court | $4.50 | Third Judicial District Court's own published figure |
| Record search at the district court | $1.50 per name | Third Judicial District Court. A search of records from before 1986 is $5.00 per name |
Two things about paying. First, the counters take different things, and the probate counter changes its own rules depending on how you file: over the counter it takes cards with a $3.00 processing fee, cash, checks, money orders or cashier's checks, but an application dropped off for review must come with a check, money order or cashier's check payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk, and no cash or card. The district court takes attorney business firm checks, cash, money order or certified check and no personal checks at all (Rule 1-099 NMRA), adds a 2.4 per cent surcharge on cards, will not give change over $20.00, and closes monetary transactions at 4:00 p.m. daily and 3:00 p.m. on the last day of each month. Neither court refunds a filing fee once the case is opened; the district court publishes that its no-refund policy is strictly enforced even where a case is dismissed or filed by mistake.
If you cannot afford the fee, New Mexico's route is called free process, not a fee waiver motion. At the probate court it is Form 4B-201, affidavit of poverty and indigency, with Form 4B-202, order allowing free process. At the district court it runs under Rule 23-114 NMRA on Forms 4-222 to 4-224, with presumptive indigency for public-assistance recipients or income at or below 185 per cent of the federal poverty guidelines (Section 34-6-27(B)). And if the probate court transfers a properly filed case up to the district court, no filing fee is charged in the district court at all (Section 34-7-10(B)).
Local nuance
Doña Ana County-specific considerations
| Local fact | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| The county runs an online probate case search back to 1987 | New Mexico's statewide Case Lookup has no probate court option, and most counties' probate records are simply not online. Doña Ana is an exception. The County Clerk's Documents Online portal searches Doña Ana County Probate Court cases from 1987 to the present. You request a username and password from the Clerk's Office first, then choose the probate search type and search by decedent name, filing date range or case number. The county's own caveat is that only minimal information is available online, so the documents themselves still come from the Clerk's Office at (575) 647-7421 or the probate office at (575) 525-6115. Copies by email are free; printed copies are $1.00 per page. |
| Six certified copies of the letters come with the docket | Most New Mexico counties publish nothing about what you leave with. This county does: once the application is reviewed and the case is opened, it provides endorsed copies of the docket including six certified copies of the Letters of Administration or the Letters Testamentary. Those certified copies are what a bank, a title company or a transfer agent asks to see, so plan on having enough for each institution without a return trip. |
| The office and the judge keep different hours | The probate office is open 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, on a walk-in basis with no appointment needed, and it states that it does not close for lunch. The judge's own published hours are Tuesday through Thursday, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The probate judge position is a part-time one by statute (Section 34-7-1(B)) and the court's hours are set by the clerk of the probate court and published on the county's website (Section 34-7-8), which is why the two sets of hours differ. File any weekday morning; expect signatures on the judge's days. |
| The County Clerk is the clerk of the probate court, and both are in one building | The County Clerk's own page states that the County Clerk also serves as the clerk of the probate court, which is what Section 34-7-22(A) provides. The practical consequence in Doña Ana County is convenient: the probate office in Room 1-201, the Clerk's recording counter and the Clerk's records office are all in the Doña Ana County Government Center at 845 N. Motel Blvd., so filing the probate, recording a personal representative's deed and buying certified copies are all one trip. Filing fees are made payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk. |
| The county's own forms work in the district court, with one edit | This is published county guidance and it is unusual. All pro se forms provided by the Doña Ana County Probate Court may be used at the Third Judicial District Court once the caption on each form is changed to State of New Mexico, County of Doña Ana, In the Third Judicial District Court. The county adds that the district court does not offer probate packets for self-represented cases, so if you have to move forums, do not start over. |
| The whole judicial district is this one county | Eleven of New Mexico's thirteen judicial districts cover more than one county, and in several of them the staffed district court clerk for a smaller county sits in another town. Doña Ana County is the entire Third Judicial District (Section 34-6-1(C)), so the district courthouse at 201 W. Picacho Ave. in Las Cruces is your district courthouse, and no filing is routed out of the county. |
| The district court's Self-Help Center notarizes court forms free | The initial probate application has to be signed in front of a notary. The Third Judicial District Court runs a walk-in Self-Help Center on the first floor at 201 W. Picacho Ave., open 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., first come first served with no appointments, and among the things it publishes that it can do are reviewing court forms to see whether they are complete and notarizing court forms at no charge. It cannot give legal advice or fill a form in for you. The number is (575) 528-8399. |
| Money moves on a different clock from the door at the district court | The district court's doors are open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. through the lunch hour, but its published notice is that all monetary transactions must be completed by 4:00 p.m., and by 3:00 p.m. on the last day of each month. It takes no personal checks (Rule 1-099 NMRA), charges a 2.4 per cent surcharge on cards and will not give change over $20.00, so arrive with the right instrument well before closing. |
Small-estate Alternatives
The New Mexico small-estate routes are statewide and are covered on the New Mexico state page. Two of them finish at a Doña Ana County counter rather than at either court, which is worth knowing before you open a probate you may not need.
A surviving spouse's homestead affidavit for a community-property homestead is recorded with the county clerk in the county where the home is, six months after the death, and no probate or administration is needed (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-1205). In Doña Ana County that is the Doña Ana County Clerk at 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces, (575) 647-7421, at $25 for each document of up to ten index entries (Section 14-8-15), with the check payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk's Office. The value cap in that statute is measured as assessed for property taxation purposes, not market value.
The small-estate affidavit for personal property under Section 45-3-1201 is not filed with any court and carries no court fee. You present it to the bank, transfer agent or other holder of the property. Neither court on this page takes it, there is no statewide 4B form for it, and the New Mexico courts' own guide calls it an affidavit of successor in interest. It cannot be used to perfect title to real estate (Section 45-3-1201(C)).
Recent updates
| Date | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|
| November 3, 2026 and January 1, 2027 | The Doña Ana County probate judge is an elected county official and the position is part-time (NMSA 1978, Sections 34-7-1 and 34-7-2). Every New Mexico probate judgeship is on the ballot on November 3, 2026, and the winner takes office on January 1, 2027. The judge named on the county's own probate pages as of July 27, 2026 is Judith Ann Baca, first elected in November 2022 and in office since January 1, 2023; those pages give her term as running to December 31, 2027, which does not match the statewide election cycle, so confirm with the office. Address correspondence to the office rather than the person, and expect the name to change. | NMSA 1978, Sections 34-7-1 and 34-7-2; Doña Ana County Probate Judge pages, donaana.gov |
| Current | The county has moved its website to the donaana.gov domain. The older donaanacounty.org address still answers but redirects probate links to the county home page rather than to the probate pages, so a saved bookmark or a directory listing pointing at the old address will not reach the forms. | donaana.gov |
| Current practice | The probate office publishes counter hours of 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, states that it does not close for lunch, and takes walk-ins with no appointment needed. The judge's own published hours are separate: Tuesday through Thursday, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. | Doña Ana County Probate Judge page, donaana.gov |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Doña Ana County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | A Las Cruces, Mesilla or Anthony home held in joint tenancy passes to the survivor outside probate, and title is cleared at the Doña Ana County Clerk's recording counter at 845 N. Motel Blvd. rather than at either court. Where the home was community property and the other conditions are met, a surviving spouse can record a homestead affidavit six months after the death and skip probate altogether (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-1205). Accounts and property in the deceased spouse's sole name may still need a probate. Where they do, the surviving spouse applies informally at the Doña Ana County Probate Court for $30 (Section 34-7-14); a surviving spouse who is a devisee has priority for appointment, and a surviving spouse who is not still ranks ahead of other heirs (Section 45-3-203(A)). There is no hearing, and the county asks for a marriage certificate along with the will and the original death certificate. | Asset discovery to separate survivorship and beneficiary property from sole-name assets, which is what decides whether a probate is needed at all. Packet generation for the county's with-will or without-will set, ready to notarize and walk into Room 1-201 at 845 N. Motel Blvd. Guidance on the recording step at the County Clerk in the same building. |
| Out-of-state adult child, small estate | If the parent was domiciled in Doña Ana County, that is where the case belongs (Section 45-3-201(A)(1)), even though the child is not. If the whole estate is small enough and there is no real estate, the Section 45-3-1201 affidavit is presented directly to the bank or transfer agent 30 days after the death, with no court, no filing and no fee. Where a probate is needed, the informal application can be mailed to the Doña Ana County Probate Court at 845 N. Motel Blvd., Room 1-201, Las Cruces 88007 with a check, money order or cashier's check for $30 payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk. There is no e-filing at any New Mexico probate court and no hearing to attend, so the trip is usually avoidable, but the original will and an original death certificate have to physically reach the court, so they are mailed or carried. | Asset discovery to establish whether the estate clears the affidavit route or needs letters. Packet generation for a mail-in Doña Ana filing, including the Section 45-3-705 notice to heirs and devisees due within 30 days of appointment and the proof of notice on Form 4B-402. Help tracking the case afterwards through the County Clerk's online probate search, which reaches back to 1987. |
| Parent settling a predeceased child's estate, home must be sold | A parent is an heir where the child left no spouse or descendants, and ranks after any devisees and the surviving spouse in the appointment order (Section 45-3-203(A)). If nobody objects, the parent applies informally at the Doña Ana County Probate Court and, once letters issue, has the same power over the title to the house that an absolute owner would have, exercisable without notice, hearing or court order (Sections 45-3-711(A) and 45-3-715(A)(23)), so the sale closes on a personal representative's deed recorded with the Doña Ana County Clerk. The six certified copies of the letters the court issues with the docket are what the title company will want. If a sibling, a co-owner or a creditor disputes who owns the house, only the Third Judicial District Court can decide it, in a formal proceeding (Section 45-1-302(B)), and the probate court transfers the case up on Form 4B-1001 with no second filing fee (Section 34-7-10(B)). | Asset discovery to surface the mortgage, liens, unpaid property tax and any recorded interest against the Doña Ana County parcel before the sale is agreed. Packet generation for the informal application and for the closing statement due no earlier than six months after appointment (Section 45-3-1003). A vetted Doña Ana County probate attorney if the title question goes to the district court. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Doña Ana County Probate Judge pages (donaana.gov, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Room 1-201, (575) 525-6132 and (575) 525-6115) | The county's own probate material: a Frequently Asked Questions page covering the court's purpose, its jurisdiction, venue, the timing rules, the fee and the documents needed to open a case; an Approved Docket page explaining what you leave with and the district court alternative; a Probate Documents page for requesting copies; and the two downloadable forms sets. Office hours are 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, walk-in, with no lunch closure. |
| Doña Ana County Clerk, Documents Online probate search (donaana.gov, Clerk's Office, Documents Online; (575) 647-7421) | The county's own online probate case search, covering Doña Ana County Probate Court cases from 1987 to the present. Register through the Request Online Document and Fraud Protection form for a free username and password, then search by decedent name, date range or case number under the probate search type. Only minimal information is available online. Account questions go to the Clerk's Office. |
| Third Judicial District Court (thirddistrict.nmcourts.gov, 201 W. Picacho Ave., Las Cruces, (575) 523-8200) | Location, Hours and Contacts with the courthouse hours and the holiday schedule; the Fees, Costs and Filing page with the full fee schedule, the fee policy and the methods of payment; the Office of the Clerk page with the scope of what clerk staff will and will not do and how to make a public records request; and the court's own probate forms library. The Clerk's Office line for case questions is (575) 528-8316. |
| Third Judicial District Court Self-Help Center (201 W. Picacho Ave., first floor, (575) 528-8399) | A walk-in center offering one-on-one help to self-represented filers, Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., first come first served with no appointments. It talks through court procedure, says which forms need completing, explains the steps, reviews forms only to see whether they are complete, and notarizes court forms at no charge. It cannot give legal advice or fill a form in for you. |
| Third Judicial District Court legal advice clinics ((575) 528-8399 or (575) 528-8318) | Telephonic and in-person clinics giving free, one-time access to volunteer attorneys for civil and family law questions relating to a case or potential case at the Third Judicial District Court. Appointments are required, each clinic takes ten people, and time with an attorney is limited to 15 minutes. The volunteers advise but do not represent you. Ask when you book whether your probate question fits the current clinic. |
| New Mexico Courts HelpLine (1-855-268-7804) | The judiciary's own information service, Monday through Friday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., in English and Spanish with interpreters available. It provides court-approved forms and explains what a form is asking for, and points to free or low-cost legal services. It cannot tell you what to write on a form (Rule 23-113 NMRA). |
| New Mexico Courts statewide probate forms (nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate) | The Supreme Court's complete Form 4B series, plus a plain-language probate guide and a Diné translation. This is the live statewide library, and the Third Judicial District Court hosts the same set in its own forms library. |
| New Mexico Courts Case Lookup (caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup) | The free public index for Third Judicial District Court cases, along with magistrate, metropolitan and municipal courts. Doña Ana County district court case numbers begin D-307. It has no probate court option, so a Doña Ana County Probate Court case will not appear there; use the County Clerk's own probate search instead. |
| Legal Resources for the Elderly Program, State Bar of New Mexico (505-797-6005 or 1-800-876-6657) | A free statewide helpline for New Mexico residents aged 55 and older with no income restrictions, whose published advice areas expressly include probate, powers of attorney, transfer on death deeds and general estate planning. Phone lines are open and accepting voicemails Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Mountain Time. |
| Modest Means Helpline, State Bar of New Mexico (505-797-6013 or 888-857-9935) | Advice by phone for New Mexico residents of modest means, Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Mountain Time. Callers aged 55 or older are directed to the elderly program instead. |
| New Mexico Legal Aid (1-833-545-4357) and its Volunteer Attorney Program (1-877-266-9861) | Statewide intake Monday through Thursday 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. for households at or below 125 per cent of the federal poverty guidelines, with a Las Cruces office serving southern New Mexico. Probate is not one of its staff practice areas; it reaches probate through the Volunteer Attorney Program's free one-time consultations at scheduled clinics, for households at or below 200 per cent of the guidelines. |
| Doña Ana County Clerk, recording counter (845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces, (575) 647-7421) | The recording counter for a personal representative's deed and a surviving spouse's homestead affidavit, in the same Government Center building as the probate office. Recording is $25 for each document of up to ten index entries, with each additional block of ten entries costing another $25 (Section 14-8-15), and checks are payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk's Office. |
When to hire an attorney
Both Doña Ana County offices are clear about the line they will not cross, and that line is a good guide to when you need a lawyer. The probate court says it can provide information but not legal services, and that knowing when to obtain competent legal services is essential; the Third Judicial District Court's clerk staff publish that they cannot give any legal advice, cannot advise whether to file a case or take any action in one, and cannot help you fill out a form or tell you what to state on it (Rule 23-113 NMRA). So counsel makes particular sense in Doña Ana County when a will's validity or the identity of the heirs is in doubt, because only the Third Judicial District Court can decide either (NMSA 1978, Section 45-1-302(A)); when someone claims an interest in estate property adverse to the estate, which is again district court only in a formal proceeding (Section 45-1-302(B)); when the estate holds a business, farmland in the Mesilla Valley, property across the state line in Texas or a parcel whose sale terms are disputed; when a deed has to be drafted, which the New Mexico courts' own guide warns can be very tricky to draft and execute properly; when the estate looks insolvent or creditors are pressing; and whenever the probate judge declines an informal appointment, which the judge may do for any reason without deciding anything (Section 45-3-309). An attorney also brings e-filing with them, since attorneys must e-file at the district court while self-represented parties are prohibited from doing so (Rule 1-005.2 NMRA). Sunset can connect families to a vetted Doña Ana County probate attorney when the situation calls for counsel.
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, Doña Ana County real estate, business interests and unclaimed property, so you know what the estate holds for estate settlement before you file. In New Mexico that picture does real work: it decides whether a probate is needed at all, which the Doña Ana County Probate Court itself says often turns on how the assets were titled; it fills the verified application the court requires you to swear to in front of a notary (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-301); and it is the basis of the inventory due within three months of appointment (Section 45-3-706).
Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the Doña Ana County filing: the application, order, acceptance and proposed letters in the form the county's own with-will and without-will sets expect, with the heirs and devisees named and addressed, ready to notarize and file in Room 1-201 at 845 N. Motel Blvd. or mail to the same address with the $30 fee (Section 34-7-14), plus the notice of appointment and proof of notice due within 30 days (Section 45-3-705) and the closing statement due no earlier than six months in (Section 45-3-1003).
Find a local probate attorney. When a will is contested, when the heirs are in dispute, when someone claims the house against the estate, or when the case has to move to the Third Judicial District Court on Form 4B-1001, Sunset connects families to a vetted Doña Ana County probate attorney who can file, e-file and appear.
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
Where do I file probate in Doña Ana County?
At one of two places in Las Cruces, depending on the case. An informal, uncontested probate is filed on paper at the Doña Ana County Probate Court, Room 1-201 of the Doña Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces 88007, open 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday on a walk-in basis, or mailed to the same address. Anything formal or contested is filed at the Third Judicial District Court, 201 W. Picacho Ave., Las Cruces 88005, open 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You file in Doña Ana County if the person who died lived here at the time of death, or lived outside New Mexico but owned property here (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-201(A)), which is how the county states the rule on its own probate pages.
Do I file in the Doña Ana County Probate Court or the Third Judicial District Court?
Both courts can open an informal probate (Section 45-1-302.1), so you have a genuine choice, and the county's own Approved Docket page tells applicants so. Only the district court can do anything formal or contested (Section 45-1-302(A) and (B)). Use the probate court if nobody is objecting, there is a will or a clear set of heirs, and you just need the legal authority to act: it costs $30 rather than $132, it takes walk-in paper filings, and there is no hearing. Use the district court if you need a determination of heirs, a ruling on whether a will is valid, a court order about who owns something, supervised administration, or any hearing. If you start in the probate court and it turns contested, the case transfers up on Form 4B-1001 and no second filing fee is charged (Section 34-7-10(B)), which is why starting in the probate court is low-risk.
How much does it cost to file probate in Doña Ana County?
$30 for a probate case at the Doña Ana County Probate Court (Section 34-7-14), which the County Clerk's fee schedule lists under probate as "New Case $30.00", payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk. At the Third Judicial District Court a civil case, which is what a formal probate is, costs $132: $117 by statute (Section 34-6-40(A)) plus a $15 alternative dispute resolution fee (Section 34-6-45(A)), and the court's own fee schedule publishes that total. Beyond the filing fee the county charges $1.00 a page for copies, $1.00 a document to certify and $5 for a printed forms packet, while the district court charges 35 cents a page and $1.50 per certification. If you cannot afford the fee, ask for free process (Section 34-6-27(B)), which is Forms 4B-201 and 4B-202 at the probate court.
Can I e-file a probate case in Doña Ana County?
Not at the probate court, ever: New Mexico's electronic filing system is defined for the district courts only (Rule 1-005.2(A)(3) NMRA) and the Probate Court Rules contain no electronic filing rule, so every Doña Ana County Probate Court filing is paper, at the counter or by mail, and the original will and an original death certificate have to arrive physically. At the Third Judicial District Court e-filing runs on eFile & Serve, Tyler's Odyssey File & Serve, and it is mandatory for attorneys, but self-represented parties are prohibited from e-filing and must file on paper, after which the clerk scans the filing into the system for you (Rule 1-005.2(B)(1) and (I)(2) NMRA).
How do I look up a Doña Ana County probate case?
Doña Ana is one of the few New Mexico counties where you can. The County Clerk's Documents Online portal searches Doña Ana County Probate Court cases from 1987 to the present: request a free username and password through the Clerk's Office online records page, log in, choose the probate search type and search by decedent name, filing or death date range, or case number. The county notes that only minimal information is available online. For the documents themselves, call the Clerk's Office on (575) 647-7421 or the probate office on (575) 525-6115 with the decedent's name or the case number; copies sent by email are free and printed copies are $1.00 per page. Third Judicial District Court probate cases are separate and sit in the statewide New Mexico Courts Case Lookup at caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup, where Doña Ana case numbers begin D-307.
What happens if someone objects or contests the will in Doña Ana County?
The probate court cannot decide it, and the case moves to the Third Judicial District Court, which has exclusive original jurisdiction over formal proceedings, will contests, will construction and determination of heirs (Section 45-1-302(A)). The county publishes the same thing in its own words: formal probates, determinations of heirship, contested cases and trust matters cannot be heard by the probate court. An objection to an appointment can only be made in a formal proceeding (Section 45-3-203(B)). The move is made on Form 4B-1001, and the triggers are set out in Rule 1B-101(B)(2) NMRA: a formal appointment or formal closing is requested, a contest arises, testacy or heirship has to be determined, a hearing is required, or any interested party or the judge asks for the transfer. No filing fee is charged in the district court on a transfer of a case properly filed in the probate court (Section 34-7-10(B)).
Is there a hearing, and do I have to travel to Las Cruces?
An informal probate at the Doña Ana County Probate Court is decided on the papers and does not require a hearing, because informal proceedings in New Mexico are conducted without notice to interested persons (Section 45-1-201(25)). You can mail the application, the original will, an original death certificate and a check, money order or cashier's check for $30 payable to the Doña Ana County Clerk to 845 N. Motel Blvd., Room 1-201, Las Cruces 88007, so an out-of-state family often never appears. If the case is in the Third Judicial District Court, whether a hearing is in person or by video or telephone is set by the presiding judge, so ask the assigned judge's chambers once a hearing is scheduled.
Does the Doña Ana County Probate Court have its own forms?
Yes. It publishes two free download sets, Probate Forms With a Will and Probate Forms Without a Will, each opening with the Rule 1B-101 general instructions, a Checklist for Probate Process and a DIY Checklist, then the application, order, acceptance and letters, then a "STOP HERE" divider marking the documents that wait until after you are appointed, and then Forms 4B-401, 4B-402, 4B-501, 4B-601, 4B-602 and 4B-701. A printed packet costs $5 at the counter. The county also publishes that these same forms may be used at the Third Judicial District Court once the caption is changed to read State of New Mexico, County of Doña Ana, In the Third Judicial District Court, and that the district court offers no probate packets of its own.
What do I need to bring to open a probate in Doña Ana County?
The county lists it: the original and valid will including any codicils, an original death certificate, a marriage certificate where relevant, and the completed application signed in front of a notary public. Bring originals of each pleading, because the court keeps the original and returns endorsed copies to you. White-out is not permitted, a mistake must be lined through and initialed, and documents should be printed single sided. Once the judge signs the order, the court gives you endorsed copies of the docket including six certified copies of the Letters Testamentary or Letters of Administration, which are what banks and title companies ask to see.
Can the probate court staff help me fill out the forms?
No. The Doña Ana County Probate Court says it can provide information but not legal services, and the Third Judicial District Court's clerk staff publish the same limit: they will help with research and case lookup, case status, copies and certification, court schedules, general information about procedure and court-approved forms, but they will not give legal advice, advise whether to file or take any action, help you fill out a form or tell you what to say in court (Rule 23-113 NMRA). For help beyond that, the Third Judicial District Court's Self-Help Center at 201 W. Picacho Ave. reviews forms for completeness and notarizes them free, the New Mexico Courts HelpLine on 1-855-268-7804 explains what a form is asking for, and the State Bar's free helpline for residents aged 55 and older on 505-797-6005 covers probate.
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.