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Eddy County, NM Probate Information
Quick facts
| Detail | Eddy County Probate Court | Fifth Judicial District Court |
|---|---|---|
| What it handles | Informal, uncontested probate only, with or without a will. The county publishes that its probate judge presides over informal probate proceedings whether there is a will or no will (NMSA 1978, Section 45-1-302(C)). No hearings. | 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). There is no separate probate department; the clerk's office processes probate among its civil filings. |
| Courthouse address | Eddy County Clerk Building, 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad, NM 88220. The County Clerk's counter in the same building is the probate filing counter, because the county clerk is the clerk of the probate court (Section 34-7-22(A)). | Eddy County District Court, 102 N. Canal Street, Carlsbad, NM 88220. |
| Mailing address | Eddy County Probate Court, 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad, NM 88220. The office publishes no PO Box. | Eddy County District Court, 102 N. Canal Street, Suite 240, Carlsbad, NM 88220. |
| Phone | (575) 885-4008 is the probate court's own line. The Eddy County Clerk, who is the probate court's clerk, is (575) 885-3383. | (575) 885-4740 is the Carlsbad clerk's office line and is the number for an Eddy County case. The district's court administration in Roswell, (575) 622-2565, and the Chaves County District Court line, (575) 622-2212, are different offices in a different county. |
| Fax | (575) 234-1793, shared with the County Clerk's office in the same building. Do not file a probate application by fax; nothing published says the office accepts one. | The district publishes no fax number for the Carlsbad clerk's office on its Location, Hours and Contacts page. |
| [email protected], the office mailbox published on the county's Probate Judge page. | [email protected], which the district publishes for records requests, self-represented filings and filings that are not e-filed. | |
| Hours | The probate judge's posted office hours are Tuesday 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and the county states that this is a part-time position by law, with appointments in advance encouraged but not required. Note a conflict on the county's own site: its FAQ page instead says the probate judge is in Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., with no appointment necessary, and not in the office on Wednesday or Friday. Call (575) 885-4008 before you travel. The County Clerk's counter in the same building publishes much wider hours, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday in Carlsbad. | 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, closed during the lunch hour. The court adds that no financial transactions are taken after 4:30 p.m., so arrive before then if you are paying a filing fee. |
| Filing fee | $30 for each probate case (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14). The county publishes it as a mandatory charge that must be paid in full on the date the probate is presented for filing. Neither the court nor the clerk publishes a payee, so ask at the counter before you write a check. | $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 district's own fee page publishes the line "Civil and Probate Cases (New and Reopened) $132.00". 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 | The County Clerk's office publishes that it accepts cash or checks. | Cash, cashier's check, money orders and credit cards. In the district's own words, personal checks are not accepted, which turns filers away at the window. |
| Local forms | No downloadable county forms. What Eddy County adds is a printed probate forms packet, with or without a will, available from the County Clerk's Office on request for a $5 fee; the county says to contact the judge's office or the clerk's office to get one. The statewide Form 4B set is the form set. | None of its own for probate. Its forms library carries the complete statewide Form 4B series, from Form 4B-101 through Form 4B-1001, plus the New Mexico courts' plain-language probate guide and a Dine (Navajo) 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 has to arrive physically. | eFile and Serve, Tyler's Odyssey File and 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 | No online index. Eddy County Probate Court cases are county records held by the clerk of the probate court, and they are not in any statewide search. Ask the Eddy County Clerk's office at (575) 885-3383 for a case file or a certified copy. The county's online Clerk records search is the recorded-documents index for deeds and similar instruments, not a probate case docket. | New Mexico Courts Case Lookup, caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup, indexes district, magistrate, metropolitan and municipal court cases. There is no probate court option in its court-type filter, and it is an index only, with no document images. The district separately publishes an Eddy County District Court hearing docket covering the current day plus six days ahead. |
| Remote appearance | Not applicable. An informal probate is decided on the papers and there is no hearing to attend. | Set case by case by the assigned judge. The district publishes no blanket remote-appearance rule for civil cases, so ask the clerk's office or check the notice of hearing. |
| Website | eddycountynm.gov/186/Probate-Judge | fifthdistrict.nmcourts.gov |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you choose a form or a counter in Eddy County, work out what the estate actually holds and who is entitled to it. Eddy County makes the point itself on its Probate Judge page: in some cases the heirs may not need to file a probate at all, and whether one is necessary rests on the nature of the deceased's assets and how those assets were owned. 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, mineral or royalty interest, business interest and parcel of Eddy County real estate, along with every debt, before you decide anything.
The same picture fills the application. An informal probate is opened by a verified application that has to state the decedent's date of death, age, and county and state of domicile at death, and has to name the surviving spouse, children, heirs and devisees with their addresses (NMSA 1978, Section 45-3-301). You are swearing to it: 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)), and the Eddy County Clerk charges $5 for each notarization if you need one done at the counter. Getting the asset picture wrong at this stage is what sends an Eddy County filer back for a second trip, which matters more here than in most counties because the probate judge's office is open only a few hours a week. 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)). Both courts on this page serve the whole of Eddy County, which is Carlsbad and Artesia, the villages of Loving and Hope, and the unincorporated communities across the rest of the county.
Within Eddy County you have a choice of court. The Eddy County Probate Court takes an informal, uncontested probate, and the Fifth Judicial District Court takes anything formal or contested and may also take an informal probate (Sections 45-1-302 and 45-1-302.1). Almost everyone who handles an Eddy County 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), the county clerk's counter is used to 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 Eddy 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 Fifth Judicial District Court is a state court and covers Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties (Section 34-6-1).
A multi-county district raises the question of which counter an Eddy County filer actually uses, and here the answer is a local one. The Fifth Judicial District Court staffs its own clerk's office in Carlsbad, which the district calls the Eddy County District Court, with its own address at 102 N. Canal Street, its own hours, its own phone on (575) 885-4740 and its own public email for self-represented filings. You do not file an Eddy County district court case in Roswell or Lovington. Two other Carlsbad and Artesia courthouses are worth ruling out: the Carlsbad Magistrate Court at 1949 Canal Street and the Artesia Magistrate Court at 109 N. 15th Street are magistrate courts, and magistrate courts have no probate jurisdiction at all, so nothing about an estate is filed at either.
The jurisdiction process
- Confirm the case belongs in Eddy 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).
- 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 Eddy County Probate Court in the Eddy County Clerk Building, 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad. 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 Fifth Judicial District Court at 102 N. Canal Street (Section 45-1-302(A) and (B)).
- Gather the documents the counter will ask for: the original will if there is one, which must be in the court's possession before it can be probated (Section 45-3-303(A)(5)); a certified copy of the death certificate; and the names, addresses and, for minors, ages of the surviving spouse, children, heirs and devisees (Section 45-3-301).
- Get the forms. Eddy County sells a printed probate forms packet, one version with a will and one without, through the County Clerk's Office for a $5 fee; the county says to contact the judge's office on (575) 885-4008 or the clerk's office on (575) 885-3383 to request one. The statewide equivalents are free to download: Form 4B-301 (no will) and Form 4B-302 (with will) at nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate, with the matching orders at Forms 4B-303 and 4B-304 and the acceptance at Form 4B-305.
- Get the application and the acceptance notarized. The application is verified, which means sworn, and the Eddy County Clerk offers notarization at the counter for $5 per notarization if you do not have a notary of your own.
- File on paper and pay the fee. Take or mail the application, order, acceptance and proposed letters to 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad, NM 88220, and pay the $30 filing fee (Section 34-7-14), which Eddy County publishes as due in full on the date the probate is presented for filing. The clerk's Carlsbad counter is open 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and accepts cash or checks; the probate judge's own office hours are far narrower, so call ahead if you need to see the judge. There is no e-filing at any New Mexico probate court. Copies cost $1.00 per page and certification $1.00 per certification, so bring your own copies if you want them endorsed cheaply, and include a self-addressed stamped envelope if you are filing by mail. 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 docket the case. An informal probate is decided on the papers and does not require a hearing; the judge signs the order and the court issues letters testamentary where there is a will (Form 4B-307) or letters of administration where there is not (Form 4B-306). Administration of the estate begins with the issuance of letters (Section 45-3-103). Order the certified copies of the letters you will need for banks and title companies at the same time, at $1.00 per certification. 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). Use 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 an Eddy County newspaper of general circulation is permitted, not required, and it starts a four months 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 Carlsbad or Artesia house is conveyed by a personal representative's deed recorded with the Eddy County Clerk. Recording is $25 for a document of one to ten index entries (Section 14-8-15(B)), the clerk requires an original or a certified copy with a proper notary acknowledgement, and the county states that all recording should be sent to the Carlsbad location rather than the Artesia sub 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 Fifth 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. Once a case is filed in the district court's clerk's office it is randomly assigned to a district judge, who hears every matter in it through final judgment. A pending formal case 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 Eddy County
The Eddy County Probate Court publishes no downloadable forms of its own and uses the statewide Form 4B set. What the county adds is a printed packet: in its own words, the County Clerk's Office has the necessary forms packets available to the public for the filing of probate cases, with or without a will, on request for a $5 fee, and the county directs you to contact either the judge's office or the clerk's office to get one. That is worth knowing if you would rather work from paper than assemble the set yourself, but nothing in the packet is unique to Eddy County.
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. The Fifth Judicial District Court's own forms library carries the complete set as well, along with the New Mexico courts' plain-language guide to probate and a Dine (Navajo) translation.
| Form | What it does |
|---|---|
| Form 4B-101 | Opening and closing a probate court case, a one-page flow chart. Its first step is choosing whether to file in the probate court or the district court. |
| Forms 4B-301 and 4B-302 | The application that opens the case: 4B-301 for informal appointment of a personal representative where there is no will, 4B-302 for informal probate of a will and informal appointment where there is one. Consent by other heirs is a signature block inside these two forms; there is no separate waiver form. |
| Forms 4B-303 and 4B-304 | The orders the judge signs, without a will and with a will. |
| Form 4B-305 | Acceptance of appointment as personal representative, filed before letters can issue (Section 45-3-601). |
| Forms 4B-306 and 4B-307 | Letters of administration (no will) and letters testamentary (with a will), the documents a bank or title company will ask to see. |
| Forms 4B-401 and 4B-402 | Notice of informal appointment to the heirs and devisees, due within 30 days, and the proof of notice filed with the court (Section 45-3-705). |
| Form 4B-501 | Notice to creditors, by publication and by written notice. Publication is optional (Section 45-3-801). |
| Forms 4B-601 and 4B-602 | Inventory and accounting. The inventory is prepared within three months of appointment but filing it is optional (Section 45-3-706); a routine accounting is required only in supervised administration. |
| Forms 4B-701 and 4B-702 | The verified closing statement and the small-estate closing statement (Sections 45-3-1003 and 45-3-1204). |
| Forms 4B-201 and 4B-202 | Affidavit of poverty and indigency, and the order allowing free process, for a filer who cannot afford the $30 fee (Section 34-6-27(B)). |
| Forms 4B-901 to 4B-904 | Special administration: application, order, acceptance and letters, for an urgent appointment before a general personal representative is in place. |
| Form 4B-1001 | Order transferring a case from the probate court to the district court, which is how an Eddy County case moves to the Fifth Judicial District Court if it turns contested. |
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. There is no statewide 4B form for the small-estate affidavit or for the surviving spouse's homestead affidavit, 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. A district court filing uses the ordinary civil forms and pleadings rather than the 4B set.
Fees
Eddy County is one of the New Mexico counties that publishes its own probate charges rather than leaving you to ask at the counter, and the Fifth Judicial District publishes a full fee page. All figures below were read from the offices' own pages on July 27, 2026.
| Charge | Amount | Office and authority |
|---|---|---|
| Probate case, filing fee | $30 | Eddy County Probate Court, published as a mandatory charge payable in full on the date the probate is presented for filing (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14) |
| Copies of any document or paper filed, at the probate court | $1.00 per page | Eddy County Probate Court. This sits exactly at the statutory ceiling for a probate clerk's document copies (Section 14-8-14(B)) |
| Certified copy of any document, at the probate court | $1.00 per certification | Eddy County Probate Court, charged by the County Clerk as clerk of the probate court |
| Notarization at the counter | $5.00 per notarization | Eddy County Clerk |
| Probate forms packet, with or without a will | $5 | Eddy County Clerk's Office, on request |
| Civil and probate case, new or reopened, at the district court | $132 | Fifth Judicial District Court fee page. It is $117 by statute (Section 34-6-40(A)) plus the $15 alternative dispute resolution fee (Section 34-6-45(A)) |
| Photocopies at the district court | 35 cents per page | Fifth Judicial District Court (Rule 1-099(C) NMRA) |
| Certification at the district court | $1.50 per seal | Fifth Judicial District Court (Rule 1-099(C) NMRA) |
| Recording a personal representative's deed or a surviving spouse's homestead affidavit | $25 for one to ten index entries, and $25 for each further block of ten | Eddy County Clerk (Sections 14-8-15(B) and 14-8-15(C)) |
The two counters take different things. The Eddy County Clerk's office publishes that it accepts cash or checks. The Fifth Judicial District Court publishes the opposite about personal checks: personal checks are not accepted, and the acceptable forms of payment are cash, cashier's check, money orders and credit cards. The district also takes no financial transactions after 4:30 p.m., so a late-afternoon trip to file and pay will not work. Neither office publishes a payee for a check, so confirm by phone before you write one.
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
Eddy County-specific considerations
| Local fact | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| The county clerk is the clerk of the probate court, and Eddy County says so in its own words | The County Clerk's published list of roles opens with clerk to the county commission and then names the office as the ex-officio clerk of the probate court, which is the statewide default (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-22(A)). That is why the probate court's own published address is the Eddy County Clerk Building at 325 S. Main Street, why the clerk sells the probate forms packet, and why the copy, certification and notarization charges on the probate court's fee list are charged by the clerk. Your probate is filed at the clerk's counter, not at a separate court office. |
| The probate judge keeps very short hours, and the county publishes two different versions of them | The Probate Judge page publishes Tuesday 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and says the position is part-time by law with appointments encouraged but not required. The county's own FAQ page instead says the judge is in Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., no appointment necessary, and not in the office on Wednesday or Friday. The two cannot both be current. Treat the Probate Judge page as the better source, and call (575) 885-4008 before you make the trip. Under Section 34-7-8 the probate court's hours are set by the clerk of the probate court and published on the county's website, which is why they can be this narrow and can change without notice. |
| The clerk's counter keeps unusually long hours, and there is an Artesia sub office | The Eddy County Clerk publishes Carlsbad counter hours of 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, far wider than either court on this page keeps, and an Artesia sub office at 602 S. 1st Street, (575) 746-2541, open Monday 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to noon. The county states that all recording should be sent to the Carlsbad location, and the probate court itself is in Carlsbad, so an Artesia family should expect to deal with Carlsbad for anything to do with an estate. |
| The Fifth Judicial District staffs its own clerk's office in Carlsbad | In several New Mexico multi-county districts the courthouse in the smaller county takes no filings and everything routes to a clerk in another town. That is not the position in Eddy County. The district publishes the Eddy County District Court at 102 N. Canal Street with its own hours, its own phone on (575) 885-4740, its own mailing suite and its own public email for records requests, self-represented filings and filings that are not e-filed. The district's court administration and the Chaves County District Court are in Roswell, about 75 miles north, and are not where an Eddy County case is filed. |
| The district court closes for lunch and stops taking money at 4:30 | The Fifth Judicial District Court's Carlsbad office is open 8:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., closed during the lunch hour, and takes no financial transactions after 4:30 p.m. Combined with the personal check ban, that makes a formal probate filing a morning or early afternoon errand with cash, a cashier's check, a money order or a card. |
| Probate is handled inside the district court's civil work, and some probate records are sequestered | The district's own description of its clerk's office lists probate among the civil matters it files, processes and maintains, alongside personal injury, foreclosure, debt and appeals, and adds that adoption, mental illness and some probate matters are sequestered records that are not open to the public. New Mexico district judges sit in numbered divisions, which are judge slots rather than subject-matter departments, and a case filed in the clerk's office is randomly assigned to a judge who then hears everything in it through final judgment. |
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 an Eddy 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 Eddy County that means the Eddy County Clerk at 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad, (575) 885-3383, at $25 for a document of one to ten index entries. The county requires a recorded document to be an original or a certified copy with a proper notary acknowledgement, and says all recording should be sent to the Carlsbad location. 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 |
|---|---|---|
| July 14, 2026 | Eddy County moved its website to a new domain. The county announced on July 10, 2026 that effective July 14, 2026 the new domain is eddycountynm.gov. The Probate Judge and County Clerk pages are live there, and the older co.eddy.nm.us addresses still resolve. The probate court's published email is on the new domain. | Eddy County Alert Center notice, eddycountynm.gov |
| November 3, 2026 and January 1, 2027 | The Eddy County probate judge is an elected county official and the position is part-time (NMSA 1978, Sections 34-7-1 and 34-7-2). The seat is on the ballot at the general election on November 3, 2026 for a four-year term, 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 Jay Francis, whose swearing-in ceremony the county records as January 3, 2023. Address correspondence to the office rather than the person, and expect the name to change. | Secretary of State's 2026 General Election Proclamation as published by Eddy County; eddycountynm.gov Probate Judge page |
| Current practice | The county publishes two conflicting sets of probate judge office hours: Tuesday 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. on the Probate Judge page, against Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. on the county FAQ page. Confirm on (575) 885-4008 before travelling. | eddycountynm.gov Probate Judge page and county FAQ |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in Eddy County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | A Carlsbad or Artesia home held in joint tenancy passes to the survivor outside probate, and title is cleared at the Eddy County Clerk's recording counter at 325 S. Main Street 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 Eddy 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. | 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 Eddy County application, order, acceptance and letters, ready to notarize and take to 325 S. Main Street. 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 Eddy 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 Eddy County Probate Court at 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad 88220 with the $30 fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope for endorsed copies back. 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 has to physically reach the court, so it is mailed or carried. Mailing also sidesteps the probate judge's very short office hours. | Asset discovery to establish whether the estate clears the affidavit route or needs letters. Packet generation for a mail-in Eddy County 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 working out how many certified copies of the letters to order at $1.00 each while the file is still open. |
| 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 Eddy 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 Eddy County Clerk at $25. If a sibling, a co-owner or a creditor disputes who owns the house, only the Fifth 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, mineral interests and any recorded interest against the Eddy 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 Eddy County probate attorney if the title question goes to the district court. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| Eddy County Probate Court (eddycountynm.gov/186/Probate-Judge, 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad, (575) 885-4008, [email protected]) | The court's own page: what the probate judge handles, the posted office hours, the mandatory fee list, the note that in some cases the heirs may not need to file a probate at all, and the pointer to the County Clerk's $5 forms packet. Call before travelling, because the office is open only a few hours a week. |
| Eddy County Clerk (eddycountynm.gov/185/County-Clerk, 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad, (575) 885-3383) | The clerk of the probate court and the filing counter, open 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, with an Artesia sub office at 602 S. 1st Street, (575) 746-2541. It sells the probate forms packet for $5, notarizes at $5 per notarization, records personal representatives' deeds and homestead affidavits, and holds the probate court's case files. Staff are explicit that they are not licensed or bonded to do a title search. |
| Fifth Judicial District Court (fifthdistrict.nmcourts.gov, 102 N. Canal Street, Carlsbad, (575) 885-4740, [email protected]) | Location, Hours and Contacts for every courthouse in Chaves, Eddy and Lea counties; the Fees, Costs and Filings page with the $132 civil and probate line and the payment rules; a Forms and Files library carrying the complete statewide Form 4B probate set, the courts' guide to probate and a Dine translation; and an Eddy County District Court hearing docket covering the current day plus six days ahead. |
| 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). This matters more in Eddy County than in Albuquerque, because the Fifth Judicial District publishes a self-help guide and a resources page but no walk-in self-help office of its own. |
| New Mexico Courts statewide probate forms (nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate) | The Supreme Court's complete Form 4B series, free to download, plus a plain-language probate guide and a Dine (Navajo) translation. This is the form set both Eddy County courts work from. |
| New Mexico Courts Case Lookup (caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup) | The free public index for Fifth Judicial District Court cases, along with magistrate, metropolitan and municipal courts. It has no probate court option, so an Eddy County Probate Court case will not appear there; ask the Eddy County Clerk 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; its nearest office to Eddy County is Roswell. 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. |
| New Mexico Compilation Commission (nmonesource.com) | The official free text of NMSA 1978 and the Rules Annotated, which is where the statutes and the Form 4B set cited on this page can be read in full. The Fifth Judicial District links it from its own resources page. |
When to hire an attorney
Court staff in both Eddy County forums can tell you what a form asks for and how the process works, but they cannot give legal advice or tell you what to write, and the county clerk's office says plainly that it is not licensed or bonded even to run a title search for you. So counsel makes particular sense in Eddy County when a will's validity or the identity of the heirs is in doubt, because only the Fifth 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, mineral or royalty interests, out-of-state property, or a Carlsbad or Artesia 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 Eddy 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, Eddy County real estate, mineral and royalty interests, business interests and unclaimed property, so you know what the estate holds before you file during estate settlement. In New Mexico that picture does real work: it decides whether a probate is needed at all, which Eddy County itself says turns on the nature of the assets and how they were owned; it fills the verified application you have to swear to (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 Eddy County filing: the application, order, acceptance and proposed letters in the form the court expects, with the heirs and devisees named and addressed, ready to notarize and file at 325 S. Main Street 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 Fifth Judicial District Court on Form 4B-1001, Sunset connects families to a vetted Eddy 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 Eddy County?
At one of two Carlsbad buildings, depending on the case. An informal, uncontested probate is filed on paper at the Eddy County Probate Court in the Eddy County Clerk Building, 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad 88220, or mailed to the same address; the county clerk is the clerk of the probate court, so the clerk's counter takes the filing. Anything formal or contested is filed at the Fifth Judicial District Court, 102 N. Canal Street, Carlsbad 88220, mailing suite 240. You file in Eddy 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)).
Do I file in the Eddy County Probate Court or the Fifth Judicial District Court?
Both courts can open an informal probate (Section 45-1-302.1), so you have a genuine choice, but 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 at the county clerk's counter, 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.
What are the Eddy County Probate Court's hours?
Short, and the county publishes two different answers. The Probate Judge page posts Tuesday 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Wednesday 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m., and says the position is part-time by law with appointments in advance encouraged but not required. The county's FAQ page instead says the judge is in Monday, Tuesday and Thursday 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., no appointment necessary, and not in the office on Wednesday or Friday. Call (575) 885-4008 before you travel. The County Clerk's counter in the same building, which is where a probate is actually filed, is open 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. A probate court's hours are set by the clerk of the probate court and published on the county's website (Section 34-7-8), so they can change without notice.
How much does it cost to file probate in Eddy County?
$30 for a probate case at the Eddy County Probate Court (Section 34-7-14), which the county publishes as payable in full on the date the probate is presented for filing. The same fee list adds $1.00 per page for copies of anything filed, $1.00 per certification for a certified copy, and $5.00 per notarization by the county clerk, and the clerk sells a probate forms packet for $5. At the Fifth 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 district publishes that total on its own fee page as "Civil and Probate Cases (New and Reopened) $132.00". 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 pay the filing fee with a personal check in Eddy County?
At the county clerk's counter, yes: the Eddy County Clerk publishes that it accepts cash or checks. At the Fifth Judicial District Court, no. The district's fee page says personal checks are not accepted and lists cash, cashier's check, money orders and credit cards as the acceptable forms of payment. The district court also takes no financial transactions after 4:30 p.m., and it closes for the lunch hour, so plan the trip accordingly.
Can I e-file a probate case in Eddy 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 Eddy County Probate Court filing is paper, at the counter or by mail, and the original will has to arrive physically. At the Fifth Judicial District Court e-filing runs on eFile and Serve, Tyler's Odyssey File and 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 (Rule 1-005.2(B)(1) and (I)(2) NMRA). The district publishes [email protected] for records requests, self-represented filings and filings that are not e-filed.
How do I look up an Eddy County probate case?
It depends which court has it. Eddy County Probate Court cases are county records held by the clerk of the probate court and are not in any statewide system, so ask the Eddy County Clerk's office on (575) 885-3383 for a case file or a certified copy; the county's online records search is the recorded-documents index for deeds and similar instruments, not a probate docket. Fifth Judicial District Court probate cases are in the statewide New Mexico Courts Case Lookup at caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup, which is an index only, with no document images and no probate court option, and the district notes that some probate matters are sequestered records that are not open to the public.
What happens if someone contests the will in Eddy County?
The probate court cannot decide it, and the case moves to the Fifth Judicial District Court, which has exclusive original jurisdiction over formal proceedings, will contests, will construction and determination of heirs (Section 45-1-302(A)). 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, order transferring case from probate court to district court, 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)). Once in the district court the case is randomly assigned to a judge who hears it through final judgment. While a formal case is pending, the probate court may not act on an informal application at all (Section 45-3-401(C)).
Is there a hearing, and do I have to travel to Carlsbad?
An informal probate at the Eddy 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 fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope to 325 S. Main Street, Carlsbad 88220, so an Artesia or out-of-state family often never appears, although the original will must physically reach the court. If the case is in the Fifth Judicial District Court, whether you appear in person or remotely is set by the assigned judge, so check the notice of hearing or ask the clerk's office on (575) 885-4740.
Does the Eddy County Probate Court have its own forms?
No downloadable ones. The county uses the statewide Supreme Court Form 4B series, free at nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate and also carried in full by the Fifth Judicial District Court's own forms library. What Eddy County adds is a printed packet: the County Clerk's Office has probate forms packets, with or without a will, available on request for a $5 fee, and the county says to contact the judge's office or the clerk's office to obtain one. Court staff cannot help you fill any of them in (Rule 23-113 NMRA).
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.