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McKinley County, NM Probate Information
Quick facts
| Detail | McKinley County Probate Court | Eleventh Judicial District Court |
|---|---|---|
| What it handles | Informal, uncontested probate only: informal probate of a will, informal appointment of a personal representative, the letters that follow, and informal appointment of a special administrator, with no hearings (NMSA 1978, Section 45-1-302(C)). The county puts the same limit in its own words: admitting a will to informal probate, informal appointment of personal representatives, and signing the order that establishes a personal representative's authority to execute an estate. | 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). Probate is its own case-type family here, listed separately from civil cases on the court's own fee schedule. |
| Courthouse address | McKinley County Courthouse, 207 West Hill Avenue, Gallup, NM 87301. The county publishes this address for both the Probate Judge and the County Clerk's Office. | Gallup District Court, 207 W. Hill Ave., 2nd Floor, Room 200, Gallup, NM 87301, in the same building. The district's other courthouses, Aztec and Farmington, are in San Juan County. |
| Mailing address | 207 West Hill Avenue, Gallup, NM 87301. The county publishes no post office box for the probate judge or the county clerk on any of its own pages, and Gallup boxes carry more than one ZIP code, so confirm a mailing address on (505) 863-6866 before you post an original will. | 207 W. Hill Ave., 2nd Floor, Room 200, Gallup, NM 87301. The court publishes one address as both its physical and its mailing address. |
| Phone | (505) 863-6866. The county publishes the same number for the Probate Judge and for the County Clerk's Office, and its Probate Judge page tells readers to call the Clerk's office to schedule an appointment. | 505-863-6816 for the Gallup courthouse. The jury Code-O-Phone is 505-722-4758 or 1-800-748-0822. |
| Fax | (505) 863-1419, published by the county for both the probate judge and the county clerk. | 505-722-3401. |
| Hours | The probate judge keeps no fixed public hours. In the county's own words, the office schedule varies by month, and you call the Clerk's office on (505) 863-6866 for information or to make an appointment. The County Clerk's Office, which is the county counter in the same building, publishes 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. The position of probate judge is part-time by statute and probate court hours are set by the clerk of the probate court (Sections 34-7-1(B) and 34-7-8). | 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. |
| Filing fee | $30 for each probate case (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14). McKinley County publishes no fee sheet of its own, no payee and no list of accepted payment methods, so ask when you call for your appointment. | $132 for a probate case. The court's own fee schedule carries a separate heading, probate case filing fee $132.00, covering wills, estate miscellaneous, guardianship and conservatorship, adoption and trust, and it prices a civil case at the same $132. That is $117 by statute (Section 34-6-40(A)) plus the $15 alternative dispute resolution fee (Section 34-6-45(A)). The same schedule says there are no miscellaneous fees. 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 | Not published. Confirm with the office before you write a check. | Cash, money orders, credit cards and in-state attorney checks. The fee schedule opens with a statement in capitals that the court does not accept personal or company checks, which turns filers away at the window. Cards can be used online or in person. |
| Local forms | None. McKinley County publishes no probate forms, packets or checklists of its own, so filers use the statewide Supreme Court Form 4B set at nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate. | None of its own for probate. It publishes an Odyssey File & Serve user guide and points filers to the statewide Form 4B set. |
| 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 & 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 | None. McKinley County Probate Court cases are county records and appear in no statewide index. Ask the McKinley County Clerk's office for a case file or a certified copy. | 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 also lists re:Search NM for registered users on its public records page. |
| Remote appearance | Not applicable. An informal probate is decided on the papers and there is no hearing to attend. | The district runs Justice Stations, staffed public rooms where people without a device or a connection can appear remotely. Three are in McKinley County: the Gallup Magistrate Court lobby at 285 S. Boardman Drive, the Octavia Fellin Public Library at 115 W. Hill Ave. in Gallup, and the Rock Springs Chapter House at Yah-Ta-Hey. The court limits them to remote arraignments and pretrials in traffic, misdemeanor, DWI and civil case types and does not name probate, so ask the clerk about a probate hearing. Interpreters are free in any language, spoken or signed. |
| Website | co.mckinley.nm.us/191/Probate-Judge | eleventhdistrict.nmcourts.gov |
Before you begin — know the assets and liabilities
Before you pick a form or a counter in McKinley County, work out what the estate actually 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: 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)). Getting the picture wrong at this stage matters more here than in a walk-in county, because the probate judge's schedule varies by month and a second trip to Gallup may mean waiting for a second appointment.
The same inventory decides whether you need a probate at all, and in this county it also decides which government handles it. 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. Land and funds held in trust or restricted status for an individual Indian owner, which is a live question across much of McKinley County, are not probated by any New Mexico court and go through the federal process described further down this page. So list every bank and credit union account, retirement and brokerage account, life insurance policy, vehicle, business interest, livestock and parcel of McKinley County real estate, along with every debt, and note how each one is titled, 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)). Both courts on this page serve the whole of McKinley County, which includes Gallup, Church Rock, Yah-Ta-Hey, Tohatchi, Navajo, Mexican Springs, Crownpoint, Thoreau, Prewitt, Mentmore, Vanderwagen, Fort Wingate, Zuni and Ramah.
Within McKinley County you have a choice of court. The McKinley County Probate Court takes an informal, uncontested probate, and the Eleventh 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 a McKinley 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 paper filings, and Section 34-7-10(B) means there is no second filing fee if the case has to move up. The McKinley 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 publishes no separate probate court office and routes probate calls and appointments through the County Clerk's office, which is the statutory default: the county clerk of each county is the clerk of that county's probate court unless the county has created a separate probate clerk by ordinance (Section 34-7-22).
Both courts are in the same building, which is unusual and convenient. The McKinley County Courthouse at 207 West Hill Avenue holds the county offices, and the Gallup District Court is upstairs in Room 200 on the second floor, with three resident judges' divisions. The Eleventh Judicial District covers McKinley and San Juan counties (Section 34-6-1) and its other two courthouses, Aztec and Farmington, are in San Juan County; a McKinley estate is not filed there. One building in Gallup you should not walk into for an estate is the Gallup Magistrate Court at 285 Boardman Drive, which has no probate jurisdiction at all.
One more jurisdictional line matters more in McKinley County than almost anywhere else in New Mexico. Land and funds held in trust or restricted status for an individual Indian owner are probated under federal law, not state law: the Bureau of Indian Affairs compiles the inventory of trust assets and the family and heirship information and refers the case, and the Interior Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals decides who inherits, after which the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration pays out any Individual Indian Money account. The Bureau's Navajo Regional Office is in Gallup itself, at 301 West Hill Street, three blocks from the courthouse. Separately, the Navajo Nation runs its own trial courts, and the two nearest to Gallup are the Crownpoint Judicial District in the east of the county and the Ramah Judicial District, which serves the Ramah Navajo community to the south. A New Mexico probate still handles the decedent's other property, so an estate that holds both a trust interest and a bank account or a fee parcel runs through more than one system at once.
The jurisdiction process
- Confirm the case belongs in McKinley 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). Check separately whether the estate includes land or funds held in trust or restricted status, which are handled federally rather than here.
- 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 McKinley County Probate Court at the courthouse, 207 West Hill Avenue, Gallup. 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 Eleventh Judicial District Court, whose Gallup courthouse is upstairs in the same building (Section 45-1-302(A) and (B)).
- Call first and make an appointment. This is the step McKinley filers skip and regret. The county publishes that the probate judge's office schedule varies by month and asks that you call the Clerk's office on (505) 863-6866 for information or to schedule. The position is part-time by statute (Section 34-7-1(B)) and probate court hours are set by the clerk of the probate court (Section 34-7-8). Use the same call to ask who a check should be made out to, what the office accepts, and whether it wants your filing by mail.
- 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 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. McKinley County publishes none of its own, so use the statewide Supreme Court set at nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate: Form 4B-301 to apply where there is no will, Form 4B-302 where there is one, with the matching order (Form 4B-303 or 4B-304), the acceptance of appointment (Form 4B-305) and the proposed letters (Form 4B-306 or 4B-307). Form 4B-101 is the one-page flow chart of the whole probate court case.
- Sign the application the way the form directs. It is a verified application, meaning you are swearing that the statements are accurate and complete (Section 45-3-301), so do not sign a notary block before you are in front of the notary.
- File on paper and pay the fee. Take or send the application, order, acceptance and proposed letters to the courthouse at 207 West Hill Avenue, Gallup, NM 87301 and pay the $30 fee (Section 34-7-14). There is no e-filing at any New Mexico probate court. Bring an original and as many copies as you want endorsed, because copies obtained later are charged for; a probate clerk's copy charge is capped at $1.00 per page by statute (Section 14-8-14(B)) and McKinley publishes no price of its own. 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 judge review and the clerk 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). 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 a McKinley 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 McKinley County house is conveyed by a personal representative's deed recorded with the McKinley County Clerk's recording counter in the same courthouse. 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)). A parcel held in trust or restricted status is outside both courts entirely.
- If it turns contested, the case moves up the stairs. 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 Eleventh 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 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 McKinley County
McKinley County publishes no probate forms of its own. Its Probate Judge page carries the court's jurisdiction and its appointment line and nothing else, and the County Clerk's page publishes ordinances, permits and license forms but no probate packet, checklist or fee sheet. That is the normal New Mexico position rather than a gap: the Supreme Court approves a complete statewide set and every probate court in the state uses it.
| 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 probate court or district court. |
| Forms 4B-301 and 4B-302 | The application for informal appointment of a personal representative with no will, and the application for informal probate of a will and informal appointment with a will. Consent from anyone with equal or higher priority is a signature block inside these forms. |
| Forms 4B-303 and 4B-304 | The matching orders the probate judge signs. |
| Form 4B-305 | The acceptance of appointment as personal representative, filed before letters issue (Section 45-3-601). |
| Forms 4B-306 and 4B-307 | Letters of administration where there is no will, and letters testamentary where there is. These are the documents a bank, a title company or a buyer 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 (Section 45-3-801). |
| Forms 4B-601 and 4B-602 | Inventory and accounting. Preparing the inventory is required; filing it with the court is not (Section 45-3-706). |
| Forms 4B-701 and 4B-702 | The verified closing statement, and the small-estate version used to close a summary administration. |
| Forms 4B-801 and 4B-802 | Proof of authority and the certificate acknowledging receipt of the documents related to it. |
| Forms 4B-901 to 4B-904 | Informal appointment of a special administrator, for an estate that needs someone in place before a general personal representative is appointed. |
| Forms 4B-201 and 4B-202 | Affidavit of poverty and indigency, and the order allowing free process, which is New Mexico's fee waiver at the probate court (Section 34-6-27(B)). |
| Form 4B-1001 | Order transferring case from probate court to district court, the form that moves a McKinley case upstairs to the Eleventh Judicial District Court. |
The set lives at nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate, is cited as Form 4B-302 NMRA, and is used with the Probate Court Rules, Rules 1B-101 to 1B-701 NMRA. The same page carries a plain-language probate guide and a Diné (Navajo) translation of the probate materials, which is worth knowing in a county where Navajo is widely spoken. 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.
Two gaps to plan around. There is no statewide 4B form for the small-estate affidavit that collects personal property, and none for a surviving spouse's homestead affidavit, so those are drafted rather than downloaded; the New Mexico courts' own guide tells readers to check with their local probate court about where to get one, and McKinley publishes none. There is also no proof-of-publication form, because 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.
The Eleventh Judicial District Court publishes no probate forms of its own either. It points filers to the statewide set and separately publishes an Odyssey File & Serve user guide, which matters only to attorneys, because self-represented parties are prohibited from e-filing (Rule 1-005.2(B)(1) NMRA).
Fees
McKinley County publishes no fee sheet of its own, so the only county charge with a source is the statutory filing fee. The Eleventh Judicial District Court does publish a full schedule, and it is unusually explicit about probate. The figures below were read from the offices' own publications for this page's July 2026 review.
| Charge | Amount | Office and authority |
|---|---|---|
| Probate case, filing fee | $30 | McKinley County Probate Court, by statute (NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-14). The county publishes no payee and no accepted payment methods |
| Copy of a document at the probate court | Not published; capped at $1.00 per page | McKinley County publishes no copy price. The statutory ceiling for a probate clerk's document copies is $1.00 per page (Section 14-8-14(B)) |
| Probate case at the district court | $132 | Eleventh Judicial District Court fee schedule, which gives probate its own heading covering wills, estate miscellaneous, guardianship and conservatorship, adoption and trust. It is $117 by statute (Section 34-6-40(A)) plus the $15 alternative dispute resolution fee (Section 34-6-45(A)) |
| Civil case at the district court | $132 | Eleventh Judicial District Court fee schedule |
| Reopening a district court case closed for 90 days | The same as the original filing fee | Eleventh Judicial District Court fee schedule |
| Miscellaneous fees at the district court | None | The Eleventh Judicial District Court fee schedule says in terms that there are no miscellaneous fees |
| Civil jury fees at the district court | $150 a day for a six-person jury, $300 a day for a twelve-person jury | Eleventh Judicial District Court fee schedule. A probate matter reaches a jury only in rare formal proceedings |
Two things about paying. First, the district court is strict and says so in capitals at the top of its schedule: it does not accept personal or company checks. It accepts cash, money orders, credit cards and in-state attorney checks, and cards can be used online or in person. Second, the county publishes nothing at all about payment for the $30 probate fee, so settle it on the phone when you call (505) 863-6866 for your appointment rather than at the counter.
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
McKinley County-specific considerations
| Local fact | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| Both courts are in the same building, on different floors | The McKinley County Courthouse at 207 West Hill Avenue in Gallup holds the county offices, including the probate judge and the county clerk, and the Gallup District Court sits on the 2nd floor in Room 200. That makes the informal-to-formal fork unusually painless here: a case that has to move up on Form 4B-1001 moves upstairs, and no second filing fee is charged (Section 34-7-10(B)). It also means an address alone will not tell a clerk which court you want, so name the court when you call or write. |
| The probate judge has no fixed hours, and the schedule changes monthly | McKinley County publishes it plainly: the probate judge's office schedule varies by month, and you call the Clerk's office on (505) 863-6866 for information or to schedule an appointment. The position of probate judge is a part-time position by statute (Section 34-7-1(B)), and probate court hours are whatever the clerk of the probate court sets and the county publishes (Section 34-7-8). The County Clerk's Office itself is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and the district court upstairs keeps the same hours, but do not assume the judge is in the building because the counter is. |
| The county publishes no forms, no fee sheet, no payee and no mailing box | Everything you file is a statewide Form 4B document, the fee is the statutory $30 (Section 34-7-14), and the county names no payee, no accepted payment methods and no post office box on any of its pages. Outside directories circulate a Gallup box number for the clerk that the county does not publish, and Gallup boxes carry more than one ZIP code, so if you plan to mail an original will, confirm the address on the phone first. There is no online probate case index either, so ask the clerk's office for a case file or a certified copy. |
| The district court's free legal clinics are a San Juan County program | The Eleventh Judicial District Court runs monthly free legal advice clinics by telephone out of the Farmington courthouse for self-represented San Juan County residents, and probate is not one of the published topics in any event. Its self-help page for McKinley County offers no standing clinic; the most recent McKinley item is a one-off legal fair held at the Gallup District Court on Friday, July 25, 2025. For McKinley the page points to the Modest Means Helpline and the self-help guide instead, and the statewide New Mexico Courts HelpLine on 1-855-268-7804 is the fastest route to a person. |
| Trust and restricted land is probated by the federal government, not by either court on this page | Much of McKinley County lies within the Navajo Nation, and the Pueblo of Zuni and the Ramah Navajo community are here too. Land and funds held in trust or restricted status for an individual Indian owner do not pass through a New Mexico probate. The Bureau of Indian Affairs compiles the inventory of trust assets and the family and heirship information and refers the case; the Interior Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals decides who inherits; and the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration pays out any Individual Indian Money account. The Bureau's Navajo Regional Office is at 301 West Hill Street in Gallup, (505) 863-8314, and its published probate point of contact for the Navajo Region is (505) 863-8436. An estate holding both a trust interest and ordinary property runs through both systems, so open the New Mexico probate for the rest of the estate and start the federal probate separately. |
| Navajo Nation courts sit in and beside this county | The Navajo Nation Judicial Branch runs the Crownpoint Judicial District at 2925 State Route 371, about three miles north of Crownpoint, PO Box 6, Crownpoint, NM 87313, (505) 786-2072, and the Ramah Judicial District at 429 B.I.A. 125 and Mountain View, about 20 miles southeast of Ramah, PO Box 309, Ramah, NM 87321, (505) 775-3218. The Navajo Nation's Pueblo Pintado court facility has been closed since March 17, 2020 with essential services handled at Crownpoint. If the person who died lived on the Navajo Nation, ask whether a Navajo court petition is needed alongside or instead of a New Mexico filing; DNA-People's Legal Services publishes a plain-language guide to probate in Navajo courts and a self-help probate packet you can request from one of its offices. |
| Three Justice Stations are in McKinley County, but not for probate | If a case does reach the district court and you have no device or connection, the district staffs public remote-hearing rooms at the Gallup Magistrate Court lobby, 285 S. Boardman Drive, at the Octavia Fellin Public Library, 115 W. Hill Ave. in Gallup, and at the Rock Springs Chapter House in Yah-Ta-Hey. The court limits them to arraignments and pretrials in traffic, misdemeanor, DWI and civil case types and does not name probate, and its partners cannot answer questions about your case, so confirm with the clerk before relying on one for a probate hearing. |
Recent updates
| Date | Change | Source |
|---|---|---|
| November 3, 2026 and January 1, 2027 | The McKinley 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, McKinley's included, 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 Judge page as of the July 2026 review is Monica Martinez. 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; co.mckinley.nm.us/191/Probate-Judge |
| Current practice | McKinley County publishes no fixed hours for the probate judge. Its Probate Judge page states that the office schedule varies by month and directs filers to call the County Clerk's office on (505) 863-6866 for information or to schedule an appointment. The County Clerk's Office itself is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday. | Probate Judge and County Clerk pages, co.mckinley.nm.us |
| Current practice | The Eleventh Judicial District Court's published fee schedule gives probate cases their own $132 heading, separate from the civil line, covering wills, estate miscellaneous, guardianship and conservatorship, adoption and trust; prices a reopening after 90 days at the original filing fee; states that there are no miscellaneous fees; and warns in capitals that the court does not accept personal or company checks, taking cash, money orders, credit cards and in-state attorney checks instead. | Fees, Costs and Filing, eleventhdistrict.nmcourts.gov |
| Current practice | The Eleventh Judicial District Court's monthly free legal advice clinics are a San Juan County service run out of the Farmington courthouse, and probate is not among their published topics. The court's self-help page for McKinley County lists no standing clinic; its most recent McKinley item is a one-off legal fair held at the Gallup District Court on Friday, July 25, 2025, alongside links to the Modest Means Helpline and a self-help guide. | Self Help Center, eleventhdistrict.nmcourts.gov |
| March 17, 2020 | The Navajo Nation's Pueblo Pintado court facility in McKinley County closed until further notice, and essential services for it are handled at the Crownpoint District Court on (505) 786-2072. The notice was still current at the July 2026 review. | Crownpoint Judicial District, courts.navajo-nsn.gov |
Page last reviewed: July 2026.
Scenarios
| Situation | Likely path in McKinley County | Where Sunset helps |
|---|---|---|
| Surviving spouse, co-owned home | A Gallup or Church Rock home held in joint tenancy passes to the survivor outside probate, and title is cleared at the McKinley County Clerk's recording counter in the courthouse 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); that statute measures the home by its value as assessed for property taxation purposes, not by what it would sell for. 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 McKinley 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 statewide application, order, acceptance and letters, ready to sign and take to the appointment at 207 West Hill Avenue. 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 McKinley 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, New Mexico's small-estate affidavit is presented directly to the bank or transfer agent 30 days after the death, with no court, no filing and no fee; there is no statewide form for it and McKinley publishes none, so it is drafted. Where a probate is needed, an informal application can be posted to the courthouse with the $30 fee, but confirm the mailing address and what the office accepts by calling (505) 863-6866 first, because the county publishes no box and no payment list. There is no e-filing at any New Mexico probate court and no hearing to attend, so the trip is often avoidable, but the original will has to physically reach the court. | Asset discovery to establish whether the estate clears the affidavit route or needs letters. Packet generation for a mail-in McKinley 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 getting a case file or certified copy back from the county clerk, since McKinley probate cases are in no online index. |
| 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 McKinley 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 McKinley County Clerk. If the parcel turns out to be trust or restricted land, no New Mexico court can distribute it and the federal route applies instead. If a sibling, a co-owner or a creditor disputes who owns the house, only the Eleventh Judicial District Court can decide it, in a formal proceeding (Section 45-1-302(B)), and the probate court transfers the case upstairs 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 McKinley County parcel, and to flag the title status, 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 McKinley County probate attorney if the title question goes to the district court. |
Self-help resources
| Resource | What it offers |
|---|---|
| McKinley County Probate Judge and County Clerk (co.mckinley.nm.us/191/Probate-Judge, 207 West Hill Avenue, Gallup, (505) 863-6866, fax (505) 863-1419) | The county's own pages for the two offices that handle a probate filing. The Probate Judge page states the court's limits and says the office schedule varies by month, with appointments made through the Clerk's office on the same number. The County Clerk's Office is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is also the recording counter for a personal representative's deed. Neither page publishes forms, a fee sheet or an email address. |
| Eleventh Judicial District Court, Gallup (eleventhdistrict.nmcourts.gov, 207 W. Hill Ave., 2nd Floor, Room 200, 505-863-6816) | Location, Hours and Contacts for all three courthouses in McKinley and San Juan counties; the Fees, Costs and Filing page with the fee schedule and its separate probate line; the Self Help Center; Public Records; the Justice Stations list; and free interpreter services in any language, spoken or signed. |
| 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, including for Diné. 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, which is what McKinley County filers use because the county publishes none of its own, plus a plain-language probate guide and a Diné (Navajo) translation of the probate materials. |
| New Mexico Courts Case Lookup (caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup) | The free public index for Eleventh Judicial District Court cases, along with magistrate, metropolitan and municipal courts. It has no probate court option, so a McKinley County Probate Court case will not appear there; ask the county clerk instead. |
| New Mexico Legal Aid, Gallup office (211 West Mesa, Suites 5 and 6, PO Box 1475, Gallup, NM 87301, 575-722-4417; statewide intake 1-833-545-4357) | The legal aid office for McKinley County, with statewide phone 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. Probate is not one of its staff practice areas, which are housing, interpersonal violence and family, consumer, and economic security. It reaches probate only through its Volunteer Attorney Program, which lists wills, probate and powers of attorney among the areas served as free one-time consultations at scheduled clinic events for households at or below 200 per cent of the guidelines. The clinic line is 1-877-266-9861. |
| DNA-People's Legal Services (centralized intake 1-833-362-1102; dnalegalservices.org) | Free civil legal services in tribal, state and federal courts for eligible clients across the Navajo Nation, and the partner agency New Mexico Legal Aid names as covering the majority of neighboring San Juan County. Note that it publishes no Gallup office: its six offices are Fort Defiance and Window Rock, Chinle, Flagstaff, Keams Canyon and Tuba City in Arizona, plus Farmington at 709 North Butler Ave., (505) 325-8886, in San Juan County, so start with the intake line. Its own Understanding Probate page explains probate in Navajo courts step by step, and it offers a self-help probate packet for Navajo court petitions on request. |
| 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. The Eleventh Judicial District Court lists it as a resource on its McKinley County self-help page. Callers aged 55 or older are directed to the elderly program instead. |
| Bureau of Indian Affairs, Navajo Regional Office (301 West Hill Street, Gallup, (505) 863-8314; Navajo Region probate contact (505) 863-8436) | The federal route for land and funds held in trust or restricted status for an individual Indian owner, which no New Mexico court can distribute. The Bureau compiles the inventory of trust assets and the family and heirship information and refers the case to the Interior Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals, which decides who inherits; the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration then pays out any Individual Indian Money account. The regional office is three blocks from the courthouse. |
| Navajo Nation courts serving McKinley County (Crownpoint Judicial District, PO Box 6, Crownpoint, NM 87313, (505) 786-2072; Ramah Judicial District, PO Box 309, Ramah, NM 87321, (505) 775-3218) | The Navajo Nation's own trial courts in and beside this county. Crownpoint sits inside McKinley County at 2925 State Route 371 about three miles north of Crownpoint and also handles essential services for the Nation's Pueblo Pintado court, whose facility has been closed since March 17, 2020. The Ramah court serves the Ramah Navajo community from 429 B.I.A. 125 and Mountain View, about 20 miles southeast of Ramah, just across the Cibola County line on the Ramah Navajo reservation. Ask them, or DNA-People's Legal Services, whether an estate on the Nation needs a Navajo court petition as well as a New Mexico filing. |
When to hire an attorney
Court and clerk staff in McKinley County cannot give legal advice, and the probate judge is a part-time county official who signs orders on the papers rather than a source of guidance (Rule 23-113 NMRA; NMSA 1978, Section 34-7-1(B)). Counsel makes particular sense here when a will's validity or the identity of the heirs is in doubt, because only the Eleventh Judicial District Court can decide either (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 a person with equal or higher priority to serve will not consent to your appointment, because an appointment out of priority order can only be made in a formal proceeding (Section 45-3-203(E)); when a deed has to be drafted, which the New Mexico courts' own probate guide warns can be very tricky to draft and execute properly; when the estate holds a business, livestock, mineral or grazing interests, out-of-state property or a Gallup parcel whose sale terms are disputed; when trust or restricted land is involved and a federal probate has to run alongside the state one; 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 McKinley 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, McKinley County real estate, 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 turns on how each asset is titled; it fills the verified application the court requires you 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 McKinley County filing from the statewide Form 4B set the county uses: the application, order, acceptance and proposed letters, with the heirs and devisees named and addressed, ready to sign and take to your appointment at 207 West Hill Avenue 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 upstairs to the Eleventh Judicial District Court on Form 4B-1001, Sunset connects families to a vetted McKinley 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 McKinley County?
In one building, at one of two courts. An informal, uncontested probate is filed on paper with the McKinley County Probate Court at the McKinley County Courthouse, 207 West Hill Avenue, Gallup 87301, with appointments and questions handled by the County Clerk's office on (505) 863-6866. Anything formal or contested is filed with the Eleventh Judicial District Court upstairs in the same building, 2nd Floor, Room 200, open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, on 505-863-6816. You file in McKinley 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 McKinley County Probate Court or the Eleventh 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 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.
When is the McKinley County probate court open?
There are no fixed public hours for the probate judge. The county publishes that the probate judge's office schedule varies by month and asks you to call the Clerk's office on (505) 863-6866 for information or to schedule an appointment. That is normal in New Mexico: the position of probate judge is part-time by statute (Section 34-7-1(B)) and probate court hours are set by the clerk of the probate court and published on the county's website (Section 34-7-8). The County Clerk's Office in the same courthouse is open 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, and so is the district court upstairs, but call before you travel.
How much does it cost to file probate in McKinley County?
$30 for a probate case at the McKinley County Probate Court, set by statute (Section 34-7-14). The county publishes no payee and no accepted payment methods, so ask when you call. At the Eleventh Judicial District Court a probate case costs $132, which the court gives its own heading on its fee schedule covering wills, estate miscellaneous, guardianship and conservatorship, adoption and trust: that is $117 by statute (Section 34-6-40(A)) plus a $15 alternative dispute resolution fee (Section 34-6-45(A)), and the same sheet says there are no miscellaneous fees. The district court does not accept personal or company checks; it takes cash, money orders, credit cards and in-state attorney checks. 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 McKinley 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 McKinley County Probate Court filing is paper, at the counter or by mail, and the original will has to arrive physically. At the Eleventh Judicial District Court e-filing runs on eFile & Serve, Tyler's Odyssey File & Serve, and the court publishes its own user guide for it, but it is mandatory only for attorneys: 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).
How do I look up a McKinley County probate case?
For a probate court case, you ask the county. McKinley County Probate Court records are county records held by the clerk of the probate court (Section 34-7-7), and they are in no statewide system: the New Mexico Courts Case Lookup covers district, magistrate, metropolitan and municipal courts and has no probate court option at all, and McKinley publishes no index of its own. Call the County Clerk's office on (505) 863-6866 for a case file or a certified copy. Eleventh Judicial District Court probate cases are in Case Lookup at caselookup.nmcourts.gov/caselookup, which is an index only, with no document images.
What happens if someone objects or contests the will in McKinley County?
The probate court cannot decide it, and the case moves to the Eleventh 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. In Gallup the case does not even change buildings, only floors. 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 Gallup?
An informal probate at the McKinley 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)). An out-of-state family can often handle the whole thing by post, although the original will must physically reach the court and the county publishes no post office box, so call (505) 863-6866 and confirm the mailing address first. If the case is in the Eleventh Judicial District Court, ask the clerk about appearing remotely: the district staffs Justice Stations at the Gallup Magistrate Court lobby, the Octavia Fellin Public Library in Gallup and the Rock Springs Chapter House at Yah-Ta-Hey, but it limits them to arraignments and pretrials in traffic, misdemeanor, DWI and civil case types and does not name probate among them.
Does McKinley County have its own probate forms?
No. McKinley County publishes no probate packet, checklist or form of its own, so filers use the New Mexico Supreme Court's Form 4B series at nmcourts.gov/forms-files/probate: Form 4B-301 or 4B-302 to apply, without or with a will, then the order, the acceptance of appointment and the letters, with Form 4B-101 as the flow chart of the whole case. The same page carries a plain-language probate guide and a Diné (Navajo) translation. There is no statewide form for the small-estate affidavit or a surviving spouse's homestead affidavit, and McKinley publishes neither, so those are drafted rather than downloaded.
What if the estate includes land on the Navajo Nation or at Zuni?
Land and funds held in trust or restricted status for an individual Indian owner are not probated by the McKinley County Probate Court or by the Eleventh Judicial District Court. They go through a federal process: the Bureau of Indian Affairs compiles the inventory of trust assets and the family and heirship information and refers the case, the Interior Department's Office of Hearings and Appeals decides who inherits, and the Bureau of Trust Funds Administration pays out any Individual Indian Money account. The Bureau's Navajo Regional Office is at 301 West Hill Street in Gallup, (505) 863-8314, and its published probate point of contact for the Navajo Region is (505) 863-8436. Ask as well whether the estate needs a petition in a Navajo Nation court: the Crownpoint Judicial District on (505) 786-2072 and the Ramah Judicial District on (505) 775-3218 both serve communities in this county, and DNA-People's Legal Services publishes a guide to probate in Navajo courts and a self-help packet. The rest of the estate still needs a New Mexico 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.