New Mexico § 45-3-703 - General duties; relation and liability to persons interested in estate; standing to sue

§ 45-3-703. General duties; relation and liability to persons interested in estate; standing to sue

A. A personal representative is a fiduciary who shall observe the same standards of

care applicable to trustees. A personal representative is under a duty to settle and distribute the estate of

a decedent in accordance with the terms of any probated and effective will and the

Uniform Probate Code and as expeditiously and efficiently as is consistent with the

best interests of the estate. The personal representative shall use the authority conferred upon the personal

representative by the Uniform Probate Code, the terms of the will, if any, and any

order in proceedings to which the personal representative is party for the best interests

of successors to the estate. B. A personal representative may not be surcharged for acts of administration or distribution

if the conduct in question was authorized at the time. Subject to other obligations of administration, an informally probated will authorizes

a personal representative to administer and distribute the estate according to its

terms. C. An order of appointment of a personal representative, whether issued in informal

or formal proceedings, authorizes a personal representative to distribute apparently

intestate assets to the heirs of the decedent if, at the time of distribution, the

personal representative is not aware of: (1) a pending testacy proceeding; (2) a proceeding to vacate an order entered in an earlier testacy proceeding; (3) a formal proceeding questioning the personal representative's appointment or fitness

to continue; or (4) a supervised administration proceeding. D. This section does not affect the duty of the personal representative to administer

and distribute the estate in accordance with the rights of claimants whose claims

have been allowed, the surviving spouse, any minor and dependent children and any

pretermitted child of the decedent. E. Except as to proceedings that do not survive the death of the decedent, a personal

representative of a decedent domiciled in New Mexico at the decedent's death has the

same standing to sue and be sued in the courts of New Mexico and the courts of any

other jurisdiction as the decedent had immediately prior to death. F. The personal representative must not delay distribution of an estate pending the

possible birth of a posthumously conceived child unless the personal representative: (1) has received written notice or has actual knowledge that there is an intention

to use a decedent's genetic material to create a child; and (2) the birth of the child pursuant to the provisions of Section 45-2-120 NMSA 1978 or other law could have an effect on the personal representative's distribution

of the estate. As used in this subsection, “ genetic material ” means eggs, sperm or embryos.