Updated August 14, 2026. Quick answer: New Mexico fixes the petition filing fee at $117 by statute, and the periodic accounting is annual (both tracks). Everything on this page is quoted from the jurisdiction’s own statute or an official court schedule, and where New Mexico publishes no figure this page says so rather than printing an estimate. What drives the rest of the bill — lawyers, an investigation, a capacity evaluation — is on what guardianship costs.
What New Mexico fixes by statute
| Item | What the text says | Where it says it |
|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | New Mexico has no fee specific to an adult-guardianship/conservatorship petition; it uses the general district-court civil docketing fee. NMSA 1978 §34-6-40(A) sets that fee at $117 statewide. In any judicial district that has established an alternative-dispute-resolution (ADR) program, §34-6-45(A) adds a mandatory $15 fee on new/reopened civil cases (except domestic relations), making the effective total $132 in those districts. The Second Judicial District (Bernalillo County/Albuquerque) fee schedule lists exactly this combined $132 figure for ‘Initial Filing of a Civil Case,’ confirming the district-level total in practice. | NMSA 1978 §§ 34-6-40(A), 34-6-45(A) |
| Bond | A court-appointed conservator of an incapacitated adult’s property must furnish a bond (or an alternative asset-protection arrangement) conditioned on faithful discharge of duties, unless the court finds a bond unnecessary to protect the protected person’s interests. The court may not waive the bond if the conservator is a paid, in-the-business-of-conservatorship professional. Absent a contrary court order, the bond amount equals the aggregate capital value of the conservatorship estate plus one year’s estimated income, minus the value of property under a removal-restriction arrangement and certain real property the conservator cannot sell without specific authorization (§45-5-411(B)). The court may accept collateral (a securities pledge or real-property mortgage) instead of a corporate surety. A financial institution exercising general trust powers in New Mexico is exempt from bonding (§45-5-411(C)). Guardians of the person (Part 3, the 18 sections walked via the Justia toc) have no analogous bond section — bonding attaches only to conservators of the estate under Part 4. No rule allocating who pays the bond premium/cost was found anywhere searched. | NMSA 1978 § 45-5-411 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | For a guardianship-of-the-person proceeding, the court must appoint an attorney for the alleged incapacitated person (unless they already have one of their own choosing), and that court-appointed attorney ‘shall have the duties of a guardian ad litem’ (§45-5-303(D)). Under §45-5-105, ‘any visitor, attorney, qualified health care professional or guardian appointed in a guardianship proceeding is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate of the incapacitated person,’ if not otherwise compensated. The parallel conservatorship (protective) proceeding uses a separately appointed guardian ad litem (§45-5-404.1) and, under §45-5-414, ‘any visitor, attorney, physician, conservator or special conservator appointed in a protective proceeding is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate.’ Neither section states a statutory dollar cap or hourly-rate cap; ‘reasonable’ is left to the court’s discretion. Neither section addresses what happens if the incapacitated/protected person has no estate — New Mexico’s text is silent on that scenario (contrast Nebraska, which explicitly shifts unpaid fees to the county or petitioner). | NMSA 1978 §§ 45-5-105 (guardianship compensation), 45-5-414 (conservatorship/protective-proceeding compensation); GAL role at §45-5-303(D) (guardianship) and §45-5-404.1 (conservatorship) |
| Periodic accounting or report | Guardian of an incapacitated person: an initial report is due within 90 days of appointment, then an annual report is due within 30 days of the appointment anniversary (§45-5-314(A)), reviewed by the aoc’s guardianship annual report review division; the court ‘shall not waive the requirement of an annual report under any circumstance’ though it may grant up to a 60-day extension (§45-5-314(D)). Conservator of the estate: an annual report and account is due within 30 days of the appointment anniversary, also on resignation/removal/termination (§45-5-409(A)); the state auditor’s office reviews every filed report and decides within 15 business days whether to conduct a full audit (§45-5-409(H)). Neither section imposes a per-filing fee for submitting the report itself; both instead impose a $25.00-per-day fine (payable to the state’s ‘current school fund’) for an overdue interim or annual report/account (§§45-5-314(C), 45-5-409(D)) — that fine is a delinquency penalty, not a filing fee. | NMSA 1978 §§ 45-5-314 (guardian annual report), 45-5-409 (conservator annual report and account) |
What the proceeding is called here. New Mexico’s Uniform Probate Code (NMSA 1978, Ch. 45, Art. 5) treats guardianship of the person of an incapacitated adult (Part 3, “GUARDIANS OF INCAPACITATED PERSONS”, §§45-5-301 to -315) and conservatorship of the property/estate of a protected person (Part 4, “PROTECTION OF PROPERTY OF PERSONS UNDER DISABILITY AND MINORS”, §§45-5-401 to -436) as textually separate proceedings, each with its own petition/procedure section (§45-5-303 for guardian; §45-5-407 for conservator), though a court can appoint the same or different people to each role for the same incapacitated adult.
The filing fee
New Mexico has no fee specific to an adult-guardianship/conservatorship petition; it uses the general district-court civil docketing fee. NMSA 1978 §34-6-40(A) sets that fee at $117 statewide. In any judicial district that has established an alternative-dispute-resolution (ADR) program, §34-6-45(A) adds a mandatory $15 fee on new/reopened civil cases (except domestic relations), making the effective total $132 in those districts. The Second Judicial District (Bernalillo County/Albuquerque) fee schedule lists exactly this combined $132 figure for ‘Initial Filing of a Civil Case,’ confirming the district-level total in practice.
It is not one number. The statute states it as: Base $117 (NMSA §34-6-40(A), statewide) + $15 ADR fee (NMSA §34-6-45(A)) only in districts that have established an ADR program under supreme-court-approved local rule; e.g. Second Judicial District totals to $132.
Except as provided in Subsection B of this section, district court clerks shall collect in civil matters docketing any cause, whether original or reopened or by appeal or transfer from any inferior court, a fee of one hundred seventeen dollars ($117)…
In addition to fees collected pursuant to, and subject to exceptions set forth in, Section 34-6-40 NMSA 1978 for docketing of civil cases in any judicial district that has established an alternative dispute resolution program, the district court clerk shall collect a fee of fifteen dollars ($15.00) on all new and reopened civil cases except domestic relations cases
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: NMSA 1978 §§ 34-6-40(A), 34-6-45(A).
The bond
A court-appointed conservator of an incapacitated adult’s property must furnish a bond (or an alternative asset-protection arrangement) conditioned on faithful discharge of duties, unless the court finds a bond unnecessary to protect the protected person’s interests. The court may not waive the bond if the conservator is a paid, in-the-business-of-conservatorship professional. Absent a contrary court order, the bond amount equals the aggregate capital value of the conservatorship estate plus one year’s estimated income, minus the value of property under a removal-restriction arrangement and certain real property the conservator cannot sell without specific authorization (§45-5-411(B)). The court may accept collateral (a securities pledge or real-property mortgage) instead of a corporate surety. A financial institution exercising general trust powers in New Mexico is exempt from bonding (§45-5-411(C)). Guardians of the person (Part 3, the 18 sections walked via the Justia toc) have no analogous bond section — bonding attaches only to conservators of the estate under Part 4. No rule allocating who pays the bond premium/cost was found anywhere searched.
A. Except as otherwise provided in Subsection C of this section, the court shall require a conservator to furnish a bond with a surety the court specifies, or require an alternative asset-protection arrangement, conditioned on faithful discharge of all duties of the conservator. The court may waive the requirement only if the court finds that a bond or other asset-protection arrangement is not necessary to protect the interests of the individual subject to conservatorship. Except as otherwise provided in Subsection C of this section, the court shall not waive the requirement if the conservator is in the business of serving as a conservator and is being paid for the conservator’s service.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: NMSA 1978 § 45-5-411.
Who pays the premium is not answered. A surety bond carries a recurring premium and it is usually the largest ongoing cost of a guardianship of the estate. New Mexico states no express rule on who bears it in the chapter read for this page, and no figure for what one costs is published anywhere this project could verify. That is a gap in the law and in the published record, not a gap we have filled with a guess.
Guardian ad litem and attorney fees
For a guardianship-of-the-person proceeding, the court must appoint an attorney for the alleged incapacitated person (unless they already have one of their own choosing), and that court-appointed attorney ‘shall have the duties of a guardian ad litem’ (§45-5-303(D)). Under §45-5-105, ‘any visitor, attorney, qualified health care professional or guardian appointed in a guardianship proceeding is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate of the incapacitated person,’ if not otherwise compensated. The parallel conservatorship (protective) proceeding uses a separately appointed guardian ad litem (§45-5-404.1) and, under §45-5-414, ‘any visitor, attorney, physician, conservator or special conservator appointed in a protective proceeding is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate.’ Neither section states a statutory dollar cap or hourly-rate cap; ‘reasonable’ is left to the court’s discretion. Neither section addresses what happens if the incapacitated/protected person has no estate — New Mexico’s text is silent on that scenario (contrast Nebraska, which explicitly shifts unpaid fees to the county or petitioner).
If not otherwise compensated for services rendered, any visitor, attorney, qualified health care professional or guardian appointed in a guardianship proceeding is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate of the incapacitated person.
If not otherwise compensated for services rendered, any visitor, attorney, physician, conservator or special conservator appointed in a protective proceeding is entitled to reasonable compensation from the estate.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: NMSA 1978 §§ 45-5-105 (guardianship compensation), 45-5-414 (conservatorship/protective-proceeding compensation); GAL role at §45-5-303(D) (guardianship) and §45-5-404.1 (conservatorship).
How often you have to account
Annual (both tracks). Do not carry that assumption across a state line: the interval is set by each state separately, several are biennial or triennial, and your own appointing court can order more often than the statutory minimum. The document that governs you is your order.
Guardian of an incapacitated person: an initial report is due within 90 days of appointment, then an annual report is due within 30 days of the appointment anniversary (§45-5-314(A)), reviewed by the aoc’s guardianship annual report review division; the court ‘shall not waive the requirement of an annual report under any circumstance’ though it may grant up to a 60-day extension (§45-5-314(D)). Conservator of the estate: an annual report and account is due within 30 days of the appointment anniversary, also on resignation/removal/termination (§45-5-409(A)); the state auditor’s office reviews every filed report and decides within 15 business days whether to conduct a full audit (§45-5-409(H)). Neither section imposes a per-filing fee for submitting the report itself; both instead impose a $25.00-per-day fine (payable to the state’s ‘current school fund’) for an overdue interim or annual report/account (§§45-5-314(C), 45-5-409(D)) — that fine is a delinquency penalty, not a filing fee.
The guardian of an incapacitated person shall file an initial report with the appointing court within ninety days of the guardian’s appointment. Thereafter, the guardian shall file an annual report within thirty days of the anniversary date of the guardian’s appointment.
The guardian may be fined twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per day for an overdue interim or annual report. The fine shall be paid to the current school fund.
Read at statute source on 2026-08-12: NMSA 1978 §§ 45-5-314 (guardian annual report), 45-5-409 (conservator annual report and account).
What an accounting has to contain, and the duties that come with it, are on the guardian accounting duties page.
What this page does not tell you
All four items this page set out to establish were read at primary and are stated above with their cites. What is missing everywhere, in every state, is a price: what an attorney charges to bring an uncontested petition, what a court-ordered capacity evaluation or investigation costs, and what a surety charges for the bond. None of it is published by any authority, and this page does not estimate it. Currency note: guardian ad litem and attorney fees came from a source whose publisher does not certify it as the current official text. The text was read and quoted as found; check it against the current official edition before relying on it.
Where this fits
The filing fee is the smallest part of what a guardianship costs, and the national page sets out the costs that are larger and are not published anywhere. If nobody has been appointed yet, the comparison that actually matters is against the document that avoids this proceeding entirely — guardianship against a power of attorney.
Sources
| Item | Citation | Tier | Read |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petition filing fee | NMSA 1978 §§ 34-6-40(A), 34-6-45(A) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Bond | NMSA 1978 § 45-5-411 | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Guardian ad litem and attorney fees | NMSA 1978 §§ 45-5-105 (guardianship compensation), 45-5-414 (conservatorship/protective-proceeding compensation); GAL role at §45-5-303(D) (guardianship) and §45-5-404.1 (conservatorship) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
| Periodic accounting or report | NMSA 1978 §§ 45-5-314 (guardian annual report), 45-5-409 (conservator annual report and account) | statute | 2026-08-12 |
General consumer information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Guardianship and conservatorship are governed by STATE law and differ materially between states; every figure here is quoted from the cited source as read on the date shown and changes without notice. Read as of August 14, 2026.
Also on New Mexico: New Mexico Small Estate Affidavit and New Mexico Advance Directive Requirements and How Much Does a Will Cost in New Mexico?.