Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: New Mexico’s Uniform Probate Code sets no percentage fee for the attorney or the personal representative. Both are entitled only to reasonable compensation under NMSA 1978 §45-3-719, with the amount fixed by the probate court based on the work actually performed.
NMSA 1978 section 45-3-719: reasonable compensation, no formula
New Mexico’s Uniform Probate Code entitles a personal representative to reasonable compensation for his services, with no percentage or dollar formula attached, and lets a personal representative named in a will renounce a will-specified fee before qualifying and take reasonable compensation instead.
How the attorney’s fee gets reviewed
New Mexico probate courts evaluate the attorney’s compensation the same way, by looking at the assets involved, the difficulty and time of the work, and the results obtained, with the personal representative typically submitting the attorney’s bill to the court along with a petition for approval rather than relying on any statutory percentage.
Litigation fees are a separate statutory track
New Mexico does carve out one attorney-fee-specific provision, NMSA 1978 §45-3-720, which reimburses a personal representative’s necessary expenses and disbursements including reasonable attorneys’ fees when defending or prosecuting a proceeding in good faith. That provision addresses litigation costs in a contested matter, not a general schedule for ordinary estate administration.
The rest of the arithmetic: New Mexico probate cost.
How the fee models compare across all 51 jurisdictions: probate cost by state, and the national picture on what a probate attorney costs.
Statutory text read at each state’s own legislature or official code publisher. General information, not legal advice; fee statutes change and a court retains the final say on what is reasonable.
The attorney fee above is separate from what the court itself charges just to open the case, see the New Mexico probate filing fee.