A decedent shall be considered to be an indigent for purposes of Chapter 24, Article 13 NMSA 1978 if the decedent's estate is insufficient to cover the cost of burial or cremation or if the decedent's body is unclaimed. History: Laws 1939, ch. 224, § 2; 1941 Comp., § 73-205; 1953 Comp., § 13-2-5; 1978 Comp., § 24-13-2; Laws 1999, ch. 241, §; 2023, ch. 162, § 9. ANNOTATIONSThe 2023 amendment, effective July 1, 2023, provided that a decedent shall be considered to be an indigent if the decedent's body is unclaimed; and after 'burial or cremation', added 'or if the decedent's body is unclaimed'. The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, added the catchline; and rewrote the section, which formerly read 'No deceased person shall be considered to be an indigent if there are any sums, no matter how small, with which to defray the cost of such burial'.
New Mexico Legal Code