A. Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, any member of the national guard or reserves may execute a military last will and testament (military will) according to the provisions of this section. Such will may be executed within or without the state and shall be given the same force and effect as any will properly executed pursuant to Chapter 45 NMSA 1978, the provisions of which shall govern the rules of construction of a military will and the administration of the testator's estate.

B. Mindful of the mobilization readiness required of members of the national guard and reserves, the adjutant general may prescribe regulations and forms for a military will. These regulations and forms shall be designed to achieve basic testmentary disposition of the member's property in contemplation of rapid troop mobilization and of the hazards of armed conflict. They shall be designed for preparation by unit administrative personnel according to the desires of the testator. No liability or cause of action shall attach to the erroneous act or omission of any person assisting a testator in the preparation or execution of a military will.

C. The scope of a military will shall be limited to the following dispositions and provisions:

(1) disposition of the testator's entire estate to the testator's spouse or in the event the testator is predeceased by the spouse then to the testator's children in equal shares and to their descendants by right of representation;

(2) if the testator is not survived by a spouse, children or lineal descendents, then disposition of the testators [testator's] entire estate shall be according to the laws of intestate succession;

(3) a guardian for minor children may be nominated by the testator in the event that any minor child's other natural parent is or shall become unwilling or unable to serve as the child's guardian;

(4) a personal representative may be nominated by the testator in the event that the testator's surviving spouse is or shall become unwilling or unable to so serve; and

(5) trust provisions are prohibited as beyond the scope of a military will.

D. A military will shall be executed, witnessed and attested to before two persons, one of whom must be a commissioned, warrant or noncommissioned officer of the national guard or state defense force. A military will so executed, witnessed and attested shall be deemed a self-proving will.

E. A military will may be executed only by a member of the national guard or reserves and not by a member's civilian dependents.

F. A military will shall, during the testator's membership in the national guard or reserves, be maintained as a permanent record in the member's military personnel records jacket. In the event of the member's death, the will shall promptly be delivered by military authorities to the appropriate court of competent jurisdiction.

G. Upon discharge, separation or retirement of the member from the national guard or reserves, a military will shall become null and void.

History: 1978 Comp., § 20-4-12, enacted by Laws 1987, ch. 318, § 29.