A. All assignments of wages or salaries due or to become due to any person, in order to be valid, shall be acknowledged by the party making the assignment before a notary public or other officer authorized to take acknowledgments. The assignment shall be recorded in the office of the county clerk of the county in which the money is to be paid and a copy served upon the employer or person who is to make payment.
B. Any assignment of wages or salary is void if it provides for an assignment of more than twenty-five percent of the assignor's disposable earnings for any pay period. As used in this section, "disposable earnings" means that part of the assignor's wage or salary remaining after deducting the amounts which are required by law to be withheld.
History: Laws 1929, ch. 128, § 1; C.S. 1929, § 8-101; 1941 Comp., § 46-111; 1953 Comp., § 43-1-12; Laws 1971, ch. 172, § 1.
Cross references. — For exemption of disposable wages from garnishment, see 35-12-7 NMSA 1978.
For assignment of wages to director of labor and industrial division of labor department, see 50-4-11 NMSA 1978.
For Uniform Commercial Code exclusion for wage assignments, see 55-9-104 NMSA 1978.
Withholding of funds from monthly salary checks already earned is legal and valid if made in statutory form. 1960 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 60-33.
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 6 Am. Jur. 2d Assignments for Benefit of Creditors § 29.
6A C.J.S. Assignments §§ 51, 52.
Structure New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 14 - Records, Rules, Legal Notices, Oaths
Article 13 - Acknowledgments and Oaths
Section 14-13-1 - [Administration of oath.]
Section 14-13-2 - [Administration of affirmation in lieu of oath.]
Section 14-13-3 - Oaths; power to administer.
Section 14-13-4 to 14-13-10 - Repealed.
Section 14-13-11 - Wage and salary assignments.
Section 14-13-12 - [Instrument needs no acknowledgment in absence of statutory requirement.]
Section 14-13-13 - [Validation of former acknowledgments; 1951 act.]
Section 14-13-14 - [Validation of former acknowledgments; 1957 act.]
Section 14-13-15 - [Validation of former acknowledgments; 1965 act.]
Section 14-13-16 - Validation of former acknowledgments; 1967 act.
Section 14-13-17 - Validation of former acknowledgments; 1971 act.
Section 14-13-18 - Validation of former acknowledgments; 1975 act.
Section 14-13-19 to 14-13-23 - Repealed.
Section 14-13-24 - [Validation of certain prior acknowledgments.]
Section 14-13-25 - Validation of certain prior acknowledgments.