A. When a petition for appointment of a conservator has been filed, but adherence to the procedures set out in this section would cause serious, immediate and irreparable harm to the estate or financial interests, or both, of the person to be protected, the court may appoint a temporary conservator prior to the final hearing and decision on the petition, subject to the requirements of this section.
B. Upon motion of the petitioner, the court shall schedule a hearing on the appointment of a temporary conservator for the earliest possible date, appoint counsel for the person to be protected and give notice as provided in Section 45-5-405 NMSA 1978. Upon a finding that serious, immediate and irreparable harm to the estate and financial interests of the person to be protected would result during the pendency of petition, the court shall appoint a temporary conservator and shall specify the temporary conservator's powers in order to prevent serious, immediate and irreparable harm to the property of the person to be protected. The duration of the temporary conservatorship shall not exceed sixty days, except that upon order of the court, the temporary conservatorship may be extended for no more than thirty days.
C. A temporary conservator may be appointed without notice to the person to be protected only if it clearly appears from specific facts shown by affidavit or sworn testimony that serious, immediate and irreparable harm will result to the estate or financial interests of the person to be protected before a hearing on the appointment of a temporary conservator can be held. The person to be protected shall be notified in a writing by the petitioner within twenty-four hours of the appointment of a temporary conservator in substantial accordance with the provisions of Subsection B of Section 45-5-405 NMSA 1978. On two days' notice to the party who obtained the appointment of a temporary conservator without notice or on such shorter notice to that party as the court may prescribe, the person to be protected may appear and move for dissolution or modification of the court's order, and, in that event, the court shall proceed to hear and determine such motion as expeditiously as the ends of justice require.
D. Appointment of a temporary conservator shall have the effect of limiting the legal rights of the person to be protected. Appointment of a temporary conservator shall not be evidence of incapacity.
History: 1978 Comp., § 45-5-408, enacted by Laws 1989, ch. 252, § 21; 1993, ch. 301, § 18.
Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 1989, ch. 252, § 21, repealed former 45-5-408 NMSA 1978, as enacted by Laws 1975, ch. 257, § 5-408, relating to permissible court orders, and enacted a new section, effective June 16, 1989.
The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, rewrote this section to the extent that a detailed comparison is impracticable.
Structure New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 45 - Uniform Probate Code
Article 5 - Protection of Persons Under Disability and Their Property
Part 4 - PROTECTION OF PROPERTY OF PERSONS UNDER DISABILITY AND MINORS
Section 45-5-401 - Conservatorship proceedings.
Section 45-5-402 - Protective proceedings; jurisdiction of affairs of protected persons.
Section 45-5-402.1 - Permissible court orders.
Section 45-5-404 - Original petition for appointment of conservator.
Section 45-5-404.1 - Duties of guardian ad litem.
Section 45-5-405 - Notice in conservatorship proceedings.
Section 45-5-405.1 - Protective arrangements and single transactions authorized.
Section 45-5-406 - Guardianship and protective proceedings; request for notice; interested person.
Section 45-5-407 - Procedure for court appointment of a conservator.
Section 45-5-408 - Temporary conservators.
Section 45-5-409 - Annual report and account; audits.
Section 45-5-409.1 - Repealed.
Section 45-5-410 - Who may be appointed conservator; priorities.
Section 45-5-411 - Bond and terms; requirements of bonds.
Section 45-5-413 - Acceptance of appointment; consent to jurisdiction.
Section 45-5-414 - Compensation and expenses.
Section 45-5-415 - Death, substitution, review and termination of conservatorship.
Section 45-5-416 - Petitions for orders subsequent to appointment.
Section 45-5-417 - General duty of conservator.
Section 45-5-418 - Inventory and records.
Section 45-5-420 - Conservators; title by appointment.
Section 45-5-421 - Recording of conservator's letters.
Section 45-5-421.1 - Letters of conservatorship.
Section 45-5-423 - Persons dealing with conservators; protection.
Section 45-5-424 - Powers of conservator in administration.
Section 45-5-425 - Distributive duties and powers of conservator.
Section 45-5-426 - Consent to conservatorship; applicable laws.
Section 45-5-427 - Preservation of estate plan.
Section 45-5-428 - Claims against protected person; enforcement.
Section 45-5-429 - Individual liability of conservator.
Section 45-5-430 - Termination of proceeding.
Section 45-5-434 - Registration of guardianship orders.