New Mexico Caregiver Affidavit: How Long Is It Valid?

One Year from the Notary's Seal

The New Mexico Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit under NMSA § 40-10B-15 is valid for no more than one year from the date it is executed. For this sworn affidavit, that is the date you sign it before the notary.

If you had the affidavit notarized on March 15, 2026, it expires on March 15, 2027. After that date, schools and medical providers can refuse to accept it.

There Is No Formal Renewal Process

New Mexico does not have an "affidavit renewal" form or procedure. When your current affidavit is about to expire, you complete a brand-new form and have it notarized again. The process is identical to the first time: fill in Items 1–4 and, if you are a relative seeking authority for other medical care, complete the additional fields (Items 5–8 on the court-posted PDF), bring a valid photo ID, and sign before a notary.

The practical move is to mark your calendar for about two weeks before the expiration date. That gives you time to complete the new form, schedule a notary appointment, and distribute copies to the child's school and doctors before any gap in coverage.

What Happens If It Expires

An expired affidavit has no legal force. If you show up at the pediatrician with a form dated 13 months ago, the office can — and often will — refuse to treat the child based on that document.

This does not mean you lose care of the child. It means you temporarily lose the paper authority that lets institutions deal with you directly. Until you execute a new affidavit, you may face the same administrative friction you experienced before the first one.

Schools generally will not unenroll a child mid-year over an expired affidavit, but they may restrict your ability to sign permission slips, authorize field trips, or consent to school-related medical services until you provide a current copy.

The 90-Day Myth

Some caregivers confuse the affidavit's one-year validity with the 90-day period for kinship guardianship. Section 40-10B-2(B) was repealed in 2020. For a guardianship case without a parent's written consent or a prior court order suspending parental rights, § 40-10B-8(B)(3) requires that the child have lived with the petitioner for at least 90 days immediately before filing and that the parent be unwilling or unable to provide adequate care, maintenance, and supervision, or that extraordinary circumstances exist. Kinship guardianship also requires that no guardian already be appointed under the Uniform Probate Code, proof by clear and convincing evidence, and a finding that appointment is in the child's best interests. None of these requirements creates a waiting period for the affidavit.

You can execute a Caregiver's Authorization Affidavit the day the child moves into your home. You do not need to wait 90 days.

When You Should Stop Using the Affidavit

If the child moves out of your home, you are legally required to notify every school, doctor, insurer, and institution that received a copy of the affidavit. This is true even if the one-year period has not expired.

If you are heading toward a second or third renewal and the child has been with you for two or three years, it may be time to consider formal kinship guardianship through the district court. The affidavit is designed for relatively short-term informal care. A guardianship order has no expiration date and gives you broader legal authority.

Our New Mexico School and Medical Consent Guide includes a renewal tracker that flags your expiration date and a comparison chart showing when the affidavit is enough and when a court order becomes the better option.

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