A. A person under a duty to pay or deliver money or personal property to a minor may perform this duty, in amounts not exceeding ten thousand dollars ($10,000) per year, by paying or delivering the money or property to:

(1) a person having the care and custody of the minor and with whom the minor resides;

(2) a guardian of the minor;

(3) a financial institution for deposit in a federally insured savings account in the sole name of the minor and giving notice of the deposit to the minor; or

(4) a custodian for the minor pursuant to the Uniform Transfers to Minors Act [46-7-11 to 46-7-34 NMSA 1978].

B. This section does not apply if the person making payment or delivery has actual knowledge that a conservator has been appointed or proceedings for appointment of a conservator of the estate of the minor are pending. The persons, other than the minor or any financial institution under Paragraph (4) of Subsection A of this section, receiving money or property for a minor are obligated to apply the money to the support and education of the minor but shall not pay themselves except by way of reimbursement for out-of-pocket expenses for goods and services necessary for the minor's support. Any excess sums shall be preserved for future support of the minor, and any balance not so used and any property received for the minor shall be turned over to the minor when the minor ceases to be a minor. Persons who pay or deliver in accordance with provisions of this section are not responsible for the proper application of such payments.

History: 1953 Comp., § 32A-5-103, enacted by Laws 1975, ch. 257, § 5-103; 2011, ch. 124, § 54.

The 2011 amendment, effective January 1, 2012, increased the maximum amount that a person may pay to a minor per year from five thousand dollars to ten thousand dollars and permitted the payment to be made to a custodian for the minor.

Wrongful death proceeds. — An attorney handling a wrongful death case owes to the statutory beneficiaries of that action a duty of reasonable care to protect their interest in receiving any proceeds obtained, and, although distributing the proceeds to a court-monitored conservator is one way an attorney may protect the interest of the statutory beneficiaries, it is not the only way. Leyba v. Whitley, 1995-NMSC-066, 120 N.M. 768, 907 P.2d 172.

Conservator's action against lawyers in wrongful death action. — Further proceedings were required in the case of a conservator for a minor child against lawyers who distributed proceeds of a wrongful death settlement to the decedent's personal representative, who subsequently dissipated the proceeds, to determine whether they used reasonable care in protecting the interests of the statutory beneficiary, i.e., the minor child. Leyba v. Whitley, 1995-NMSC-066, 120 N.M. 768, 907 P.2d 172.

Law reviews. — For article, "Intestate Succession and Wills Law: The New Probate Code," see 6 N.M.L. Rev. 25 (1975).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 43 C.J.S. Infants §§ 126, 135.