State Unemployment Benefits in New Mexico: when someone dies
A 3-step process for New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions — Unemployment Insurance after a death in New Mexico.
Administering agency
New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions — Unemployment Insurance
Authority
11.3.300.318 NMAC (benefits due deceased persons)
Steps to take
- Report the claimant's death to the New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions (1-877-664-6984) so benefit payments stop.
- Confirm which weeks the claimant had already certified for and remained unpaid at the date of death.
- File a written application on the DWS prescribed form within six months of the death, with a certified copy of the death certificate, and include any outstanding benefit payments so DWS can re-issue them to the person entitled.
New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions — Unemployment Insurance
Phone: 1-877-664-6984
Visit the agency website →Frequently asked questions
Benefits the claimant had already filed a weekly certification for, and that were unpaid at the time of death, are paid to the claimant's court-appointed executor, administrator, or personal representative — or to the next of kin if a court appointment is impractical or legally unnecessary. If no application is made within six months of the death, the benefits are cancelled and the sums remain part of the unemployment compensation fund.
Under 11.3.300.318 NMAC, the benefits are paid to the court-appointed executor, administrator, or personal representative. If the next of kin shows the Department that a court appointment is impractical or legally unnecessary, the next of kin may claim in this order: one-half to a surviving spouse who lived with the claimant at death and one-half to the natural parent or physical custodian of any minor or dependent disabled adult children; if there are no such children, all to the surviving spouse; then surviving adult children; then surviving parents; then surviving siblings; then the claimant's heirs at law under the New Mexico Probate Code. The written application on the prescribed form, with a certified copy of the death certificate, must be made within six months of the death.
Sources
Data sourced from State Unemployment Benefits in New Mexico primary sources (3 pages reviewed). How we research.
Administering agency
New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions — Unemployment Insurance
Authority
11.3.300.318 NMAC (benefits due deceased persons)