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HOUSE BILL 273
56
TH LEGISLATURE
-
STATE
OF
NEW
MEXICO
-
FIRST SESSION
,
2023
INTRODUCED BY
Charlotte Little and Meredith A. Dixon
AN ACT
RELATING TO PROPERTY; ENACTING THE UNIFORM COHABITANTS'
ECONOMIC REMEDIES ACT; PROVIDING A RIGHT OF ACTION TO
COHABITANTS FOR CONTRACTUAL AND EQUITABLE CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF
CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE COHABITANTS;
ESTABLISHING REQUIREMENTS OF A COHABITANTS' AGREEMENT;
PROVIDING A RIGHT TO THIRD PARTIES TO ENFORCE JUDGMENTS AGAINST
COHABITANTS; PROVIDING REMEDIES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
SECTION 1. [NEW MATERIAL] SHORT TITLE.--This act may be
cited as the "Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act".
SECTION 2. [NEW MATERIAL] DEFINITIONS.--As used in the
Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act:
A. "cohabitant" means each of two people not
married to each other who live together as a couple after each
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has reached the age of majority or been emancipated, but does
not include two persons who cannot lawfully marry because both
persons are relatives within a prohibited degree pursuant to
state law;
B. "cohabitants' agreement" means an agreement
between two people concerning contributions to the relationship
if these people are to become, are or were cohabitants and
includes a waiver of rights under the Uniform Cohabitants'
Economic Remedies Act;
C. "contributions to the relationship" means the
contributions of a cohabitant that benefit the other
cohabitant, both cohabitants or the cohabitants' relationship
in the form of efforts, activities, services or property and:
(1) includes cooking, cleaning, shopping,
household maintenance, conducting errands and other domestic
services for the benefit of the other cohabitant or the
cohabitants' relationship;
(2) includes otherwise caring for the other
cohabitant, a child in common or another family member of the
other cohabitant; and
(3) does not include sexual relations;
D. "property" means anything that may be the
subject of ownership, whether real or personal, tangible or
intangible, legal or equitable or any interest therein,
including responsibility for a debt;
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E. "record" means information:
(1) inscribed on a tangible medium; or
(2) stored in an electronic or other medium
and retrievable in perceivable form;
F. "state" means a state of the United States, the
District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the United States Virgin
Islands or any other territory or possession subject to the
jurisdiction of the United States; and
G. "termination of cohabitation" means the earliest
of:
(1) the death of a cohabitant;
(2) the date the cohabitants stop living
together as a couple; or
(3) the date of the cohabitants' marriage to
each other.
SECTION 3. [NEW MATERIAL] SCOPE.--The Uniform
Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act applies only to a
contractual claim or an equitable claim between cohabitants
concerning an interest, promise or obligation arising from
contributions to the relationship. The rights and remedies of
cohabitants under the Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies
Act are not exclusive.
SECTION 4. [NEW MATERIAL] RIGHT OF COHABITANT TO BRING
ACTION.--
A. A person who is or was a cohabitant may commence
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an action on a contractual claim or an equitable claim that
arises out of contributions to the relationship. The action is
not:
(1) barred because of a sexual relationship
between the cohabitants;
(2) subject to additional substantive or
procedural requirements because the parties to the action are
or were cohabitants or because of a sexual relationship between
the cohabitants; or
(3) extinguished by the marriage of the
cohabitants to each other.
B. The action may be commenced on behalf of a
deceased cohabitant's estate.
C. The action may be commenced against a deceased
cohabitant's estate and adjudicated pursuant to a law of this
state applicable to a claim against a decedent's estate.
SECTION 5. [NEW MATERIAL] GOVERNING LAW.--
A. Except as otherwise provided in the Uniform
Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act, a claim under the Uniform
Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act is governed by other laws of
this state, including this state's choice-of-law rules.
B. The validity, enforceability, interpretation and
construction of a cohabitants' agreement are determined by:
(1) the state law designated in the agreement
if the designation is valid under other state law; or
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(2) in the absence of a designation effective
under Paragraph (1) of this subsection, the law of this state,
including this state's choice-of-law rules.
SECTION 6. [NEW MATERIAL] COHABITANTS' AGREEMENT.--
A. A cohabitants' agreement may be oral, in a
record, express or implied-in-fact.
B. Contributions to the relationship are sufficient
consideration for a cohabitants' agreement.
C. A claim for breach of a cohabitants' agreement
accrues on breach and may be commenced, pursuant to Chapter 37,
Article 1 NMSA 1978, during cohabitation or after termination
of cohabitation.
D. A term in a cohabitants' agreement that
adversely affects a child's right to support is unenforceable.
E. A term in a cohabitants' agreement that requires
or limits the ability of a cohabitant to pursue a civil,
criminal or administrative remedy is voidable to the extent the
remedy is available because the cohabitant is a victim of
domestic abuse as defined pursuant to the Family Violence
Protection Act.
SECTION 7. [NEW MATERIAL] EQUITABLE RELIEF.--
A. Unless maintaining the action is inconsistent
with a valid cohabitants' agreement, a cohabitant may commence
an equitable action against the other cohabitant concerning
entitlement to property based on contributions to the
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relationship. The action is in addition to any remedy
otherwise available to the cohabitant pursuant to the Uniform
Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act or other state law or
federal law.
B. A cohabitant may commence an action provided
pursuant to the Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act in
the family court division of any state district court.
C. An equitable claim based on contributions to the
relationship accrues on termination of cohabitation and is
subject to equitable defenses.
D. In addition to other laws governing an equitable
claim, the court adjudicating a claim under this section shall
consider:
(1) the nature and value of contributions to
the relationship by each cohabitant, including the value to
each cohabitant and the market value of the contributions;
(2) the duration and continuity of the
cohabitation;
(3) the extent to which a cohabitant
reasonably relied on representations or conduct of the other
cohabitant;
(4) the extent to which a cohabitant
demonstrated an intent to share or not to share property with
the other cohabitant; and
(5) other relevant factors.
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SECTION 8. [NEW MATERIAL] EFFECT OF COURT ORDER OR
JUDGMENT ON THIRD PARTY.--
A. A court order or judgment granting relief under
the Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act against a
cohabitant or a cohabitant's estate is an order or judgment in
favor of a general creditor.
B. A court order or judgment granting relief under
the Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act shall not impair
the rights of a good-faith purchaser from or secured creditor
of a cohabitant.
SECTION 9. [NEW MATERIAL] PRINCIPLES OF LAW AND EQUITY.--
The principles of law and equity supplement the Uniform
Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act except to the extent
inconsistent with the Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies
Act.
SECTION 10. [NEW MATERIAL] UNIFORMITY OF APPLICATION AND
CONSTRUCTION.--In applying and construing the Uniform
Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act, a court shall consider the
promotion of uniformity of the law among jurisdictions that
enact it.
SECTION 11. [NEW MATERIAL] RELATION TO ELECTRONIC
SIGNATURES IN GLOBAL AND NATIONAL COMMERCE ACT.--The Uniform
Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act modifies, limits or
supersedes the federal Electronic Signatures in Global and
National Commerce Act, 15 U.S.C. Section 7001 et seq., as
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amended, but does not modify, limit or supersede 15 U.S.C.
Section 7001(c) or authorize electronic delivery of any of the
notices described in 15 U.S.C. Section 7003(b).
SECTION 12. [NEW MATERIAL] TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS.--
A. The Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act
applies to a cohabitants' agreement made on or after the
effective date of the Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies
Act.
B. The Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act
applies to an equitable claim pursuant to the Uniform
Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act that accrues on or after the
effective date of the Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies
Act.
SECTION 13. [NEW MATERIAL] SEVERABILITY.--If a provision
of the Uniform Cohabitants' Economic Remedies Act or its
application to a person or circumstance is held invalid, the
invalidity does not affect another provision or application
that can be given effect without the invalid provision.
SECTION 14. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the
provisions of this act is July 1, 2023.
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