Where to Store Your Advance Directive in New Mexico

A completed advance directive that nobody can find during an emergency is functionally identical to not having one. New Mexico has no state registry for advance directives, which means distribution and storage are entirely your responsibility. Get this wrong, and the default surrogate hierarchy kicks in regardless of what you documented.

Who Needs a Copy

Distribute copies to everyone who might need to produce the document during a medical event:

Priority 1: Your Healthcare Agent and Successor Agent

Your named agents need copies immediately. They're the people most likely to present the document to a hospital — often at 2 a.m. under extreme stress. Give them both a physical copy and a digital scan (photo or PDF on their phone).

Priority 2: Your Primary Care Physician

Ask your physician's office to scan your directive into your medical record. Most New Mexico healthcare systems — Presbyterian, UNM Health, Lovelace, Christus St. Vincent — maintain electronic health records (EHR) that clinicians can access across their network.

If you're treated at multiple systems (for example, a primary care doctor at Presbyterian but specialty care at UNM), file copies with both.

Priority 3: Healthcare Facilities

If you're a frequent patient at a specific hospital, ask their admissions department to add your directive to your file. Many facilities scan the document during a routine visit rather than waiting for an emergency admission.

Priority 4: Close Family Members

Even if they're not your named agent, immediate family should know the directive exists and where to find the original. This prevents a sibling or parent from triggering the default surrogate hierarchy by claiming no directive exists.

Where to Keep the Original

Good locations:

• A clearly labeled folder in a home filing cabinet or desk drawer that your agent knows about
• A fireproof home safe that your agent has the combination or key to
• With your healthcare agent directly

Bad locations:

• A bank safe deposit box — inaccessible after hours, on weekends, and during the exact emergencies when the document is needed most
• An attorney's office — accessible only during business hours
• A single digital-only copy — if your phone dies or you don't have network access, the document is unreachable

Digital Backups

In addition to physical copies, create digital backups that your agent can access from anywhere:

• Photograph or scan every page (including signature and witness pages)
• Store in a shared cloud folder (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox) that your agent has access to
• Email a copy to your agent so it's always in their inbox
• Consider storing a copy on your phone — some healthcare apps allow you to upload advance directives for immediate access

Digital copies are not a substitute for the signed original, but they're often sufficient to establish your wishes while the original is located.

Wallet Cards

Carry a wallet card that states:

• You have an advance directive
• The name and phone number of your healthcare agent
• Where the original document is stored
• Your primary care physician's name and contact information

This ensures that if you're incapacitated outside your home — in a car accident, while traveling, during an out-of-town visit — first responders and ER staff can quickly contact your agent and locate your directive.

When You Update or Revoke

If you execute a new directive:

1. Destroy all physical copies of the old version
2. Replace the copy at your physician's office and in every healthcare system where the old one was filed
3. Provide updated copies to your new agent (and notify your previous agent that their authority is revoked)
4. Update your digital backups
5. Note the date of the new directive on your wallet card

The danger of missed copies: if a hospital has your old directive on file and a new one hasn't been submitted, the outdated instructions may be followed during an emergency. A thorough distribution tracker — logging who has a copy and when it was distributed — makes clean updates manageable.

MOST and EMS DNR Storage

These clinical orders have their own storage requirements:

• MOST form: Traditionally posted in a visible household location (refrigerator door, bedside table) on green cardstock
• EMS DNR: Kept in a white envelope labeled "EMS DNR Order Inside" near the front entrance, or identified by an approved MedicAlert bracelet

Unlike advance directives, these documents are designed to be found instantly by first responders — don't file them away.

The New Mexico Advance Directive & Living Will Kit includes a document distribution tracker that helps you manage who has copies, when they were distributed, and how to update everyone efficiently when your directive changes.

See more New Mexico guides →