The New Mexico military affidavit

How New Mexico handles it

New Mexico gives the military statement its own numbered one-page form instead of hiding it in the motion. Form 4-702A NMRA is headed with the statute it satisfies, "[50 U.S.C. § 3931]," and captioned inside as "AFFIRMATION OF PLAINTIFF IN SUPPORT OF APPLICATION FOR DEFAULT JUDGMENT." It was adopted by Supreme Court Order No. 16-8300-019, effective for all cases pending or filed on or after December 31, 2016.

Four things go on the page. Paragraph 1 is your competence to speak: over 18, of sound mind, personal knowledge of what follows, and able to testify to it. Paragraph 2 is a single three-way checkbox: the defendant is in military service, is not in military service, or "I am unable to determine whether the defendant is in military service." Paragraph 3 is four blank lines for "the following facts support the statements in this affidavit." Then the date and signature. The Use Note says the plaintiff "may be able to access" the federal SCRA website at https://scra.dmdc.osd.mil/ to obtain a status certificate.

The affirmation is cross-referenced in both of the other default forms. Form 4-702, Motion for Default Judgment, printed "[For use with Rules 2-702 and 3-702 NMRA]," carries a checkbox stating "Plaintiff previously has filed or has attached to this motion an affidavit or affirmation regarding the (defendant's) (defendants') military status," footnoted to 4-702A. The proposed order, form 4-703, gives the judge the matching finding to check: "Plaintiff has filed an affidavit or affirmation regarding defendant's military status."

Divorce and other domestic relations defaults use a stricter form. Form 4A-311 NMRA, Affidavit as to Respondent's failure to plead or otherwise defend (domestic relations actions), states at item 4 that "Upon information and belief, Respondent is not in the military service of the United States and is not an infant or incompetent person," and then adds a box marked "YES (required)" reading "I have attached a certificate verifying Respondent's active duty status." Where 4-702A merely points at the DMDC site, 4A-311 makes the certificate mandatory, and its Use Note says the form may be used anywhere in the state to ask the clerk for a certificate as to the state of the record (form 4A-312 NMRA).

District courts hand out the whole package as one packet. The Third Judicial District Court's Civil Default Packet, revised 10/2/2023, bundles the Motion for Default Judgment, the affirmation, a clerk-completed Certificate as to the State of the Record and Non-Appearance, a Request for Setting and the proposed Default Judgment, and instructs filers to "Print the MILITARY STATUS REPORT and attach it to your Affirmation." Its cover page also tells you to bring two stamped letter-sized envelopes to the clerk, one addressed to you and one to the defendant.

What trips filers up here

• The self-help packet stops you before you file. A boxed warning on its first page reads "DO NOT USE THIS PACKET IF ... The Defendant is in the military." A New Mexico plaintiff who gets an active-duty hit is out of the packet track and into motion practice with appointed counsel.
• That packet's own numbering contradicts itself. The sidebar lists the five forms with "#3 Affidavit of Military Service," while the step-by-step text on the same page calls form #2 the "Affirmation of Plaintiff in Support of Default Judgment" and form #3 the certificate of the record. Fill out what the step text describes and ignore the sidebar label.
• Form 4A-311's Use Note 2 says the affidavit "must include a certificate verifying the petitioner's active duty status," although item 4 of the same form is about the respondent. The note also prints the retired DMDC address, https://dmdc.osd.mil/appj/scra/single_record.xhtml, rather than the current scra.dmdc.osd.mil.
• Form 4-702A has no line for the search date and no checkbox for an attached report. If you want the certificate in the record, attach it as an exhibit and describe it on the four-line facts block, including when you ran the search.

Signing it: declaration, no notary

The form opens "I, ___, affirm under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of New Mexico that the following statements are true and correct." There is no notary block and no jurat. You date it and print your name under the signature.

No notary is needed. The signature block is an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, which is what 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(4) expressly allows. Signing it knowing the military statement is false is still a federal crime, and a state perjury exposure on top.

Getting the military-status answer right

The affidavit is only as good as the search behind it. The Defense Manpower Data Center runs the free lookup that courts and creditors rely on, and since 2026 it requires a free account even for a single record. Our guide to the DMDC SCRA website covers the search itself, what a "no information found" result does and does not prove, and the batch route for high-volume filers. The federal rules behind this form, including what happens when you genuinely cannot determine status, sit on the hub page.

If one was filed against you

A false affidavit is not a technicality. In May 2026 the Justice Department settled with a Florida property manager that swore a Navy sailor was not on active duty, took a default eviction judgment, and left him with an eviction on his record that a dozen landlords then refused to rent around: $60,000 to one servicemember plus a civil penalty . If a default judgment was entered against you while you were serving, it can be reopened; the default-judgment shield walks the deadlines.

Serving in New Mexico and looking for what the state adds to your own protections rather than court procedure? That is a different page: New Mexico SCRA benefits.