Maine Probate and Intestate Succession: What Happens Without a Will (2026)

Maine handles probate in a dedicated Probate Court in each of its 16 counties, every one led by a separately elected probate judge, under Title 18-C, the Maine Uniform Probate Code. Maine follows the classic Uniform Probate Code approach, letting a register handle most uncontested estates without a judge ever getting involved.

Information last verified on 2026-07-16. This article has not yet been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

How Probate Works in Maine

Maine's probate process runs through Title 18-C, the Maine Uniform Probate Code, which took effect July 1, 2019, replacing the prior Title 18-A. Each of Maine's 16 counties has its own Probate Court with a separately elected probate judge, distinct from Maine's District and Superior Court system. Because Maine adopted the Uniform Probate Code, it offers the same informal-versus-formal structure used in other UPC states.

Informal probate, governed by 18-C §§3-301 through 3-311, is handled by a register, an administrative officer rather than a judge, without any hearing, for estates that are uncontested and straightforward. An informal appointment is conclusive as to all interested persons unless it is later superseded by an order in a formal proceeding. Formal probate is a judicial proceeding that requires notice to interested parties and a hearing before a probate judge, used when a matter is contested or when a party specifically wants a binding court determination, for example to resolve a will contest or a dispute over who should serve as personal representative.

In either track, the person who manages the estate through Title 18-C is called the personal representative, the modern umbrella term Maine's statute uses in place of the older "executor" and "administrator" labels, though those terms still appear informally. Whoever petitions for appointment, whether named in a will or an heir petitioning for an intestate estate, receives letters testamentary or letters of administration once appointed, the document banks, transfer agents, and other institutions rely on to recognize that person's authority to act. From there, the personal representative inventories the estate's assets, gives notice to creditors, pays valid debts and taxes, and distributes what remains once the claims period described below has run.

Intestate Succession in Maine: Who Inherits Without a Will

Maine's intestate succession rules, set out in 18-C §2-102, genuinely distinguish between a decedent's descendants who are also the surviving spouse's descendants and those who are not, which changes the spouse's share significantly.

If no descendant and no parent of the decedent survives, the surviving spouse takes the entire estate. If all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse, and the spouse has no other descendants from outside the marriage, the surviving spouse again takes the entire estate. If no descendant of the decedent survives but a parent does, the surviving spouse takes the first $394,000 for a 2026 death, plus three-quarters of any balance, with the remainder going to the surviving parent or parents. If all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse, but the spouse has one or more surviving descendants who are not the decedent's, for example children the spouse had from a prior relationship, the surviving spouse takes the first $131,300 for a 2026 death, plus one-half of any balance. If descendants survive and one or more of them are not also descendants of the surviving spouse, for example children the decedent had from a prior relationship, the surviving spouse's share drops to one-half of the estate, with the other half passing to the decedent's descendants.

Do not read those dollar figures straight off the statute. The printed text of 18-C §2-102 says $300,000 and $100,000, but those are 2017 base amounts. 18-C §1-108 provides that the dollar amounts stated in sections 2-102, 2-402, 2-403, 2-405 and 3-1201 "must be increased or decreased" by the change in the CPI-U measured against a 2017 reference base, for the estate of any decedent who died after 2018, with the result rounded to a multiple of $100. Section 2-102 is the first section §1-108 lists.

The Maine Probate Courts publish the resulting figures each year. For a death in 2026 the §2-102 amounts are $394,000 and $131,300; for a death in 2025 they were $383,900 and $127,900. The adjustment tracks the year of death, not the year the estate is opened, so a spousal share computed off the unadjusted statutory numbers understates the protected amount by close to a third.

If no spouse or descendant survives, 18-C §2-103 sends the estate to the decedent's parents equally, or entirely to a sole surviving parent. If no parent survives either, it passes to the descendants of the decedent's parents, meaning siblings and, by representation, a deceased sibling's children, divided per capita at each generation. Failing that, the estate passes to grandparents and their descendants, split equally between the decedent's paternal and maternal lines, and then to great-grandparents and their descendants under the same paternal and maternal split if no closer relative can be found.

One way to make sure your property goes to the people you actually choose, rather than following Maine's intestate succession order, is to have a valid will in place. recordinglaw.com's free Maine Last Will and Testament Generator can help you create one, with no account required.

Small Estate and Simplified Probate in Maine

Maine offers two distinct simplified mechanisms, and they should not be confused with each other. The first, under 18-C §3-1201, is a collection-of-personal-property-by-affidavit procedure. It is available when the entire estate, after subtracting liens, does not exceed a base statutory figure of $40,000, which is inflation-adjusted annually under 18-C §1-108 and tied to the CPI-U. The Maine Probate Courts publish the adjusted figures each year, and the §3-1201 amount for a death in 2026 is $52,500. To use it, at least 30 days must have passed since death, no personal representative appointment can be pending or already granted anywhere, and the claimant must be entitled to the property. This mechanism covers personal property only; it cannot be used to transfer any Maine real estate, no matter how small the parcel.

The second mechanism, 18-C §3-1203, is called the small estates summary administrative procedure, and it works differently. It has no fixed dollar threshold. Instead, it applies a formula test: whether the estate's appraised value is entirely consumed once the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, administration costs, funeral expenses, and last-illness medical expenses are subtracted. Where that test is met, an already-appointed personal representative can skip formal creditor notice and close the estate immediately, rather than waiting out the normal claims period described below.

Does Maine Have an Estate or Inheritance Tax?

Yes. Maine levies its own state estate tax, separate from the federal estate tax, and has no state inheritance tax. For 2026, the Maine exemption is $7,160,000 per decedent, governed by 36 M.R.S. §4062 and reported on Form 706ME. Unlike the federal estate tax, Maine does not allow portability between spouses, so each spouse has a fully separate exemption rather than being able to use an unused portion of a deceased spouse's exemption. Rates run from 8% up to 12% on the portion of the estate above the exemption threshold. There is no separate, lower filing threshold. Under 36 M.R.S. §4068, a Maine estate tax return is required when the federal gross estate, increased by adjusted taxable gifts and by Maine elective property, exceeds "the exclusion and related unified credit amounts specified in section 4062, subsection 1-A," which is the same $7,160,000 figure for a 2026 death, or when a federal Form 706 is required. The $7,000,000 figure is Maine's 2025 exclusion, not a 2026 filing trigger.

Maine also sets firm deadlines for creditors. Under 18-C §§3-801 and 3-803, notice to creditors must be published once a week for two successive weeks, and claims are generally barred unless presented within 4 months of the first publication. For a creditor who is known or reasonably ascertainable and given actual written notice, the deadline is the later of 4 months from publication or 60 days from the mailed notice. Regardless of notice, an outer, absolute limit of 9 months from the date of death applies to all creditor claims.

Beyond estate tax, several assets pass outside Maine probate entirely regardless of whether the estate ultimately uses the informal or formal track: life insurance and retirement accounts with a named beneficiary, property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and accounts with a valid payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation. Skipping probate does not mean skipping estate tax. Those assets are generally still part of the federal gross estate, which is the base Maine builds its own tax on under 36 M.R.S. §4062, so they do count toward the $7,160,000 calculation even though they never pass through the probate court. This distinction, between what avoids probate and what avoids estate tax, trips up a lot of Maine families and is worth confirming directly with a tax professional or attorney for any estate near the threshold.

Do You Need a Probate Attorney?

Many straightforward, uncontested Maine estates move through the informal probate track, or one of the small-estate mechanisms above, without significant difficulty, often with the register handling the matter entirely on paper. A probate attorney is worth engaging when a will is likely to be contested, when the estate includes a business or property outside Maine, when the family situation is blended in a way that changes the spouse's statutory share under 18-C §2-102, or when the estate is large enough to raise Maine's own estate tax, given its relatively low $7,160,000 threshold compared to the federal exemption. An attorney can also help confirm which assets actually belong in the probate estate versus which pass outside it by beneficiary designation or survivorship, since getting that classification wrong can affect both the small-estate calculation and the estate tax return.

Probate by State covers how the process works, and how intestate succession, small-estate options, and estate or inheritance tax vary, in every other state.

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about probate and intestate succession in Maine as of the verification date above. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. It is not a substitute for advice from a probate attorney licensed in Maine, particularly for a contested estate, a blended family, or an estate large enough to raise Maine's own estate tax. Figures, thresholds, and statute citations reflect Maine law as currently understood; verify current details directly with the official source before relying on any figure here.

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Last updated: 2026-07-16. Figures and statutes cited reflect their in-force version as of 2026-07-16.

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