Maine living trusts & estate documents

Living trust law in Maine

A revocable living trust holds your home, accounts, and other property during your life, you stay in full control as trustee and can change or revoke it any time, then passes it to your beneficiaries without probate when you're gone. In Maine, trusts are governed by the Maine Uniform Trust Code, 18-B M.R.S..

Avoiding probate in Maine

Probate in Maine is governed by the Maine Probate Code, 18-C M.R.S. and handled by a county Probate Court. See state probate code for administration options.

Maine allows collection by affidavit when the estate, less liens, is under a limit set at a $40,000 base and adjusted annually for inflation (18-C M.R.S. §§ 3-1201, 1-108). Assets held in a funded living trust pass to your beneficiaries without probate, whatever the size of the estate. Many Maine homeowners set one up for that reason. Maine also authorizes a transfer-on-death deed (18-C M.R.S. § 6-401 et seq.) to pass real estate outside probate. A living trust does the same for every asset, not just real estate.

In Maine, creditors generally have the earlier of 9 months after death or 4 months after the first published notice to file claims against the estate (18-C M.R.S. § 3-803), one reason court probate takes time that a funded trust avoids.

Estate and inheritance tax in Maine

Maine levies its own estate tax on top of the federal one, and at a much lower exemption: Maine has an estate tax. The statute sets the Maine exclusion amount at $5,600,000 for estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2018, adjusted annually for inflation (36 M.R.S. §§ 4102, 4119); Maine Revenue Services publishes the adjusted figure, and for estates of decedents dying in 2026 the annual exclusion amount is $7,160,000. The separate federal estate tax reaches only estates above $15 million per person (2026, adjusted yearly), so most families never owe it.

Protecting a surviving spouse in Maine

A surviving spouse in Maine who is left out of the will can instead claim an elective share of 50% of the marital-property portion of the augmented estate under 18-C M.R.S. § 2-202, a protection the will itself cannot override.

Maine also sets aside a homestead allowance of $22,500 and exempt property of up to $15,000, base amounts that are adjusted for inflation under 18-C M.R.S. § 1-108 for deaths after 2018 for the surviving spouse, or if there is none the decedent's minor and dependent children (18-C M.R.S. § 2-402), exempt from and with priority over all claims against the estate other than the costs and expenses of administration and reasonable funeral expenses.

Signing your Maine documents

1. Sign the living trust. Executed and acknowledged before a notary.
2. Sign the will. Two witnesses; notarized self-proving affidavit included (standalone and pour-over wills).
3. Sign the power of attorney. Sign your Durable Power of Attorney before a Notary Public.
4. Sign the health care documents. Sign your Advance Health Care Directive in the presence of two adult witnesses, who then sign the witness statements (each part of the form that shows witness lines is signed the same way). The eligibility rules printed on the form govern who may serve.
5. Follow your package instructions. Your package includes page-by-page signing instructions written for Maine. Follow those as the authoritative guide.

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