Simplified route
procedure-specific
Collection of personal property by affidavit; usable 30 days after death.
Eligibility and caveatsMaine estate administration
Maine probate: rules, process, costs, executor fees and deadlines
Small-estate limit: procedure-specific
In Maine, executor pay is whatever the court finds reasonable (18-C M.R.S. § 3-719) and claims close four months after first publication, or 60 days after mailed notice if later, nine months after death at most. Maine’s county Probate Courts administer estates. The small-estate affidavit counts the entire net estate but collects personal property, and its statutory base ceiling is adjusted for inflation annually rather than remaining a fixed $40,000.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised .
Answer first
Maine simplified probate route
No single dollar limit; usable 30 days after death.
Collection of personal property by affidavitNo combined Maine probate total
The Probate Court (county) where the estate is opened sets or collects the filing charge. Executor pay is reasonable compensation (18-C M.R.S. § 3-719), not a rate. Each side in full: Maine probate filing cost and Maine executor fees.
Screen a specific Maine estate with the calculators on the small-estate page, or compare states in the full estate navigator.
What the reviewed rules establish
Court cost
Varies locally
Set locally; ask the receiving court.
Maine Probate Courts are county courts and no single statewide operative opening-fee amount was located in Tier A-D material. Each county Probate Court must be consulted for its current schedule. Where it is set: Maine Probate Courts portal: https://www.maineprobate.net/welcome/.
Executor compensation
Court-reviewed
No percentage schedule; the court decides what is reasonable. Source: 18-C M.R.S. § 3-719.
A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation, not a statutory percentage. A will compensation provision may be renounced before qualification when there is no compensation contract with the decedent; the representative may also renounce all or part of the fee.
18-C M.R.S. § 3-719, personal-representative compensation (Maine Legislature).
The section’s own words
A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for the personal representative's services. If a will provides for compensation of the personal representative and there is no contract with the decedent regarding compensation, the personal representative may renounce the provision before qualifying and be entitled to reasonable compensation. A personal representative also may renounce the personal representative's right to all or any part of the compensation. A written renunciation of fee may be filed with the court.
Creditor deadline
Multiple triggers
18-C M.R.S. § 3-801 (Maine Legislature; reviewed August 9, 2026)
Timeline and creditor detailsMaine decision map
The four facts that change the Maine route
Each Maine answer below links to the page that sets out its source.
| Question | Recorded Maine answer |
|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Collection of personal property by affidavit |
| What property and basis count? | probate property within the rule's stated scope; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. |
| What is the amount screen? | No numeric ceiling verified |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 30 days after death; creditor deadlines: separate clocks by triggering event |
| What does the cost record establish? | No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule. |
| What does compensation use? | Reasonable compensation set by the court, measured on the estate accounting. |
Limits and unresolved costs
- Maine's affidavit limit changes with the year of death; it is not the unadjusted $40,000 printed in § 3-1201.
- Maine publishes no single statewide list of county fees or annual adjusted amounts; ask the county probate court for the figures that apply.
Continue
What Maine courts publish
Each link goes to the court’s own page and is checked before every release.
No Maine court document is linked here. The notes below state why, rather than leaving the absence unexplained.
Limits on court material
- Maine’s Probate Courts are county courts rather than a division of the Maine Judicial Branch; statewide court resources do not supply one operative county fee.
- Section 3-1201(3) requires each county Probate Court to publish the inflation-adjusted affidavit value annually.
- Maine's probate courts are county courts and sit outside the state Judicial Branch, so their shared portal at maineprobate.net -- not a state judiciary domain -- is the official statewide entry point.
- The shared portal at maineprobate.net is named here rather than linked: this site had not confirmed it as of August 9, 2026, and it links only court pages it has confirmed. Search for it directly, or contact the Probate Court of the county where the decedent lived.
Maine primary sources
Each rule on the Maine pages comes from one of these 6 sources; the citation opens the publisher’s own text. All were last rechecked October 3, 2026.
Simplified-procedure rule
18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201, collection by affidavit.
Simplified-procedure rule
18-C M.R.S. § 1-108, inflation adjustment.
Executor compensation rule
18-C M.R.S. § 3-719, personal-representative compensation.
Creditor deadline rule
18-C M.R.S. § 3-801, notice to creditors.
Creditor deadline rule
18-C M.R.S. § 3-803, limitations on claims.
Court and venue rule
18-C M.R.S. § 1-302, probate subject-matter jurisdiction.
Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Maine source list · how sources are checked · report a correction