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Maine source record

Every source behind the Maine guide

6 primary records, quoted verbatim and checked against 18 named presence or absence conditions that must pass against the live government text. Open the record, read the words the publishing body actually used, and confirm the current rule for yourself.

Last full re-fetch September 15, 2026

What each source establishes

The Maine guide rests on the source-backed rules this site can verify for the state: which simplified procedure exists and what it limits, what the court charges, how the person administering the estate may be paid, and the statutory creditor-deadline clocks the official text states.Every published rule below is quoted in the publisher’s own words rather than summarised.

Simplified-procedure rule

18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201

Maine Legislature · Data for this page extracted on 10/20/2025 14:32:56. · Verified August 9, 2026

1. Affidavit; duty to deliver property. Thirty days after the death of a decedent, any person indebted to the decedent or having possession of personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action belonging to the decedent shall make payment of the indebtedness or deliver the personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action to a person claiming to be the successor of the decedent upon being presented an affidavit made by or on behalf of the successor stating that: A. The value of the entire estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed $40,000, adjusted for inflation pursuant to section 1‑108 ; [PL 2025, c. 76, §1 (AMD).] B. Thirty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent; [PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).] C.

What was published from this source

  • ME 18-C M.R.S. § 3-1201

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • section identity
  • quoted legal rule
  • section identity

Response digest af33e047c5ec0bb2… · HTTP 200

Simplified-procedure rule

18-C M.R.S. § 1-108

Maine Legislature · Data for this page extracted on 10/20/2025 14:32:56. · Verified August 9, 2026

2. Automatic adjustment of amounts for inflation. The dollar amounts stated in sections 2‑102 , 2‑402 , 2‑403 , 2‑405 and 3‑1201 apply to the estate of a decedent who died in or after 2017, but for the estate of a decedent who died after 2018, these dollar amounts must be increased or decreased if the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year immediately preceding the year of death exceeds or is less than the reference base index. For a wrongful death action brought with respect to a person who died after 2023, the dollar amount stated in section 2‑807, subsection 2 for loss of comfort, society and companionship must be adjusted if the Consumer Price Index for the calendar year immediately preceding the year of death exceeds or is less than the reference base index.

What was published from this source

  • ME 18-C M.R.S. § 1-108

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • section identity
  • quoted legal rule
  • section identity

Response digest 7f89adc9f832edaf… · HTTP 200

Executor compensation rule

18-C M.R.S. § 3-719

Maine Legislature · Data for this page extracted on 10/20/2025 14:32:56. · Verified August 9, 2026

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.

What was published from this source

  • ME 18-C M.R.S. § 3-719

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • section identity
  • quoted legal rule
  • section identity

Response digest 4c677ea327bc3b7c… · HTTP 200

Creditor deadline rule

18-C M.R.S. § 3-801

Maine Legislature · Data for this page extracted on 10/20/2025 14:32:56. · Verified August 9, 2026

1. Notice by publication. Unless notice has already been given under this section, a personal representative upon appointment shall publish a notice to creditors announcing the appointment and the personal representative's address and notifying creditors of the estate to present their claims within 4 months after the date of the first publication of the notice or be forever barred. The notice to creditors must be published once a week for 2 successive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county in which the decedent was domiciled at the time of death. [PL 2019, c. 598, §4 (AMD).] 2. Notice by mail.

What was published from this source

  • ME 18-C M.R.S. § 3-801

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • section identity
  • quoted legal rule
  • section identity

Response digest 00b055ed8af93028… · HTTP 200

Creditor deadline rule

18-C M.R.S. § 3-803

Maine Legislature · Data for this page extracted on 10/20/2025 14:32:56. · Verified August 9, 2026

1. Claims arising before death. All claims against a decedent's estate that arose before the death of the decedent, including claims of the State and any subdivision of the State, whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, founded on contract, tort or other legal basis, if not barred earlier by another statute of limitations or nonclaim statute, are barred against the estate, the personal representative and the heirs and devisees and nonprobate transferees of the decedent, unless presented within the earlier of the following: A. Nine months after the decedent's death; or [PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).] B. The time provided by section 3‑801, subsection 2 for creditors who are given actual notice, and the time provided in section 3‑801, subsection 1 for all creditors barred by publication.

What was published from this source

  • ME 18-C M.R.S. § 3-803

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • section identity
  • quoted legal rule
  • section identity

Response digest 54435687691cfab3… · HTTP 200

Court and venue rule

18-C M.R.S. § 1-302

Maine Legislature · Data for this page extracted on 10/20/2025 14:32:56. · Verified August 9, 2026

1. Subject matter jurisdiction. To the full extent permitted by the laws of the State, the court has jurisdiction over all subject matter relating to: A. The estates of decedents, including the construction of wills and determination of heirs and successors of decedents, and estates of protected persons; [PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).] B. The protection of minors and incapacitated persons; and [PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).] C. Trusts.

What was published from this source

  • ME 18-C M.R.S. § 1-302

Conditions checked against the live text

Each condition below must be found in the page as the publisher currently serves it. If any one of them stops matching, the build fails and the figure is withheld rather than published from memory.

  • section identity
  • quoted legal rule
  • section identity

Response digest 3fc80900530526db… · HTTP 200

Maine source decision map

How the Maine records fit together

The source record is most useful when each citation has a job. This map links the Maine procedure, cost, compensation, and deadline records to the decision each one can and cannot answer.

QuestionRecorded Maine answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Collection of personal property by affidavitConfirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?probate property within the rule's stated scope; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?No numeric ceiling verifiedUse the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?30 days after death; Maine combines a four-month publication bar, the later of four months after publication or 60 days after actual notice, and a nine-month-from-death outer limit for predeath claims. These independent triggers cannot be reduced to one honest days value.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?No single statewide amount is published here; confirm the receiving court's current schedule.Ask the Probate Court (county) about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?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. The relevant base is the estate accounting.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Decision boundary

What the Maine source set does not silently decide

The Maine records establish the rules listed above, but they do not turn a source citation into advice about title, family priority, tax filing, contested proceedings, or the exact clerk practice in every county. Those questions stay with the official court or a qualified adviser. The useful next step is to match the question to the citation rather than treating the longest quote as the answer to every estate problem.

No numeric shortcut is available for Maine

This registry does not establish a numeric Maine ceiling from an accepted primary source. The safe next step is to follow the reason and source lane on this page, then ask the Probate Court (county) for the current rule rather than importing a neighboring state\'s amount.

Next evidence to collect

Open the quoted record for the row you rely on and check the publisher's current text before filing.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official material

Maine publishes no court artifact in this registry. 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.

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.

Source trail

Records used by this Maine map

What Maine courts publish

The statutes on this page state the rule. These are the documents the court itself publishes. Every link is probed before release, and any link that stops resolving fails the build rather than staying on the page.

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 refuses automated requests, so it is named here rather than linked: this site publishes only court links it has proven reachable. Search for it directly, or contact the Probate Court of the county where the decedent lived.

Checking these Maine records against the publishers

Every citation above links to the body that publishes it, and every quoted sentence is reproduced exactly, so a text search on the publisher’s own page should land on it. Where the publisher’s current wording differs from what is recorded here, the publisher governs and this page is wrong; naming the citation and the language you see maps the difference onto a specific condition rather than a general complaint. The full procedure, including how a source qualifies in the first place and what disqualifies one, is set out once on the methodology page instead of being restated on each of the254 state records.

These records cover the cost and route questions this site answers for Maine. They do not cover intestate succession shares, spousal and family allowances, creditor priority, tax filing obligations, real-property transfer mechanics, or contested proceedings. Where an answer would require one of those, the site says so rather than estimating.

Return to the Maine estate guide ·All 254 records ·Dataset overview and citation ·How sources are selected