Most of what adult children need to know about Maine estate and incapacity planning concentrates in a small number of documents and two state-specific tax rules: the Maine estate tax, and the absence of a state inheritance tax.
The four documents to have in place this year
These apply to every Maine-resident parent regardless of wealth or family structure. Most cost between $400 and $1,500 through a Maine-licensed attorney; a trust adds another $1,500–$4,000.
1. Durable Power of Attorney (18-C M.R.S. §5-901 et seq.)
Maine adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act in 2010, codifying a statutory short-form POA that banks and other providers broadly recognize.1 The POA should be:
- Durable— survives your parent’s incapacity (the default under the Uniform Act).
- Signed by your parent before a notary; witness requirements depend on which authorities are granted.
- Drafted with care around “hot powers” — authority to make gifts, change beneficiary designations, create or amend a trust, and certain other transactions requires explicit grants under the Maine UPOA Act (§5-911).
Out-of-state POAs are generally honored in Maine if valid where executed, but Maine banks and brokerages may scrutinize them. A Maine-drafted document on the statutory short form reduces friction.
2. Advance Health Care Directive
Maine combines health-care power of attorney and living will into a single Advance Health Care Directive under the Maine Advance Health Care Directives Act.2The directive names a person to make medical decisions when your parent cannot communicate, and expresses your parent’s wishes about end-of-life care — specifically, whether to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining procedures in defined terminal, end-stage, or persistent-vegetative-state conditions.
3. Last Will and Testament
Maine wills are governed by Maine’s adoption of the Uniform Probate Code (18-C M.R.S.). The will must be signed by the testator and witnessed by two competent witnesses. Maine also recognizes self-proving affidavits, which streamline probate.
4. Revocable Living Trust (and beneficiary-designation audit)
A revocable trust is often the right tool for two reasons: probate avoidance, and reducing exposure to the Maine state estate tax for larger estates. Maine’s probate process is more efficient than many states — informal probate under the Maine UPC is relatively streamlined — but for estates approaching the Maine exemption or holding out-of-state property, a trust is worth considering.
Maine’s state estate tax
Maine is one of 12 states (plus DC) with a state estate tax as of 2026. The Maine estate-tax exemption for 2025 is approximately $6.8M per individual, indexed annually for inflation. Rates are graduated:3
- 8% on the first ~$3M above the exemption
- 10% on the next bracket
- 12% on amounts above approximately ~$9.6M above the exemption
Practical implications:
- For estates under ~$6.8M, no Maine estate tax. The federal estate tax also doesn’t apply until ~$13.99M (2025 federal exemption).
- For estates between ~$6.8M and ~$13.99M, Maine estate tax applies but federal does not. The Maine bill on a $10M estate to children is on the order of $300,000–$400,000 depending on bracket.
- For estates above ~$13.99M, both Maine and federal estate tax apply.
Planning levers for estates near or above the Maine exemption: lifetime gifting (using the federal annual exclusion, currently $18,000 per recipient in 2024), credit-shelter and marital-deduction trust structures, and life-insurance planning to provide liquidity without expanding the taxable estate.
No state inheritance tax
Maine has no inheritance tax. (An inheritance tax is paid by the recipient; an estate tax is paid by the estate.) Six states have inheritance taxes — Iowa (being phased out), Kentucky, Maryland, Nebraska, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Maine is not one of them.
Probate in Maine: the Uniform Probate Code
Maine adopted the Uniform Probate Code, modernized as 18-C M.R.S., effective 2019.4 The UPC provides three procedure tracks:
- Small-estate affidavit (18-C M.R.S. §3-1201). For estates with personal property under approximately $40,000 and no real property. Resolved by affidavit without court involvement.
- Informal probate. The default for most uncontested estates. Filed with the probate court but requires minimal supervision; typically resolves in months, not years.
- Formal probate.Court-supervised, used when the estate is contested, complex, or the will’s validity is in question.
Maine’s informal probate is meaningfully cheaper and faster than the formal process in many other states. That said, probate-avoidance planning — beneficiary designations, transfer-on-death deeds where applicable , joint tenancy carefully used, and revocable trusts — remains the higher-leverage move for most families.
The Maine homestead and property protections
Maine’s creditor-protection homestead is modest compared with Florida’s — the homestead exemption protects up to $80,000 of equity (or higher for joint owners or owners over 60) from most creditors under 14 M.R.S. §4422.5 The property-tax homestead exemption is a separate, smaller benefit.
If your parent moved to Maine from another state
Out-of-state wills are generally valid in Maine if valid where executed, but a Maine review is wise:
- Out-of-state POAs may need to be replaced with a Maine statutory short-form POA to reduce bank friction.
- Estate plans drafted before 2019 may predate the modernized 18-C M.R.S. UPC.
- For estates approaching the Maine exemption, the out-of-state plan probably wasn’t drafted with Maine’s lower exemption in mind.
What to do this quarter
- Locate (or create) your parent’s four documents: POA, Advance Health Care Directive, Will, and (if appropriate) Revocable Living Trust.
- If documents are more than 10 years old, have them reviewed under the modernized 18-C M.R.S. UPC.
- Audit beneficiary designations on every retirement account, life-insurance policy, and POD/TOD account.
- If your parent’s net worth approaches or exceeds ~$6M, schedule a Maine estate-tax planning consultation.
- For our companion content on MaineCare planning and long-term-care funding, see the Maine Medicaid guide.