Maine Small Estate Affidavit

The $52,500 limit, and what actually counts

The 30-day waiting period

30 days, counted from the date of death. Two independent hooks: the opening clause of §3-1201(1) ('Thirty days after the death of a decedent, any person indebted to the decedent... shall make payment'), and §3-1201(1)(B), which requires the affiant to swear that 'Thirty days have elapsed since the death of the decedent.' There is no separate creditor-notice waiting period, no publication requirement, and no court-imposed hold. The affidavit may be signed and presented on day 31.

Who can sign the affidavit

A person claiming to be the "successor" of the decedent, or another person acting on the successor's behalf ("an affidavit made by or on behalf of the successor," 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201(1)). The statute does not impose a priority order among successors, does not require all heirs to join, does not require Maine residency, and does not require the affiant to be a spouse or next of kin, only that the affiant swear under §3-1201(1)(D) that the claiming successor is entitled to payment or delivery of the property. The affiant must swear to the affidavit before a notary public or a Maine attorney-at-law (Form AF-102 jurat).

Either. §3-1201 does not distinguish testate from intestate estates and imposes no requirement that a will be probated, filed, or even mentioned before the affidavit is used, the only will-related condition is §3-1201(1)(C): that no application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction. Form AF-102 contains no will question. Practical caveats: (1) if there is a will, the affiant's entitlement under §3-1201(1)(D) derives from the will's terms, so a devisee (not merely an intestate heir) should be the affiant; (2) 18-C §2-515 imposes an independent duty on whoever has custody of the will to deliver it to the proper probate court or to the personal representative, using the affidavit does not extinguish that duty; (3) filing a will for probate would create a pending proceeding and can knock out §3-1201(1)(C) if an appointment application accompanies it.

The affidavit must be signed in front of a notary. Most banks and UPS Stores have a notary; many charge under $15.

Can it transfer a house or land in Maine?

No. Maine has no small-estate affidavit for real property, and no companion real-property affidavit with its own threshold (unlike CA Prob. Code §13200 or the TX homestead-only SEA). 18-C §3-1201 is limited on its face to 'personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action.' Maine did not adopt any UPC-style affidavit or petition for determination of title to real estate of small value. To move Maine real estate out of a decedent's name the successors must use: (a) informal or formal probate (Article 3, Parts 3 and 4) and a personal representative's deed or a §3-907/3-908 distribution instrument; (b) a proceeding to determine the heirs of an intestate, expressly exempt from the 3-year ultimate time limit by §3-108(2); (c) a late proceeding under §3-108(1)(D) more than 3 years after death, where the PR's authority is limited to what is necessary to confirm title in the successors and only administration expenses may be claimed; or (d) a nonprobate instrument executed before death, principally a transfer-on-death deed under the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, 18-C §§6-401 to 6-420. The only recordable death-related affidavit in the Maine Probate Code touching land is the §6-414 'notice of death affidavit,' and it is available only to a beneficiary under a previously recorded TOD deed; it must be notarized, is recorded in the registry of deeds for the county where the land lies, and §6-414 expressly states that filing it 'is not a condition to the transfer of title'. It confirms title, it does not convey it. Maine title practice normally requires a probate record in the chain for insurable title.

How to use a small estate affidavit in Maine

1. 1

   Confirm you're under the limit and past the wait

   Add up the property that passes through the estate and check it against the $52,500 ceiling. Value of the entire estate, wherever located, less liens and encumbrances (18-C M.R.S. §3-1201(1)(A)). Not limited to Maine-situs assets; reduced only by liens/encumbrances, not by general unsecured debts. Statutory base figure is $40,000, indexed annually under §1-108; the published figure for decedents dying in 2026 is $52,500. The affidavit reaches personal property only (debts owed to decedent, bank/investment accounts, instruments evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action). There is no separate/second dollar cap for any particular asset type.

2. 2

   Gather the documents

   You'll need certified copies of the death certificate: order at least three, since institutions often keep one: plus account numbers, the vehicle title or VIN, and the names and addresses of every heir.

3. 3

   Complete the affidavit

   Fill in Collection of Personal Property by Affidavit ("Small Estate Affidavit"), 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201. Maine Probate Courts Form AF-102, listing the decedent, the heirs and their relationships, the assets and their values, and the known debts.

4. 4

   Sign it in front of a notary

   Sign in front of a notary public. Banks, credit unions and shipping stores all offer notarization, usually for a small fee.

5. 5

   Present it to whoever holds the property

   Strong mandatory language plus a full safe harbor. §3-1201(1): a person indebted to the decedent, or in possession of the decedent's personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock or chose in action, shall pay the debt or deliver the property on presentation of a conforming affidavit. §3-1201(2): a securities transfer agent shall change the registered ownership on the corporation's books from the decedent to the successor(s) on presentation of the same affidavit. §3-1202 (safe harbor): the person paying, delivering, transferring or issuing is discharged and released to the same extent as if it had dealt with a duly appointed personal representative; it is not required to see to the application of the property and not required to inquire into the truth of any statement in the affidavit. Enforcement: if a holder refuses, the property may be recovered: or payment, delivery, transfer or issuance compelled, in a proceeding brought by or on behalf of the persons entitled, on proof of their right. The offsetting risk sits with the recipient, not the institution: the recipient is answerable and accountable to any personal representative of the estate or to any other person with a superior right. There is no statutory deadline by which an institution must act and no statutory penalty or fee-shifting for refusal, which is why Maine banks sometimes still demand their own internal forms; the remedy is the §3-1202 compulsion proceeding. The BMV is the notable carve-out. It operates under 29-A ch. 7 and its own rules and does not accept the §3-1201 affidavit as its title-transfer document.

Where to take the signed affidavit

Debts and your personal liability

§3-1201 requires no schedule of debts, no listing of creditors, no notice to creditors, no proof that funeral or last-illness expenses were paid, and no bond. The affidavit is a collection device, not an accounting. Liability instead attaches downstream: (a) §3-1202: any person to whom payment, delivery, transfer or issuance is made 'is answerable and accountable to any personal representative of the estate or to any other person having a superior right'; (b) §3-901: successors take subject to all charges incident to administration, including creditor claims and the surviving spouse's/dependent children's allowances, and subject to abatement, retainer, advancement and ademption. So an affiant who collects and distributes funds can be forced to disgorge if a PR is later appointed, if a superior-priority heir or devisee appears, or if creditors surface. Note the interaction with the §3-1203 summary administrative procedure: that separate, PR-driven route lets a PR skip creditor notice entirely when the whole estate, less liens and encumbrances, does not exceed the homestead allowance, exempt property, family allowance, administration costs, reasonable funeral expenses and reasonable and necessary last-illness medical/hospital expenses: a formula-based test, not a fixed dollar cap, and it requires an appointed PR plus an inventory and appraisal and a §3-1204 closing statement. Do not conflate §3-1203 with the §3-1201 affidavit. Maine's 2026 allowance figures that feed the §3-1203 formula: homestead allowance $29,500 (§2-402), exempt property $19,700 (§2-403), family allowance $35,400 (§2-405). No statutory penalty provision or perjury-specific sanction is written into §3-1201; the affidavit is sworn, so ordinary false-swearing exposure applies.

When you can’t use it

Maine takes the affidavit route off the table when:

• Estate value (entire estate wherever located, less liens and encumbrances) exceeds the indexed cap. $52,500 for deaths in 2026 (§3-1201(1)(A))
• Fewer than 30 days have elapsed since the date of death (§3-1201(1) and (1)(B))
• An application or petition for appointment of a personal representative is pending, or has been granted, in any jurisdiction, including outside Maine (§3-1201(1)(C)); this is an absolute bar, not merely a Maine-court bar
• The affiant/claiming successor is not entitled to payment or delivery of the property (§3-1201(1)(D))
• The asset is real property. Maine's affidavit reaches personal property only; real estate title requires probate (informal or formal), a determination-of-heirs proceeding, or a nonprobate instrument such as a recorded transfer-on-death deed
• The asset is titled personal property that a state agency will not release on the §3-1201 affidavit alone, notably motor vehicles, where the BMV runs its own MVT-22 process (see vehicleTransfer)
• Practical bar: more than 3 years have passed since death and title confirmation is needed. 18-C §3-108(1)(D) permits a late proceeding but limits the PR to confirming title in successors and bars presentation of claims other than administration expenses

If any of those apply, a probate attorney is the right call. A typical small-estate proceeding runs $1,000–$3,000 plus the court’s fee.

Maine small estate affidavit FAQ

Statute and sources

Last verified July 29, 2026. No amendments identified in the last three years.

• 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201 (Collection of personal property by affidavit)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201(1)(A) (value threshold, indexed)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201(1)(B) (30-day waiting period)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201(1)(C)-(D) (no PR pending/granted; claimant entitled)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201(2) (securities transfer agent)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201(3) (county probate court must annually publish adjusted value) [added by PL 2025, c. 76, §2]
• 18-C M.R.S. §1-108 (cost-of-living adjustment; CPI-U annual average; 2017 reference base index)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-1202 (Effect of affidavit, discharge/safe harbor; accountability of recipient)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-1203 (Small estates; summary administrative procedure. PR-driven, not affidavit)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-1204 (closing by sworn statement of personal representative)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-901 (Successors' rights if no administration)
• 18-C M.R.S. §3-108(1)(D), (2) (3-year ultimate time limit; late proceeding limited to confirming title; no limit on proceedings to determine heirs of an intestate)
• 18-C M.R.S. §6-414 (Notice of death affidavit, transfer-on-death deeds only)
• 18-C M.R.S. §2-515 (duty of custodian of will)
• 29-A M.R.S. §663 (vehicle passes to surviving spouse); 29-A M.R.S. §662 (transfer of interest in vehicle)

• legislature.maine.gov(opens in a new tab)
• legislature.maine.gov(opens in a new tab)
• legislature.maine.gov(opens in a new tab)
• legislature.maine.gov(opens in a new tab)
• legislature.maine.gov(opens in a new tab)
• legislature.maine.gov(opens in a new tab)
• legislature.maine.gov(opens in a new tab)
• maineprobate.net(opens in a new tab)

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