The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Maine?

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published June 3, 2026 Updated September 27, 2026 8 min read

Quick answer

Maine follows the Uniform Probate Code. If a married person with children dies intestate and all the children are also the surviving spouse's, the spouse usually takes the entire estate; if any child is from another relationship, the spouse takes only half. Maine is a common-law (separate property) state.

⚠️ Educational information only — not legal, tax, or financial advice.

The figures on this page are general estimates. Laws, fees, thresholds, and prices differ by state and change often, and your own situation may change the result. Before you act, confirm the current numbers and rules for Maine with a licensed professional — an attorney, tax advisor, or licensed agent as appropriate. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship.

How intestacy works in Maine

When someone dies in Maine without a valid will, 18-C M.R.S. §2-101 et seq. decides who inherits. The statute orders potential heirs by their relationship to the deceased — spouse and children first, then parents, then more distant relatives — and specifies exactly what share each one receives.

Maine is a common-law (separate property) state, so there is no community-property split; the shares above apply to the whole intestate estate.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse only (no children, no parents)

If no descendant and no parent of the decedent survives, the spouse inherits the entire intestate estate. If a parent survives but there is no descendant, the spouse takes the first $300,000 plus three-quarters of the balance (18-C §2-102(2)) - $300,000 being the statutory base figure that §1-108 adjusts by year of death.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse and children

This is the most common situation and where Maine’s rules get specific:

If all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also the surviving spouse's, and the spouse has no other surviving descendants, the spouse takes the entire estate (§2-102(1)(B)). If all the decedent's descendants are the spouse's but the spouse also has one or more surviving descendants who are not the decedent's, the spouse takes the first $100,000 plus one-half of the balance (§2-102(3)). If one or more of the decedent's surviving descendants are not the surviving spouse's, the spouse takes one-half of the intestate estate and the descendants share the other half (§2-102(4)). The two dollar amounts are the statutory base figures; §1-108 adjusts them by reference to the calendar year 2017 Consumer Price Index, so the amount that applies depends on the year of death.

For families where everyone is from the same marriage, the spouse generally gets a meaningful share. For blended families — where one or more children are from a prior relationship — many states change the math substantially. If your situation might fit that, the section above is exactly the rule that applies.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse and parents (no children)

With no descendants but a surviving parent, the spouse takes the first $300,000 plus three-quarters of the balance and the parents share the remaining one-quarter (18-C §2-102(2), §2-103). The $300,000 is the statutory base figure, adjusted under §1-108.

What happens when there are children but no spouse

The estate passes to the descendants by representation — equal shares at the nearest generation with living takers (18-C §2-103, §2-106).

What happens when there’s no spouse and no children

Order of inheritance: descendants → parents → parents' descendants (siblings, nieces and nephews) → grandparents and their descendants → more remote kindred → and, if no taker exists, the estate escheats to the State of Maine (18-C §2-103, §2-105).

This is where intestacy starts producing results that often surprise people — distant relatives the deceased may not have been close to can end up inheriting, and a long-time unmarried partner inherits nothing.

A Maine-specific quirk

Maine's spousal shares are stated in 18-C M.R.S. §2-102 as $300,000 plus three-quarters of the balance under subsection 2 and $100,000 plus one-half under subsection 3; the section was enacted by PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2. The dollar amounts in §2-102 ARE adjusted for inflation, but by 18-C M.R.S. §1-108, not by §1-109. §1-108(1)(B)(1) names §2-102 among the sections it covers and sets the reference base index at the Consumer Price Index for calendar year 2017; §1-108(2) provides that for the estate of a decedent who died after 2018 the amounts must be increased OR DECREASED by the percentage by which the CPI for the calendar year immediately preceding the year of death exceeds or falls below that base, rounded down to the next multiple of $100 for an increase and up for a decrease. So the figure that applies turns on the year of death, and the adjusted amount in force is not stated here. Maine also gives the surviving spouse the entire estate under subsection 1 when every surviving descendant of the decedent is also the spouse's and the spouse has no other surviving descendant.

What intestacy can’t do (and why it usually fails most people)

Even when Maine’s intestacy rules produce a result close to what someone would have chosen, the rules can never:

  • Leave anything to an unmarried partner — intestacy doesn’t recognize unmarried partners regardless of relationship length
  • Leave anything to a step-child you didn’t formally adopt
  • Leave anything to a friend, charity, or specific person outside your family
  • Name a guardian for your minor children — a Maine judge picks
  • Specify who handles your estate — a court appoints an administrator
  • Identify specific items for specific people
  • Account for blended-family dynamics in nuanced ways
  • Reduce probate costs and time — intestate estates still go through full probate

For most Maine families, a basic will — costing $300 to $1,500 with a local attorney, or $50 to $300 with an online service — is meaningfully better than the default rules.

What probate looks like in Maine when there’s no will

If someone dies intestate in Maine, the estate still goes through probate. A court appoints an administrator (rather than an “executor” — the title is different for intestacy) to:

  1. Inventory the estate’s assets
  2. Notify creditors and pay debts
  3. Identify legal heirs under Maine’s intestacy statute
  4. Distribute remaining assets to heirs according to the statute

For details on what probate costs and how long it takes in Maine, see:

What displaces the Maine intestacy statutes

Each of the following changes some or all of what the Maine intestacy statutes would otherwise direct:

  1. A basic will, prepared through an online service or by a local attorney; what each charges is set by the seller and no independent source for it is cited. A will names an executor, names a guardian for any minor children, and directs who takes what, in place of the intestacy shares set out above.
  2. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and POD/TOD bank accounts. These pass outside both the will and intestacy.
  3. A financial power of attorney and a healthcare directive. These operate on incapacity rather than on death, and authorise a named agent in place of a court-appointed guardian.

The reported cost of all three together is under $1,500 for a typical Maine estate. Those figures are market estimates and carry no named, dated publisher.

What happens without a will in other states

Intestacy rules differ from state to state — here’s what happens when someone dies without a will elsewhere:

This page explains Maine intestacy law in general terms as of 2026. It is not legal advice; intestacy provisions, dollar thresholds, and statute citations can change. Confirm current rules with a licensed Maine attorney before relying on this page. Sources: 18-C M.R.S. §2-102 (share of spouse), 18-C M.R.S. §2-103 (share of heirs other than surviving spouse), 18-C M.R.S. §2-105 (no taker; escheat), 18-C M.R.S. §1-108 (cost-of-living adjustment of certain dollar amounts).

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