The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

How Much Does a Living Trust Cost in Maine?

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published June 11, 2026 Updated September 23, 2026 8 min read

Quick answer

No Maine law sets what a living trust costs, and we found no published source for Maine trust-drafting prices as of September 2026 that is not a law firm, an online document seller, or a site paid to refer customers to one. Because Maine follows the Uniform Probate Code and offers a transfer-on-death deed, Maine sets no statutory percentage probate fee — so those routes already pass the principal assets outside probate rather than essential.

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

The figures on this page are the ones a statute or a named, dated publisher sets. 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.

What a living trust actually costs in Maine

There are three ways to set up a revocable living trust in Maine. What each includes differs; what each costs is not set by law and is not published by any independent source we could find:

How it’s prepared Price in Maine What the engagement or the service’s terms state
Attorney-drafted Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 Whatever the written engagement letter lists. It is the engagement, not a market convention, that fixes the scope.
Online service Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 Whatever the service’s own published terms list.
DIY template Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026 The document alone. Drafting and funding are the purchaser’s to do.

We found no published source for this figure as of September 2026. The Maine trust prices that are published come from law firms, online document sellers, or sites paid to refer customers to them. None is an independent publisher, so none is cited here.

No Maine statute sets what a living trust costs. Maine trust law governs how a trust is created and administered; it fixes no drafting charge. What is fixed by law is the probate side of the comparison, below. A trust holds assets outside probate only to the extent those assets are retitled into it, and deed preparation — the step that retitles real estate — is a separate charge wherever the trust is drafted.

What drives the price within Maine

No Maine statute sets any of these, and we found no independent published source for how much each moves the price as of September 2026. They are the items a drafting engagement is made of:

  • A joint trust for a married couple, against a single-person trust, against two separate trusts.
  • A new deed drafted and recorded for every property retitled into the trust, and a separate one in each other state where property is held.
  • A blended family, a special-needs beneficiary, a business interest, or estate-tax exposure.
  • Whether the price covers the trust document alone or a package with a pour-over will and powers of attorney.

What probate costs in Maine by comparison

A funded living trust holds assets outside probate. The figure it is measured against is therefore the cost of Maine probate itself.

Maine probate is not especially painful: it's a Uniform Probate Code state with informal probate and reasonable (not percentage) fees under 18-C M.R.S. §3-719, plus a TOD deed for real estate. The main reasons to use a trust are privacy, out-of-state property, or incapacity planning.

We found no published source for what probate costs in total in Maine as of September 2026. The ranges that are published come from law firms, online document sellers, or sites paid to refer customers to them, so none is cited here. What is fixed is the sliding-scale court filing fee.

For the full breakdown, see How Much Does Probate Cost in Maine?.

How Maine probate cost compares to trust cost

Maine provides a TOD deed for real estate alongside beneficiary designations and joint accounts, so the principal assets can pass outside probate without a trust. A trust's documented effects here are privacy, ancillary-probate avoidance, and incapacity management.

A living trust operates on two things: assets retitled into it pass outside probate, and the trust document governs management if the grantor becomes incapacitated. Those are the documented functions; the figures above are what each costs in Maine.

Maine-specific things to know

Maine has adopted both the Uniform Trust Code (18-B M.R.S.) and, within its Probate Code, the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (18-C M.R.S. §6-401 et seq.). Maine also levies a state estate tax: a $5,600,000 base exclusion (36 M.R.S. §4102(5)) adjusted annually for the Chained CPI and rounded to the nearest $10,000 (36 M.R.S. §4119).

Funding. A trust only avoids probate for assets you retitle into it — recording a new deed at the county registry and changing ownership on accounts. In Maine, many people instead use a TOD deed for the home, which achieves probate avoidance without funding a trust. A trust holds outside probate only the assets actually retitled into it; assets left in the grantor’s own name pass through probate whether or not a trust exists.

What affects the price in Maine

We found no published source for Maine trust pricing as of September 2026, so this page states no range and no price drivers beyond what the work itself consists of, above. The one price on this page that is fixed by law is the probate court’s, in the section above, with the statute that fixes it cited there.

What determines whether a trust applies in Maine

In Maine the operative factors are privacy, incapacity planning, out-of-state real property, and blended families. In-state homes can pass by TOD deed.

The circumstances in which a living trust has a documented effect:

  • Real estate, particularly in more than one state — property in another state otherwise requires a separate ancillary probate there.
  • Privacy — a probated will becomes a public court record; a trust does not.
  • Incapacity — a trust governs management during life; a will takes effect only at death.
  • Staged distributions — a trust can direct payment over time; a will distributes at closing.

Where an estate consists of assets that already pass by beneficiary designation or joint ownership, those assets bypass probate without a trust. For the documented differences between the two instruments, see Will vs. Trust: How They Differ.

What the record shows

Item Maine
Price of a living trust Not set by law; no independent published source found as of September 2026
Governing statutes 18-C M.R.S. §3-719 (reasonable PR compensation); 18-B M.R.S. (Maine Uniform Trust Code); 18-C M.R.S. §6-405 (transfer-on-death deed); 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201 (small-estate affidavit)
State authority Maine Judicial Branch / Probate Courts (courts.maine.gov)

A trust holds outside probate only the assets actually retitled into it; an unfunded trust leaves those assets in probate. The Maine probate figures this is measured against are set out above with their citations. No figure is published here for what a trust costs to draft: we found no independent published source as of September 2026.

Living trust costs in other states

Compare Maine with living trust pricing in other states:

This page sets out what Maine law fixes about a living trust and the probate it is measured against, as of September 2026. It is not legal or financial advice; statutes and thresholds change and depend on your situation. Confirm current figures and rules with a licensed Maine attorney. It states no drafting price, because we found no independent published source for one. Sources: Maine Judicial Branch / Probate Courts (courts.maine.gov); 18-C M.R.S. §3-719 (reasonable PR compensation), 18-B M.R.S. (Maine Uniform Trust Code), 18-C M.R.S. §6-405 (transfer-on-death deed), 18-C M.R.S. §3-1201 (small-estate affidavit).

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