How Do I Get Appointed as Executor in Maine?

In Maine, the County Probate Court appoints the personal representative and the Register of Probate issues Letters of Authority of Personal Representative; an informal (registrar) track is available.

State

Document Type

Getting appointed in Maine

Personal Representative

The form that opens the estate

DE-201

Petition for Formal Probate of Will or Appointment of Personal Representative or Both · Print-only PDF (no fill-in fields) · View source

Where you file

County Probate Court (one per county; 16 statewide)

What the court issues (with a will)

Letters of Authority of Personal Representative (Letters Testamentary)

issued by Register of Probate

Letters are an output — the court issues them after granting the petition.

At a glance

UPC adoptedInformal trackE-filing (self-represented)Self-represented filingLocal/county forms

E-filing is optional and costs $7 per filing (effective Sept. 1, 2021); paper filing with the county Register of Probate remains available. Pro se filers are accommodated — the informal application is reviewed and acted on by the Register without a hearing. Per-county e-filing participation is not separately enumerated here.

Bond

Required before Letters: No
Waivable by will: Yes
Waivable by beneficiaries: No

Other official forms

Informal application: DE-201(I) (testate) / DE-101(I) (intestate)View source
Letters form: DE-404View source

What to file with the petition

Original will and any codicils (for testate estates) (18-C M.R.S. §3-301(1)(B)(1))
Application for informal probate/appointment (DE-201(I) with a will, DE-101(I) without) OR Petition for formal probate (DE-201 with a will, DE-101 without), sworn/verified by the applicant (18-C M.R.S. §3-301(1), §3-402)
Acceptance/statement of acceptance of the duties of office by the personal representative before letters issue (18-C M.R.S. §3-601 "Qualification"; DE-104 PR Acceptance)
Bond only if required by the will, for a special administrator, or by court order (18-C M.R.S. §3-603)
Information to heirs and devisees / notice of appointment (18-C M.R.S. §3-705); demand-for-notice filings honored (§3-204)

Small-estate alternative

Bypasses full Letters: Yes
Form: AF-102View source
Form name: Small Estate Affidavit for Collection of Personal Property

State-specific notes

Maine issues one 'Letters of Authority of Personal Representative' (DE-404) for both testate and intestate estates, distinguished only by a 'Left a Will'/'Left no Will' checkbox, rather than separate Letters Testamentary and Letters of Administration documents. Probate is handled by 16 county Probate Courts under one statewide form set; the official forms portal is maineprobate.net (the State of Maine County Probate Courts site, a .net rather than a .gov), while the governing statutes are on legislature.maine.gov. A proceeding may not be commenced more than 3 years after death, except as §3-108(1) provides. Small-estate collection by affidavit (AF-102) bypasses appointment entirely when the estate is at or below the §3-1201 threshold and 30 days have elapsed since death — the threshold is a $40,000 base adjusted for inflation under §1-108, which the county Probate Courts publish annually: $52,500 for decedents dying in 2026 (https://www.maineprobate.net/Forms2019/Cost%20of%20living%20calculations%20under%20Section%201-108%20(2020%20-%202026).pdf).

General information about how a personal representative is appointed, not legal advice. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions. Data verified Aug 24, 2026

Maine uses Petition for Formal Probate of Will or Appointment of Personal Representative or Both (DE-201), filed with the County Probate Court. Register of Probate issues Letters of Authority of Personal Representative after the court grants the petition.

Along with the petition, Maine generally requires: Original will and any codicils (for testate estates) (18-C M.R.S. §3-301(1)(B)(1)); Application for informal probate/appointment (DE-201(I) with a will, DE-101(I) without) OR Petition for formal probate (DE-201 with a will, DE-101 without), sworn/verified by the applicant (18-C M.R.S. §3-301(1), §3-402); Acceptance/statement of acceptance of the duties of office by the personal representative before letters issue (18-C M.R.S. §3-601 "Qualification"; DE-104 PR Acceptance); Bond only if required by the will, for a special administrator, or by court order (18-C M.R.S. §3-603).

Maine does not require a bond by default before Letters issue, though the court can order one.

Maine permits a self-represented person to open an estate, using Petition for Formal Probate of Will or Appointment of Personal Representative or Both (DE-201). E-filing is open to self-represented filers. The Maine self-file probate assessment sets self-filing against attorney costs.

Yes. A revocable living trust passes its assets to the beneficiaries without a court appointment in Maine: no petition, no Letters, no bond. A revocable trust built with SimplyTrust takes about fifteen minutes.

Getting Appointed in Maine

Authority to act for the estate comes from Letters issued in Maine by Register of Probate, on appointment by the County Probate Court. The document is Letters of Authority of Personal Representative. Maine has adopted the Uniform Probate Code.

The estate is opened by filing Petition for Formal Probate of Will or Appointment of Personal Representative or Both (DE-201) with the court. The filing fee is $50 - $1,210+ (based on estate value). Maine offers an informal (registrar) appointment track for qualifying estates.

Maine does not require a bond by default before Letters issue, though the court can order one where it is needed to protect creditors or heirs.

For smaller estates, Maine offers a small-estate procedure for estates under $52,500 that can transfer assets without a full appointment or Letters (AF-102). The Maine self-file probate assessment compares self-filing and attorney costs.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated September 8, 2026

Legal Sources

Data sourced from Maine statutes and official state code. How we research.

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