Title 18-C, Title 18-C

A petition for supervised administration may be filed by any interested person or by a personal representative at any time or the prayer for supervised administration may be joined with a petition in a testacy or appointment proceeding. If the testacy of the decedent and the prio…

1. Effect on application for informal proceedings. The pendency of a proceeding for supervised administration of a decedent's estate stays action on any informal application then pending or thereafter filed. 2. Effect on will probated in informal proceedings. If a will has been p…

Unless restricted by the court, a supervised personal representative has, without interim orders approving exercise of a power, all powers of personal representatives under this Code, but the personal representative may not exercise the power to make any distribution of the estat…

Unless otherwise ordered by the court, supervised administration is terminated by order in accordance with time restrictions, notices and contents of orders prescribed for proceedings under section 3-1001. Interim orders approving or directing partial distributions or granting ot…

Prior to receiving letters, a personal representative must qualify by filing with the appointing court any required bond and a statement of acceptance of the duties of the office.

By accepting appointment, a personal representative submits personally to the jurisdiction of the court in any proceeding relating to the estate that may be instituted by any interested person. Notice of any proceeding must be delivered to the personal representative, or mailed t…

Bond is not required of a personal representative appointed in informal proceedings, except upon the appointment of a special administrator, when an executor or other personal representative is appointed to administer an estate under a will containing an express requirement of bo…

If bond is required and the provisions of the will or order do not specify the amount, unless stated in the application or petition, the person qualifying shall file a statement under oath with the register indicating that person's best estimate of the value of the personal estat…

Any person apparently having an interest in the estate worth in excess of $5,000, or any creditor having a claim in excess of $5,000, may make a written demand that a personal representative give bond. The demand must be filed with the register and a copy mailed to the personal r…

1. Required terms and conditions. The following requirements and provisions apply to any bond required by this Part. A. Bonds must name the State of Maine as obligee for the benefit of the persons interested in the estate and must be conditioned upon the faithful discharge by the…

1. Order. On petition of any person who appears to have an interest in the estate, the court by temporary order may restrain a personal representative from performing specified acts of administration, disbursement or distribution, or exercise of any powers or discharge of any dut…

Termination of appointment of a personal representative occurs as indicated in sections 3‑609 to 3‑612. Termination ends the right and power pertaining to the office of personal representative as conferred by this Code or any will, except that a personal representative, at any ti…

The death of a personal representative or the appointment of a conservator for the estate of a personal representative terminates the personal representative's appointment. Until appointment and qualification of a successor or special personal representative to replace the deceas…

1. One year after closing of estate by sworn statement. An appointment of a personal representative terminates as provided in section 3‑1003, one year after the filing of a closing statement. 2. Upon court order closing an estate. An order closing an estate as provided in section…

1. Petition for removal of personal representative. A person interested in the estate may petition for removal of a personal representative for cause at any time. Upon filing of the petition, the court shall fix a time and place for hearing. Notice must be given by the petitioner…

Except as otherwise ordered in formal proceedings, the probate of a will subsequent to the appointment of a personal representative in intestacy or under a will that is superseded by formal probate of another will, or the vacation of an informal probate of a will subsequent to th…

Parts 3 and 4 of this Article govern proceedings for appointment of a personal representative to succeed a personal representative whose appointment has been terminated. After appointment and qualification, a successor personal representative may be substituted in all actions and…

A special administrator may be appointed: [PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (NEW); PL 2019, c. 417, Pt. B, §14 (AFF).] 1. Informal proceedings. Informally by the register on the application of any interested person when necessary to protect the estate of a decedent prior to the appoint…

1. Named executor, if available. If a special administrator is to be appointed pending the probate of a will that is the subject of a pending application or petition for probate, the person named executor in the will must be appointed if available and qualified. 2. Any proper per…

A special administrator appointed by the register in informal proceedings pursuant to section 3-614, subsection 1 has the duty to collect and manage the assets of the estate, to preserve them, to account for them and to deliver them to the general personal representative upon the…

A special administrator appointed by order of the court in any formal proceeding has the power of a general personal representative except as limited in the appointment and duties as prescribed in the order. The appointment may be for a specified time, to perform particular acts …

The appointment of a special administrator terminates in accordance with the provisions of the order of appointment or on the appointment of a general personal representative. In other cases, the appointment of a special administrator is subject to termination as provided in sect…

1. Public administrators; appointment; powers and duties. The Governor shall appoint in each county for a term of 4 years, unless sooner removed, a public administrator who shall, upon petition to the court and after notice and hearing, be appointed to administer the estates of p…

The duties and powers of a personal representative commence upon appointment. The powers of a personal representative relate back in time to give acts by the person appointed that are beneficial to the estate occurring prior to appointment the same effect as those occurring after…

A person to whom general letters are first issued has exclusive authority under the letters until that person's appointment is terminated or modified. If through error general letters are later issued to another, the first appointed representative may recover any property of the …

1. General duties. A personal representative is a fiduciary who shall observe the standards of care applicable to trustees. A personal representative is under a duty to settle and distribute the estate of the decedent in accordance with the terms of any probated and effective wil…

A personal representative shall proceed expeditiously with the settlement and distribution of a decedent's estate and, except as otherwise specified or ordered in regard to a supervised personal representative, do so without adjudication, order or direction of the court, but the …

Not later than 30 days after appointment every personal representative, except any special administrator, shall give information of the appointment to the heirs and devisees, including, if there has been no formal testacy proceeding and if the personal representative was appointe…

1. Duty to file or mail inventory. Within 3 months after appointment, a personal representative who is not a special administrator or a successor to another personal representative who has previously discharged this duty shall prepare and file with the court or mail to all intere…

The personal representative may employ a qualified and disinterested appraiser to assist in ascertaining the fair market value as of the date of the decedent's death of any asset the value of which may be subject to reasonable doubt. Different persons may be employed to appraise …

If any property not included in the original inventory comes to the knowledge of a personal representative or if the personal representative learns that the value or description indicated in the original inventory for any item is erroneous or misleading, the personal representati…

Except as otherwise provided by a decedent's will, every personal representative has a right to and shall take possession or control of the decedent's property, except that any real property or tangible personal property may be left with or surrendered to the person presumptively…

The property liable for the payment of unsecured debts of a decedent includes all property transferred by the decedent by any means that is in law void or voidable as against the decedent's creditors, and, subject to prior liens, the right to recover this property, so far as nece…

Until termination of the personal representative's appointment, a personal representative has the same power over the title to property of the estate that an absolute owner would have, in trust however, for the benefit of the creditors and others interested in the estate. This po…

If the exercise of power concerning the estate is improper, the personal representative is liable to interested persons for damage or loss resulting from breach of the personal representative's fiduciary duty to the same extent as a trustee of an express trust. The rights of purc…

Any sale or encumbrance to the personal representative, the personal representative's spouse, agent or attorney, or any corporation or trust in which the personal representative has a substantial beneficial interest, or any transaction that is affected by a substantial conflict o…

A person who in good faith either assists a personal representative or deals with the personal representative for value is protected as if the personal representative's power was properly exercised. The fact that a person knowingly deals with a personal representative does not al…

Except as restricted or otherwise provided by the will or by an order in a formal proceeding and subject to the priorities stated in section 3-902, a personal representative, acting reasonably for the benefit of the interested persons, may properly: [PL 2017, c. 402, Pt. A, §2 (N…

A successor personal representative has the same power and duty as the original personal representative to complete the administration and distribution of the estate, as expeditiously as possible, but the successor personal representative may not exercise any power expressly made…

If 2 or more persons are appointed corepresentatives and unless the will provides otherwise, the concurrence of all is required on all acts connected with the administration and distribution of the estate. This restriction does not apply when any corepresentative receives and rec…

Unless the terms of the will otherwise provide, every power exercisable by personal corepresentatives may be exercised by the one or more remaining after the appointment of one or more is terminated, and if one of 2 or more nominated as coexecutors is not appointed, those appoint…

A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for the personal representative's services. If a will provides for compensation of the personal representative and there is no contract with the decedent regarding compensation, the personal representative may renou…

If any personal representative or person nominated as personal representative defends or prosecutes any proceeding in good faith, whether successful or not, the personal representative or nominee is entitled to receive from the estate necessary expenses and disbursements includin…

1. Procedure. After notice to all interested persons, on petition of an interested person or on appropriate motion if administration is supervised, the propriety of employment of any person by a personal representative, including any attorney, auditor, investment advisor or other…

1. Notice by publication. Unless notice has already been given under this section, a personal representative upon appointment shall publish a notice to creditors announcing the appointment and the personal representative's address and notifying creditors of the estate to present …

1. Applicability of statutes of limitations; waiver. Unless an estate is insolvent, the personal representative, with the consent of all successors whose interests would be affected, may waive any defense of limitations available to the estate. If the defense is not waived, no cl…