Estate Inventory and Appraisement Requirements in Maine

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The representative chooses filing or requested-person mailing

Under 18-C M.R.S. § 3-706, the personal representative has three months after appointment to prepare the inventory. A special administrator is excluded, and a successor is excluded if the prior representative already discharged the duty. The section states no extension standard.

The representative either files with the court or mails the inventory to all interested persons who request it. If filed, it must still be furnished to requesting interested persons. If mailed, the representative may also file it. Preparation and the requested-person route are therefore mandatory even though the original need not always enter the court file.

Maine adds a schedule of credits to the ordinary property list

Section 3-706 requires reasonable detail for property the decedent owned at death, each item's death-date fair market value, and the type and amount of any encumbrance. It states no category exclusion.

The inventory also contains a schedule of the decedent's credits—amounts owed to the decedent. It names each obligor, gives the amount due and nature of the obligation, and states the amount of all credits without deducting collection or settlement expense and risk.

Sections 3-706 to 3-708 prescribe no representative signature, verification, oath, notarization, or perjury declaration. They also state no inventory-specific sealing or confidentiality rule.

Appraisers are optional for reasonably doubtful values

Under 18-C M.R.S. § 3-707, the representative may employ a qualified and disinterested appraiser when an asset's value may be subject to reasonable doubt. Different appraisers may value different kinds of assets. The inventory places each appraiser's name and address with the item or items appraised.

The section does not require an appraiser by property class and does not prescribe a certificate, oath, signature, or separate appraisal deadline.

A supplement may use filing or new-information delivery

Under 18-C M.R.S. § 3-708, newly known property or an erroneous or misleading value or description requires a supplementary inventory or appraisement. The supplement gives the new or revised item's market value as of death or revised description and the appraisers or other data relied on, if any.

The representative may file the supplement or mail or furnish its copy or information to persons interested in the new information. Unlike some states' UPC provisions, this section does not make the correction route depend on whether the original inventory was filed. It states no separate correction deadline.

Missing property can shift the burden of proof

If the required inventory was not filed, mailed, or furnished and an interested party makes a prima facie case that property that should have been inventoried is now missing, § 3-706(3) places the burden on the representative. The representative must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the specific property properly would have been excluded.

Failure to perform a duty of office may also support removal for cause under 18-C M.R.S. § 3-611(2), but removal is not automatic; an interested person petitions and the court determines cause.

What trips people up

The filing-or-mailing choice is not a choice to do nothing. The inventory must be prepared within three months and must reach every interested person who requests it, whether through the filed-copy or mailing branch.

The credits schedule reports gross claims, not a discounted collection estimate. Section 3-706 requires the amount of all credits exclusive of settlement or collection expense and risk.

The supplement's audience is narrower and fact-specific. Section 3-708 speaks of persons interested in the new information, not automatically every person interested in the estate.

Common questions

Must every Maine estate inventory be filed with the court?

No. The representative may instead mail it to all interested persons who request it, although later court filing remains optional.

Must every item have an independent appraisal?

No. Section 3-707 allows a qualified disinterested appraiser only when a value may be subject to reasonable doubt.

Does the inventory list money owed to the decedent?

Yes. The special schedule of credits identifies obligors, amounts due, and the nature of the obligations.

Statutes and sources

• 18-C M.R.S. § 3-706 — three-month duty, filing or mailing, property, values, encumbrances, credits, requested copies, and missing-property burden: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec3-706.html (accessed 2026-08-10).
• 18-C M.R.S. § 3-707 — optional qualified and disinterested appraisers: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec3-707.html (accessed 2026-08-10).
• 18-C M.R.S. § 3-708 — supplement triggers, contents, recipients, and filing-or-delivery route: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec3-708.html (accessed 2026-08-10).
• 18-C M.R.S. § 3-611(2) — removal cause, including failure to perform a duty of office: https://legislature.maine.gov/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec3-611.html (accessed 2026-08-10).