Insolvent Probate Estate Claim-Payment Priority in Maine
At a glance
| Statutory payment order | Ten successive categories from administration through other claims (§ 3-805(1)). |
|---|---|
| Administration costs | First category, costs and expenses of administration (§ 3-805(1)(A)). |
| Funeral and last illness | Reasonable funeral second; last illness follows allowances and federal preferences (§ 3-805(1)(B),(D)). |
| Family and homestead allowances | Homestead, family, then exempt property are three classes after funeral (§ 3-805(1)(B-1)–(B-3)). |
| Taxes and public claims | Federal preferences follow allowances; Medicaid recovery/last illness next; state preferences after (§ 3-805(1)(C)–(E)). |
| Secured claims | Surrender security for full allowed amount; otherwise deduct its value (§ 3-809). |
| Support and special debts | No separate wage or support class; specified Medicaid recovery shares last-illness category (§ 3-805(1)(D)). |
| General claims | All remaining claims are the final category (§ 3-805(1)(F)). |
| Underfunded class | No preference among claims in one class or for currently due claims (§ 3-805(2)). |
Requirements one by one
Claim order and allowances
Under § 3-805(1), administration expenses lead, followed by funeral expenses. Homestead, family, and exempt-property allowances then form three successive payment categories before federal preferences. This places the allowances within the insolvency order itself. Medicaid benefits recoverable under Title 22, § 14(2-I) share the later category with necessary last-illness costs; other state-law preferences and residual claims follow.
Secured claims
Under § 3-809, surrendering security uses the full allowed claim as the payment basis. Otherwise the basis is reduced by the security's value under the statute's two alternatives.
What trips people up
Under § 3-807, the representative provides for unresolved and still-presentable claims before paying allowed claims after the presentation period. Section 3-805(2) gives no advantage to a presently due claim over one not yet due in the same class.
Common questions
Does an allowance outrank funeral expenses? No. Section 3-805(1)(B)–(B-3) places funeral costs before the three allowances.
Is every medical bill a last-illness priority? Section 3-805(1)(D) names reasonable and necessary medical and hospital costs of the last illness; classification of an individual bill depends on those conditions.
Statutes and sources
- 18-C M.R.S. §§ 3-805, 3-807, and 3-809. Verbatim official text, section URLs, and access dates appear in the source fields above.
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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