Spousal Elective Share Requirements in Maine

At a glance

Requirements one by one

The percentage rises with relationship length

18-C M.R.S. § 2-202 sets the elective amount at 50% of the marital-property portion. 18-C M.R.S. § 2-203 starts that portion at 3% before one year, rises through the statutory schedule, and reaches 100% after 15 years. The effective share of the entire augmented estate therefore ranges from 1.5% to 50% before spouse credits are applied.

Maine does not create a supplemental elective-share amount. Although § 2-209 retains model-act references to a “supplemental elective-share amount,” the current amount section at § 2-202 creates only the percentage share.

The 2025 amendment to § 2-201(3) matters at the eligibility line: “marriage” now includes a registered domestic partnership and a legal union formed elsewhere that supplies substantially the same rights, benefits, and responsibilities as marriage.

Four property groups make up the augmented estate

Section 2-203 combines the net probate estate, the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others, nonprobate transfers to the spouse, and the spouse's own property and hypothetical transfers.

Under § 2-205, the transfer-to-others component reaches named powers, joint and POD/TOD property, insurance, retained possession, income, or powers, and specified transfers during the two years before death. The general two-year gift threshold is dynamic: it includes value above 50% of the federal annual gift-tax exclusion for the applicable date, measured per donee in either year.

18-C M.R.S. § 2-206 and § 2-207 bring in nonprobate property passing to the spouse and spouse-owned or spouse-transferred property. Federal Social Security is excluded, and enforceable claims reduce the spouse component.

Valuation has a discretionary-trust rule

Section 2-204 reduces the probate component by funeral and administration expenses, homestead and family allowances, exempt property, and enforceable claims. 18-C M.R.S. § 2-208 excludes transfers for adequate consideration and those joined in or consented to in writing by the spouse. It also reduces each nonprobate category by claims, uses commuted values for listed future benefits, and includes overlapping property only once at the highest value.

Maine adds a specific trust presumption. A spouse's interest in a trust where both income and principal distributions are discretionary is presumed worth half the trust unless another value is proved. If the spouse is sole trustee and the discretion has no ascertainable standard, the interest is presumed worth the full trust.

The later deadline can lose nonprobate property

Under § 2-211, the ordinary deadline is the later of nine months after death or six months after probate of the will. The spouse, conservator, or agent under a power of attorney files the petition in court and mails or delivers it to the personal representative. Hearing notice goes to estate interests and recipients whose interests will be adversely affected.

A filing after nine months ordinarily removes the decedent's nonprobate transfers to others. To preserve them, an extension petition and notice to all interested nonprobate recipients must occur within nine months. The court may extend for cause. The demand may be withdrawn before final determination.

18-C M.R.S. § 2-214 supplies a separate payor-notice route. Written notice of an intended or filed petition goes to the payor's main office or home by registered or certified mail with return receipt, or by summons-style service. Before that notice, a payor acting in good faith on the governing instrument is protected.

Waiver, credits, and contribution

The spouse must be living when the petition is filed. 18-C M.R.S. § 2-212 allows a conservator or agent under a power of attorney to act; it does not list a guardian.

18-C M.R.S. § 2-213 permits whole or partial waiver before or after marriage by a signed writing. Enforcement fails if execution was involuntary, or if the waiver was unconscionable and the statute's disclosure, written-waiver, and knowledge conditions all apply. General “all rights” language ordinarily also waives allowances and benefits under intestacy or an earlier will.

Under § 2-209, will and intestate property, nonprobate property passing from the decedent, and the marital-property portion of the spouse's included property are credited first. Probate and primary nonprobate classes follow, then the remaining transfers. 18-C M.R.S. § 2-210 limits personal contribution to original recipients and donees while holding property or proceeds; they may return the proportional property or pay its value.

Allowances remain additional

The election does not automatically forfeit will benefits; § 2-209 credits them toward the share. Section 18-C M.R.S. § 2-402 provides a $22,500 homestead allowance, § 2-403 provides up to $15,000 of exempt tangible property, and § 2-404 provides a reasonable family allowance. They are additional to the elective share, although express in-lieu language in a will can replace the allowance or exempt-property benefit.

What trips people up

• Maine has no supplemental floor. The current amount section creates only 50% of the marital-property portion despite stray supplemental references in the payment section.
• The percentage is multiplied twice. The relationship-length percentage produces the marital-property portion; the elective amount is half of that.
• The spouse's property affects both calculation and satisfaction. It enters the augmented estate, and its marital-property portion is then credited under § 2-209.
• An extension must protect nonprobate reach. The later probate deadline alone does not preserve the decedent's transfers after nine months from death.

Common questions

Does a registered domestic partner qualify? Section 2-201's current definition includes a registered domestic partnership and a qualifying equivalent legal union.

Is the 50% figure a flat half of all property? No. It is half of the marital-property portion, which ranges from 3% to 100% of the augmented estate.

Does filing reject gifts under the will? The statute credits testate and intestate benefits first. It does not say that filing itself renounces them.

Can an agent make the election? Yes. Sections 2-211 and 2-212 expressly list an agent acting under a power of attorney, along with a conservator.

Statutes and sources

• 18-C M.R.S. §§ 2-201 to 2-203 — marriage definition, amount, domicile, additional benefits, four-part augmented estate, and relationship-length schedule. Official Article 2 contents (accessed 2026-08-02); the frontmatter records each per-section URL.
• 18-C M.R.S. §§ 2-204 to 2-208 — probate deductions, decedent and spouse nonprobate transfers, spouse property, exclusions, claims, valuation, discretionary trusts, and overlapping property. Official Article 2 contents (accessed 2026-08-02); the frontmatter records each per-section URL.
• 18-C M.R.S. §§ 2-209 to 2-214 — payment order, recipient liability, deadline, extension, right holder, waiver, payor notice, and protection. Official Article 2 contents (accessed 2026-08-02); the frontmatter records each per-section URL.
• 18-C M.R.S. §§ 2-402 to 2-404 — homestead, exempt-property, and family allowances. Official § 2-402, official § 2-403, and official § 2-404 (accessed 2026-08-02).