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Maine Intestate Succession
Pillar GuideMaine12 min read

Maine Intestate Succession

Who inherits when there is no will in Maine: the surviving spouse's share, children and other heirs, and the order set by 18-C M.R.S. 2-102.

By Settled Editorial

When a Maine resident dies without a will, state law decides who inherits. Title 18-C of the Maine Revised Statutes, the Maine Probate Code, sets a fixed order: the surviving spouse first, then the decedent's descendants, then parents, and then wider family. If no relative qualifies, the estate passes to the State of Maine.

This guide answers one question: who gets what when there is no will in Maine. It follows the intestate rules in 18-C M.R.S. sections 2-101 through 2-107, and it flags the spousal dollar figures that shift with the year of death. For how to open the estate and work the deadlines, read the Maine probate guide. To see how these rules divide a specific estate, use the Maine inheritance calculator and model who inherits what when there is no will.

What Dying Without a Will Means in Maine

Dying without a valid will is called dying intestate. When that happens, no document names the heirs, so the statute names them instead. Under 18-C M.R.S. section 2-101, any part of a decedent's estate that a will does not dispose of passes by intestate succession to the decedent's heirs. A will can cover part of an estate and leave the rest to these rules, so a partial will and intestacy can apply to the same estate.

Intestacy reaches only the probate estate, meaning property that passes through court administration. Assets with their own transfer path skip these rules.

What Passes Outside Intestate Succession

  • Bank or investment accounts with a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death beneficiary
  • Life insurance and retirement accounts, such as an IRA or 401(k), with a named beneficiary
  • Real estate or accounts held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship
  • Property titled in a living trust
  • Real estate that passes by a transfer-on-death deed under 18-C M.R.S. section 6-401

Check the title and the beneficiary form on each asset before you apply anything below. Only property the decedent owned alone, with no beneficiary and no survivorship, follows the intestate order. To see which assets skip probate, read how to avoid probate in Maine.

The Surviving Spouse's Share (18-C M.R.S. 2-102)

A surviving spouse never takes less than half of a Maine intestate estate, and often takes all of it. Section 2-102 sets four outcomes based on who else survives and whether the couple's descendants are shared.

The spouse inherits the entire estate

The surviving spouse takes the whole intestate estate when either of these is true: no descendant and no parent of the decedent survives; or every surviving descendant of the decedent is also a descendant of the surviving spouse, and the spouse has no other surviving descendant. A couple with only shared children, and no children from other relationships, falls in this group.

A parent survives but no children

When the decedent leaves no descendants but at least one parent, the surviving spouse takes the first $300,000 of the estate plus three-quarters of the balance. The parent, or the parents together, take the rest.

Shared children, plus the spouse's own children from elsewhere

When every surviving descendant of the decedent is also the spouse's, but the spouse has one or more other descendants who are not the decedent's, the surviving spouse takes the first $100,000 plus one-half of the balance. The decedent's descendants divide the remainder.

A child who is not the spouse's

When one or more of the decedent's surviving descendants is not a descendant of the surviving spouse, such as a child from an earlier relationship, the surviving spouse takes one-half of the estate. The decedent's descendants take the other half.

The $300,000 and $100,000 figures are the base amounts in section 2-102. They adjust with the cost of living under 18-C M.R.S. section 1-108, which measures the change in the Consumer Price Index against a 2017 base for a decedent who dies after 2018. Because the adjusted figure depends on the year of death, confirm the current dollar amount for the year your loved one died before you divide an estate. The Maine surviving spouse rights guide covers the spouse's separate protections, including the elective share, the allowances, and exempt property that can layer on top of an intestate share.

When There Is No Surviving Spouse (18-C M.R.S. 2-103)

If there is no surviving spouse, or once the spouse's share is set, the rest of the estate passes to the decedent's heirs in the order fixed by section 2-103:

  1. Descendants. Children, grandchildren, and further descendants take first, per capita at each generation.
  2. Parents. If no descendant survives, the estate goes to the decedent's parents equally, or all to the surviving parent.
  3. Descendants of parents. If no parent survives, the estate passes to the decedent's siblings and their descendants, meaning nieces and nephews, per capita at each generation.
  4. Grandparents and their descendants. If none of the above survive, the estate splits into a maternal half and a paternal half. Each half goes to that side's grandparents, or to their descendants, meaning aunts, uncles, and cousins. If only one side has a surviving member, that side takes the whole estate.
  5. Great-grandparents and their descendants. If no grandparent line survives, the same maternal and paternal split runs one generation further.

If no relative in any of those classes survives, section 2-103 sends the estate to the descendants of a deceased spouse, a stepchild line, before the State takes anything.

How Shares Pass to Descendants: Per Capita at Each Generation (18-C M.R.S. 2-106)

Maine divides a share among descendants by the method called per capita at each generation. Under section 2-106, the estate is first split at the nearest generation that has a living member. Each living person there takes one share. The shares that would have gone to deceased members are pooled and divided equally among the next generation, so relatives who stand in the same generation take equal amounts.

Example. A decedent has three children, and all three have died before the decedent. The first child left one child, the second left two children, and the third left three children. Because every member of the child generation has died, the estate drops to the grandchildren, who all stand in the same generation. The six grandchildren split it equally, one-sixth each. A strict per-stirpes system would instead hand the lone grandchild a full one-third. Maine's method treats members of the same generation alike.

Children's Inheritance Rights

Adopted children

When a court finalizes an adoption, the adoptive parent becomes the child's legal parent for inheritance under section 2-115, so the adopted child inherits as any other child of that parent. Section 2-117 then cuts the inheritance tie to the former parents, unless the adoption decree keeps it. That decree exception can matter in a stepparent adoption, where a child may keep a tie to one birth parent.

Children of unmarried parents

Maine does not reduce a child's inheritance because the parents were not married. Section 2-115 ties inheritance to a legal parent-child relationship, established under Title 19-A or Article 9, not to the parents' marital status. Once parentage is established and parental rights are intact, the child inherits from that parent like any other child.

A child conceived before but born after a death

A child in gestation when the decedent dies is treated as living at the death if the child lives at least 120 hours after birth, under section 2-104. That posthumous child then inherits as though born during the decedent's life.

Half-blood relatives

Half-siblings and other half-blood relatives inherit the same share as whole-blood relatives. Section 2-107 makes no reduction: relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.

The 120-Hour Survival Rule (18-C M.R.S. 2-104)

An heir must outlive the decedent by at least 120 hours, five full days, to inherit. Section 2-104 treats an heir who dies within that window as though they died first, and the estate skips to the next eligible heir. Clear and convincing evidence must show the heir survived the full 120 hours. This rule keeps an estate from passing twice in quick succession, such as when a married couple dies days apart in the same accident. One limit applies: the 120-hour rule does not apply if using it would send the estate to the State.

When the Estate Passes to the State (18-C M.R.S. 2-105)

If a diligent search finds no spouse, no descendant, and no other qualifying relative, the intestate estate escheats to the State of Maine under section 2-105. Escheat is rare, because the statute reaches distant relatives and even a deceased spouse's descendants before the State takes anything. Money the decedent received as crime-victim restitution is the narrow exception: it passes to the Elder Victims Restitution Fund rather than into the general escheat.

Why a Valid Will Changes the Result

Intestacy is the default, not a plan the decedent chose. A valid will replaces every rule above with the decedent's own instructions, can name a personal representative to run the estate, and can name a guardian for minor children. The Maine will requirements guide explains what makes a will valid in Maine. If you are settling an estate now, start with the Maine probate guide to learn how to open the case, and read the Maine surviving spouse rights guide when a spouse survives.

How to Map a Maine Intestate Estate

Use this sequence when you work out who inherits:

  1. Separate probate property from assets that pass by beneficiary designation, right of survivorship, or a trust. Only probate property follows these rules.
  2. Confirm the date of death, then check the year's adjusted section 2-102 dollar amounts before you set the spouse's share.
  3. Set the surviving spouse's share under section 2-102, then figure what remains after funeral costs, administration charges, and debts.
  4. Send the rest down the class order in section 2-103, and split a deceased heir's branch under the per-capita method in section 2-106.
  5. Review whether any heir failed the 120-hour survival rule, and whether a half-blood or adopted relative changes the count.

A valid will replaces these defaults with the decedent's own plan, which is why estate planning matters.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who inherits if there is no will in Maine?

The surviving spouse inherits first under 18-C M.R.S. 2-102, taking all of the estate in many families and never less than half. After the spouse's share, the decedent's descendants inherit, then parents, then siblings and their descendants, then the grandparent lines.

Does a spouse always inherit everything in Maine?

Not always. A spouse takes the whole estate only when there are no descendants and no parents, or when all descendants are shared and the spouse has no other children. When a parent survives, or when a child comes from another relationship, the spouse takes a set dollar amount plus a fraction, or one-half.

Do stepchildren inherit under Maine intestacy?

A stepchild the decedent never adopted does not inherit as a child. Section 2-103 reaches the descendants of a deceased spouse only as a last class before the estate escheats to the State, so a stepchild inherits under intestacy only when no closer relative survives.

Does Maine have an inheritance tax?

Maine has no inheritance tax. Maine does levy a state estate tax on larger estates, separate from these intestacy rules, and it applies whether or not there is a will. Confirm the current exemption for the year of death before you assume an estate owes nothing.

How does Maine divide an estate among grandchildren?

Maine uses per capita at each generation under section 2-106. If every heir in the nearest generation has died, the estate drops to the next generation, where the members split it equally rather than by their parents' branches. Grandchildren who stand in the same generation take equal shares.

What happens if no relatives can be found?

The estate escheats to the State of Maine under section 2-105, but only after a diligent search turns up no spouse, descendant, parent, sibling, grandparent line, or even a deceased spouse's descendants. Escheat stays uncommon because the statute casts a wide net.

This guide is general information about Maine estates, not advice for your situation.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Information current as of July 21, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Maine can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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