Insert Pages To Legal Maine Probate Forms For Free

To start the probate process, you need to file an ?Application for Probate? in the probate court in the county where the decedent lived. In Maine, each county has its own probate court. If there is a Will, it needs to be submitted to the probate court. The probate judge will decide whether or not the Will is valid.

Normally, it does not take long or cost a lot to probate a Will in Maine. Many people go through this process without an attorney. The probate court simply makes sure everything is in order and the Will is followed. Sometimes, people listed in the Will object to the way things are being handled.

In Maine, you can make a living trust to avoid probate for virtually any asset you own?real estate, bank accounts, vehicles, and so on.

Do All Estates Have to Go Through County Probate Court in Maine? Most estates will need to go through probate, simply because they were not set up to avoid it. However, smaller estates may avoid formal probate with an affidavit as long as the value is less than $40,000.

Listed below are some of the non-probate assets available in Maine. Any property in a living trust. Life insurance policies. 401(k)s, IRAs, other retirement accounts. Securities in transfer-on-death accounts. Pay-on-death bank accounts. Joint tenancy real property.

No. Certain kinds of property can be passed without going through probate. Property owned with a ?Right of Survivorship? automatically transfers to the joint owner at death and that person owns the property fully. Property can also pass through a Trust established during the decedent's lifetime.