Maine transfer-on-death deed
A transfer-on-death deed lets you name who inherits your Maine property without probate, while you keep full control, including the power to sell or mortgage it without anyone's signature. Here is exactly what Maine requires, what it costs, and where to file it.
- Recording office
- Registry of Deeds
- Witnesses
- Notary only
- Transfer tax
- None when recorded
- First-page margin
- 3″ top
- Recording fee
- ~$40 per document
- E-recording
- Approved submitters
What a transfer-on-death deed does in Maine
A transfer-on-death deed (a beneficiary deed in Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado and Missouri) names the person who should receive your real estate when you die. You record it now, but it transfers nothing until death: you keep full ownership, you can sell or mortgage the property, and you can revoke the deed at any time without your beneficiary's consent. When you die, the property passes outside probate. Your beneficiaries then record the documents your state requires to show them as the owners; in a few states that filing has a deadline, or is what completes the transfer.
In Maine the governing statute is 18-C M.R.S. § 6-401 et seq. Maine adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act as part of its Probate Code recodification.
The Maine law behind this deed
Start with 18-C M.R.S. § 6-401 et seq. if you want to read the statute's own language. The table below lists the main statutes behind the rules on this page.
| What it governs | Citation |
|---|---|
| Transfer-on-death deeds specifically | 18-C M.R.S. § 6-401 et seq. |
| Conveyances generally | 33 M.R.S. § 151 |
| Recording with the Registry of Deeds | 33 M.R.S. § 201 |
| Transfer tax | 36 M.R.S. § 4641-A |
When Maine property owners use a transfer-on-death deed
- Leave a house to your children without probate
- Keep real estate out of a will contest
- Get probate avoidance without paying for a full living trust
- Name a backup beneficiary in case your first choice dies first
- Revoke or change an earlier beneficiary designation
What Maine requires on the deed
These are the execution and formatting rules registries of deeds enforce. Getting any of them wrong is the usual reason a deed comes back in the mail.
| Requirement | What Maine says |
|---|---|
| Recording office | Registry of Deeds |
| Notarization | Required. Each signer must appear before the notary and acknowledge the signature. Signing in front of the notary is the safest practice. |
| Witnesses | None required. A notarial acknowledgment is enough. |
| Legal description | Required, copied exactly from the prior recorded deed. A street address is not sufficient. |
| Grantee's address | Must appear on the face of the deed. |
| Return address | Include a 'when recorded, return to' block so the original comes back to you. Deedly always prints one. |
| Preparer statement | Not required, but customary. |
| Prior deed reference | Not required, though it keeps the chain of title clean. |
| Page setup | 8.5 × 11 in, 3-inch clear space at the top of page one, 1-inch margins elsewhere, nothing under 10pt. This is the profile Deedly applies. |
| Accompanying form | None when you record it. |
| Timing | Must be recorded before the owner's death. Recording it afterwards has no effect. |
Maine: your spouse should sign unless you are selling for full value
A married owner who sells for full value signs alone, and the buyer takes free of the spouse's claims (33 M.R.S. § 480). For a gift, a sale for less than full value, a life estate deed or a transfer-on-death deed, the owner's spouse should sign too, releasing all rights (on a transfer-on-death deed, consenting in writing). Otherwise the surviving spouse's elective share can count the property after the owner's death: always for a life estate or transfer-on-death deed, and for a gift or a below-value sale if the owner dies within two years of it (18-C M.R.S. §§ 2-205, 2-208).
How to complete and record it in Maine
- Find your current deedYou need the legal description from it, word for word. If you can't find your copy, the Registry of Deeds can provide one, usually for a few dollars.
- Identify everyone by full legal nameNames must match the current deed and government ID exactly, middle names included. A mismatch creates a gap in the chain of title that shows up years later at closing.
- Complete the deedDeedly builds it with the wording, notary certificate, and 3-inch first-page margin used for Maine deeds.
- Sign in front of a notaryBring photo ID. Wait to sign until you are in front of the notary: you have to appear before the notary anyway, and signing there leaves no question about who signed.
- Record it with the Registry of DeedsFile in the county where the property is located and pay the recording fee. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies. Keep the stamped receipt. It fixes your priority date.
- Tell your beneficiaries where it isAfter your death your beneficiaries can record a notarized notice of death affidavit with the registry of deeds. Maine law lists what it must say: each beneficiary's name and address, the property's street address, the date of this deed and the book and page where it is recorded, your name, the date and place of your death, and where future tax bills should go (18-C M.R.S. § 6-414). Title passes to them even if they never file it, but filing it keeps the record clear.
What it costs in Maine
| Cost | Typical amount |
|---|---|
| Recording fee | About $40 per document |
| Transfer tax | None when recorded |
| Notary | Maine does not cap notary fees, but a notary must tell you any fee in writing, and get your agreement, before notarizing (Secretary of State rule, 29-250 C.M.R. ch. 700). |
| Deedly | $49, one time (launch price, regular $69) |
| Attorney (for comparison) | $150–$700 for the same statutory document |
Maine charges no transfer tax on a transfer-on-death deed, when it is recorded or when the owner dies, and no Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration goes with it (36 M.R.S. §§ 4641-C(21), 4641-D(7)).
Where to record it in Maine
Maine deeds are recorded with the Registry of Deeds in the county where the property sits, not where you live. There are 16 counties in Maine.
Many Maine recording offices accept e-recording through vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, or ePN. E-recording is generally open only to approved submitters such as title companies, attorneys, and lenders, so if you prepared the deed yourself, plan to record in person or by mail. Some offices accept filings from the public through those vendors; your county's website will say.
Recording offices we cover in Maine: Cumberland, York, Penobscot, Kennebec, Androscoggin, Aroostook, Oxford. See all Maine recording offices.
What a transfer-on-death deed does NOT do
Being honest about the limits is more useful than a sales pitch. Every one of these catches somebody out.
- Only 34 states plus DC recognize it. Recording one in a state that does not accept it accomplishes nothing.
- It does not clear the mortgage. Your beneficiary takes the property subject to any loan, lien, or judgment against it.
- It doesn't protect the property from your creditors, and in many states it doesn't shield the property from Medicaid estate recovery.
- The beneficiary receives no ownership interest until you die. They cannot be added as a co-owner this way.
- If a beneficiary dies before you, what happens to their share depends on state law: in some states it passes to the other beneficiaries or to the beneficiary's descendants, in others it fails. Naming an alternate, where your state's form allows one, avoids the question.
Quirks of Maine law that catch people out
- A Maine registry returns a deed unrecorded if its margins are not clean (1 3/4 inches at the top of page one, 3/4 inch at the sides, 1 1/2 inches across the bottom of the last page, with nothing written in them), and will not accept one unless each signer's name, and the notary's, is typed or printed under the signature (33 M.R.S. § 651-A). It also needs the Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration and the tax, unless the deed is a transfer-on-death or corrective deed (36 M.R.S. §§ 4641-B, 4641-D), and the recording fee (about $40).
- Almost every Maine deed must be accompanied by a Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration (Form RETTD), even when no tax is due: an exempt transfer enters its exemption code on the form. Title companies and lawyers file it online; you can fill in the form Maine Revenue Services publishes and hand it in with the deed. Transfer-on-death deeds and corrective deeds need none (36 M.R.S. § 4641-D).
- A deed between spouses, parent and child, or grandparent and grandchild is exempt from Maine's transfer tax only if nothing is paid for it (36 M.R.S. § 4641-C(4)). A family sale is taxed like any other, and siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins get no exemption.
- Maine's transfer tax is imposed half on the grantor and half on the grantee: $1.10 each per $500 of value up to $1,000,000, and $3.00 each per $500 above that (36 M.R.S. § 4641-A).
- Maine recognizes transfer-on-death deeds under its Probate Code (18-C M.R.S. § 6-401).
$49, one time. Your finished deed appears in full before you pay, with Maine's witness rules, margins, and recording instructions already applied.
Common questions
No. Maine has no requirement that an attorney prepare a deed. What matters is the correct statutory language, an accurate legal description, proper notarization, and recording with the Registry of Deeds. Deedly produces all of that for $49, versus roughly $150–$700 for an attorney to draft the same document. If ownership is disputed, the current owner has died without probate, or the transfer is tax-sensitive, use an attorney. But if the owner is 60 or older and depends on others for care or support, a gift, a below-value sale or a transfer-on-death deed to someone close to the owner is presumed to be the result of undue influence unless the owner had a lawyer representing only the owner (33 M.R.S. §§ 1021 to 1025; 18-C M.R.S. § 6-408). In that case have an independent lawyer review the deed before it is signed. Deedly asks about this and does not prepare the deed for an owner in that situation who has no lawyer of their own.
Expect around $40 per document. Maine charges no transfer tax on a transfer-on-death deed, when it is recorded or when the owner dies, and no Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration goes with it (36 M.R.S. §§ 4641-C(21), 4641-D(7)). State law sets a flat $35 per document (33 M.R.S. § 751). A register of deeds may add a $5 records preservation surcharge (§ 752), and the registries Deedly checked all charge it, so the fee is $40 whatever the page count. A registry may charge $2 for each page it has to add if there is no room for its recording stamp (33 M.R.S. § 653).
No. Maine requires only that the grantor's signature be acknowledged before a notary public. Forms that show witness lines are usually generic templates borrowed from another state.
With the Registry of Deeds in the county where the property is located, not where you live, and not where the buyer lives. Maine has 16 counties. Many offices in this state also accept e-recording, but usually only from approved submitters such as title companies.
Yes. Transfer-on-death deeds are revocable during your lifetime. You can record a revocation, record a new one naming different beneficiaries, or simply sell the property. You don't need your beneficiary's permission for any of it.
Yes, for this property. On your death the property passes directly to the people you named, outside probate. They can record a notarized notice of death affidavit with the registry of deeds. Maine law lists what it must say: each beneficiary's name and address, the property's street address, the date of this deed and the book and page where it is recorded, your name, the date and place of your death, and where future tax bills should go (18-C M.R.S. § 6-414). Title passes to them even if they never file it, but filing it keeps the record clear. It doesn't avoid probate for anything else you own, it doesn't clear the mortgage, and it doesn't protect the property from your creditors.
Only for some deeds. A married owner who sells for full value signs alone, and the buyer takes free of the spouse's claims (33 M.R.S. § 480). For a gift, a sale for less than full value, a life estate deed or a transfer-on-death deed, the owner's spouse should sign too, releasing all rights (on a transfer-on-death deed, consenting in writing). Otherwise the surviving spouse's elective share can count the property after the owner's death: always for a life estate or transfer-on-death deed, and for a gift or a below-value sale if the owner dies within two years of it (18-C M.R.S. §§ 2-205, 2-208). When you enter your spouse's name, Deedly prints your spouse's release in the words of Maine's statutory deed forms (on a transfer-on-death deed, a written consent), with a signature line, and names your spouse in the acknowledgment.
Keep reading
- Maine quitclaim deedTransfers whatever interest you have in a property, with no promises about the title.
- Maine general warranty deedTransfers ownership with the strongest title guarantees the law allows.
- Maine special warranty deedTransfers ownership, but only guarantees the title for the period you owned it.
- Maine life estate deedYou keep the right to live in the property for life; named remaindermen own it after you.
- All deed rules for MaineRecording offices, transfer tax, witness rules, and fees.
- Maine recording officesWhere to file in each county.
Deedly is not a law firm
Its software and documents are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. We provide self-help software and state-specific deed forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.