Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Maine, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Maine’s intestacy statute (18-C M.R.S. §§2-102, 2-103, 2-107 (Probate Code, Article 2, Part 1, Subpart 1, General Provisions)) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Maine residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: 18-C M.R.S. §§2-102, 2-103, 2-107 (Probate Code, Article 2, Part 1, Subpart 1, General Provisions) and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: The entire intestate estate if: (A) no descendant or parent of the decedent survives the decedent; or (B) all of the decedent’s surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and there is no other descendant of the surviving spouse who survives the decedent. (18-C section 2-102(1))
When it is less than everything: Modern four-tier UPC dollar-plus-fraction scheme with an explicit blended-family reduction: (1) entire estate under the conditions above; (2) no descendants but a parent survives, first $300,000 plus 3/4 of any balance; (3) all of decedent’s surviving descendants are also the spouse’s, but the spouse has one or more OTHER surviving descendants not of the decedent, first $100,000 plus 1/2 of any balance; (4) one or more of decedent’s surviving descendants are NOT descendants of the surviving spouse (the blended-family case), flat one-half (1/2) of the intestate estate, with no dollar floor at all. The reduction is severe in Maine: the spouse’s guaranteed cash floor ($100,000 in tier 3) disappears entirely once the decedent has even one child from outside the marriage, dropping the spouse to a bare 50/50 split. A secondary-source snippet referenced a possible CPI-based annual adjustment mechanism for certain Title 18 dollar figures applicable to deaths after 2018; this could not be independently traced to its exact operative section or a confirmed current adjusted figure this session; flagged, and the codified $300,000/$100,000 figures as printed are what is reported, not a confirmed inflation-adjusted current figure.
The first $300,000, plus 3/4 of any balance of the intestate estate, if no descendant of the decedent survives the decedent, but a parent of the decedent survives the decedent.
Source: 18-C M.R.S. §§2-102, 2-103, 2-107 (Probate Code, Article 2, Part 1, Subpart 1, General Provisions)
If a DIY will fits your situation in Maine
In Maine, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link; it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
Who inherits if there is no spouse
18-C section 2-103(1): to the decedent’s descendants per capita at each generation; if none, to parents equally (or the survivor); if none, to descendants of parents per capita at each generation; if none, half to paternal grandparents/their descendants and half to maternal grandparents/their descendants (collapsing to one side if the other has no survivors); if none, similarly to great-grandparents/their descendants. Section 2-103(2): if there is no taker under any of the above, to the descendants of one or more deceased spouses of the decedent, per capita at each generation.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: Full share. 18-C section 2-107: ‘Relatives of the half blood inherit the same share they would inherit if they were of the whole blood.’
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Maine property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.