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Updated September 24, 2026. Quick answer: An attorney-drafted revocable living trust in Maine has a median price of $2,800, with the middle half of firms charging $2,400–$3,200 (LegalTemplates’ 2026 study of 909 law firms). That puts Maine at the 15th-cheapest of the 20 states compared here, coming in over the $2,475 national median for a standalone trust. A DIY platform runs $149 to $649. What that spend buys locally: Maine prices probate on a statutory tier schedule starting at $40 for estates under $10,000; a $250,000 estate costs $450.00.
Whether the state taxes the trust’s income is a separate question: does Maine tax trust income.
Fast routes: National living trust cost guide | Maine probate filing fee | Maine probate cost | Is a living trust worth it in Maine?
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How our partner relationships workLiving trust cost in Maine: attorney vs DIY
The numbers at a glance:
| Figure | Amount |
|---|---|
| Maine attorney-drafted trust, median | $2,800 |
| Maine attorney-drafted trust, middle 50% | $2,400–$3,200 |
| National median, all 50 states and DC | $2,475 |
| DIY document platform range | $149–$649 |
Attorneys who bundle the trust into a fuller package (pour-over will, financial power of attorney, healthcare documents) charge a national median of $2,700 for that package. DIY document platforms run $149 to $649 and do not vary by state; the national living trust cost guide has the full platform comparison table (LegalZoom, Trust & Will, Quicken WillMaker, FreeWill) with what each one includes.
Attorney figures: LegalTemplates, September 24, 2026.
What a living trust avoids: probate in Maine
A living trust’s whole point is dodging what comes next: probate. Maine would run the estate through the court process below, at the court’s own price, unless the assets are already titled in the trust’s name. Maine prices probate on a statutory tier schedule starting at $40 for estates under $10,000; a $250,000 estate costs $450.00. Full filing-fee breakdown.
Maine publishes no percentage schedule for probate compensation; the personal representative and the attorney are each paid what the court finds reasonable (18-C M.R.S. §3-719), so the bill tracks hours worked rather than the size of the estate. The second number is the small-estate threshold, at or under which an estate skips most of probate: a ceiling Maine re-computes for inflation for each year of death rather than printing as a current number, and which each county probate court now publishes on its own website. Whether any of that reaches a solely owned house is answered below; it is where most published guidance goes wrong. Full Maine probate cost guide, including the small-estate threshold that can skip probate without a trust at all.
Maine living trust: signing, notary and the deed
Each line is a short extract quoted from, or a plain summary of, the statute cited; the section has the exceptions.
- Creating the trust. 18-B M.R.S. § 402: “The settlor indicates an intention to create the trust…”
- Writing rule. 18-B M.R.S. § 407 (summarized, not quoted): a trust need not be evidenced by a trust instrument unless another statute requires one, but an oral trust and its terms can be established only by clear and convincing evidence.
- Deed and notary. 33 M.R.S. § 203: “…must be acknowledged by the grantors, or by the persons executing…”
- Certification of trust. 18-B M.R.S. § 1013: “…the trustee may furnish to the person a certification of trust…”
For what the court side costs if a trust is not used, see Maine probate cost.
Funding the trust in Maine
A signed trust document is not the finish line: assets still have to be retitled into the trust’s name, and for a house that means a new deed. Funding the trust in Maine is squarely covered by statute: the real estate transfer tax exempts any deed “to a trustee, nominee or straw party for the grantor as beneficial owner” (36 M.R.S. §4641-C(15)(A)), which reaches a deed moving a home into the grantor’s own revocable trust. Property-tax assessment is likewise untouched: Maine values real estate at “just value” as of April 1 each year under 36 M.R.S. §701-A, with no ownership-transfer trigger described in the statute. The new deed still has to be recorded at the county Registry of Deeds for a nominal per-page fee.
Is a living trust worth it in Maine?
Weigh the $2,800 against the probate cost above, plus what a dollar figure leaves out: privacy (a trust stays off the public court record) and a faster handoff to whoever inherits. The full worth-it analysis for Maine works through the trade in detail for what real estate you own.
Sources
- LegalTemplates, 2026 Estate Planning Costs in the US (909 firms, read September 24, 2026).
- Maine probate filing fee, Maine probate cost, national living trust cost guide (Clear Money Guide).
- Statute/agency source, transfer-tax/recording source