Updated October 8, 2026. Quick answer: Yes, for securities; vehicles not described. Maine’s Transfer on Death Security Registration part of the Probate Code, Title 18-C, sections 6-301 and following, lets an eligible owner register a security in beneficiary form, and the owner may cancel or change it “without the consent of the beneficiary”. The Bureau of Motor Vehicles pages cited here do not describe naming a beneficiary on a vehicle title.
How Maine handles transfer-on-death registration
| Item | What the state documents say |
|---|---|
| Brokerage and securities accounts | Maine’s Probate Code, Title 18-C, Article 6, Part 3, covers transfer on death security registration, and the sections cited here are 6-301, 6-306 and 6-309. It defines beneficiary form as a registration of a security that indicates the present owner and the owner’s intention about who becomes owner on the owner’s death, and it defines a registering entity to include a broker maintaining security accounts for customers. Article 6 is titled Nonprobate Transfers on Death. |
| Effect on the will and probate | Section 6-309 says a transfer on death resulting from a registration in beneficiary form is effective by reason of the contract between the owner and the registering entity and the Part, not by a will. The source says: “and this Part and is not testamentary”. The Part sits in Article 6 of the Probate Code, which is titled Nonprobate Transfers on Death. |
| Changing the beneficiary | Section 6-306 says the designation of a TOD beneficiary has no effect on ownership until the owner’s death, and that the sole owner or all then-surviving owners may cancel or change the registration at any time. The beneficiary has no say while the owner is alive. |
| Vehicle titles | The Maine Bureau of Motor Vehicles page on the death of an owner sorts situations by the claimant’s relationship to the deceased, such as surviving spouse, personal representative, joint owner, surviving common owner or heir. The pages cited here do not describe naming a transfer-on-death beneficiary on a vehicle title, and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles is the place to confirm. |
A $250,000 brokerage account split
An owner holds a brokerage account worth $250,000 and registers it in beneficiary form to two named beneficiaries, with each to receive half. Each share is computed as $250,000 x 50% = $125,000. The 50/50 split is the owner’s illustration, not a rule of the state: the owner names the beneficiaries and, where the form allows it, the shares.
Real estate, probate and estate tax
A transfer on death deed is a different instrument for real property: see Maine transfer on death deed. For what probate costs in Maine, see Maine probate cost, and for Maine’s own estate or inheritance tax, see Maine estate and inheritance tax. Which of these your account or vehicle falls under depends on how it is titled.
Related: Maine probate cost, how Maine taxes retirement income, Maine estate and inheritance tax, Maine transfer on death deed, and car titles after a death, by state.
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Answer againSources
- Maine Revised Statutes Title 18-C, section 6-301, Definitions: https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec6-301.html
- Maine Revised Statutes Title 18-C, section 6-306, Effect of registration in beneficiary form: https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec6-306.html
- Maine Revised Statutes Title 18-C, section 6-309, Nontestamentary transfer on death: https://legislature.maine.gov/legis/statutes/18-C/title18-Csec6-309.html
- Death of an Owner (vehicle titles): https://www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/vehicles/titles/what-to-do-when-a-vehicles-owner-is-deceased
Sources: the primary documents linked above, read on October 8, 2026. General information, not tax advice. Your own facts decide the outcome, and a preparer, the plan administrator or the agency itself is the right place to confirm anything consequential.