Maine · 18-C M.R.S. §§6-401–6-418Maine transfer on death deeds: the rules and what they mean for a sale

Maine's Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act lets an individual transfer property for no consideration to beneficiaries, effective at death (18-C M.R.S. §6-405); it applies to transferors dying on or after September 1, 2019 (§6-403). The deed is revocable even if it says otherwise (§6-406) and takes the capacity required for a will (§6-408). It must have the elements of a recordable deed, state that the transfer occurs at the transferor's death, and be recorded before death in the registry of deeds of the county where the property is (§6-409). It can be revoked only by a later TOD deed, an instrument of revocation, or an inter vivos deed that expressly revokes it, acknowledged after the deed and recorded before death – not by a revocatory act on the recorded deed (§6-411). During life it doesn't affect the owner's right to transfer or encumber the property (§6-412), so the owner can sell. At death the beneficiary takes subject to all conveyances, encumbrances, mortgages and liens, a surviving joint owner keeps the property, and the deed gives no covenant or warranty of title (§6-413). A beneficiary may record a notarized notice of death affidavit – with the beneficiaries, the property's street address, the deed's date and book and page, the date and place of death and a tax-bill address – to confirm title; the register mails a copy to the municipal tax assessor, and filing it is not a condition to the transfer (§6-414). The beneficiary is liable for allowed claims and statutory allowances to the extent §6-102 provides (§6-416).