Knowledge & Resources
Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
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Wills and estate planning
What a will does, how to write one, and what your state requires for it to count.
Maine follows the Uniform Probate Code, and it is one of the more relaxed states about a beneficiary acting as a witness.
A Maine will must be in writing, signed by the testator or in the testator's name by another individual in their conscious presence and at their direction, and signed by at least two individuals who witnessed the signing or the testator's acknowledgment of it.
18-C M.R.S. § 2-502(1)
No. Section 2-502 requires two witnesses, not a notary, and notarizing a Maine will does not replace them. A notary appears only in a separate self-proving affidavit.
18-C M.R.S. § 2-502
Yes. A will that does not meet the ordinary formalities is valid as a holographic will, witnessed or not, if the signature and the material portions of the document are in the testator's handwriting.
18-C M.R.S. § 2-502(2)
Maine imposes none. Anyone generally competent to be a witness may witness a will, and the signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any portion of it. The gift stands. Disinterested witnesses are still the better habit, because they remove an argument about influence rather than a rule.
18-C M.R.S. § 2-504
An individual of sound mind who is 18 or more years of age, or a legally emancipated minor, may make a will in Maine.
18-C M.R.S. § 2-501
18-C M.R.S. § 2-502 (Execution; holographic wills). Signed by at least two individuals, each of whom signed within a reasonable time after witnessing the signing or the testator's acknowledgment.
Links last checked 2026-08-25.
We could not read this statute at its official source, so the summary above is provisional. Confirm it before relying on it.
This is general information about the law, not legal advice, and it has not been reviewed by an attorney licensed in Maine. Requirements change. Confirm the current rules for your state before you sign.
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