Current as of November 2026. General information, not legal or tax advice.
Maine adopted the Maine Uniform Trust Code as Part 1 of Title 18-B. Its annual report asks for something most states leave out: the tax basis of each trust asset alongside its market value. Maine also allows six years, rather than the uniform five, as the outer limit for claims.
Who must provide an accounting in Maine
Section 813 requires the trustee to keep the qualified beneficiaries reasonably informed about the administration and the material facts they need to protect their interests, and to respond promptly to a qualified beneficiary's request for reports and other information reasonably related to the administration unless the request is unreasonable. On request, the trustee furnishes a copy of the trust instrument.
Within 60 days after accepting a trusteeship, the trustee notifies the qualified beneficiaries of the acceptance and of the trustee's name, address and telephone number. Within 60 days after learning that an irrevocable trust has been created, or that a revocable trust has become irrevocable, the trustee tells them of the trust's existence, the settlor's identity, their right to request a copy of the trust instrument, and their right to a trustee's report. The trustee also gives advance notice of any change in compensation.
The report goes at least annually and at termination to the distributees or permissible distributees of income or principal, and to other qualified beneficiaries who request it. A beneficiary may waive reports and later withdraw the waiver.
What a Maine trust accounting must contain
The report covers the trust property, liabilities, receipts and disbursements, including the source and amount of the trustee's compensation, and a listing of the trust assets with, if feasible, their market values and tax bases. On a vacancy with no cotrustee remaining, the former trustee sends the report. A personal representative of a deceased trustee, or a conservator or guardian of an incapacitated trustee, may send it on the trustee's behalf.
When a Maine accounting is contested
Section 1005 bars a proceeding for breach of trust more than one year after the beneficiary was sent a report that adequately disclosed the potential claim and told the beneficiary how long they had to bring it. A report discloses adequately if it gives enough information that the beneficiary knows of the claim or should have inquired into it. Otherwise, the outer limit is six years from the first of the trustee's removal, resignation or death, the end of the beneficiary's interest, or the end of the trust.
How T.E.A. Fiduciary helps
We prepare Maine annual and termination reports under section 813, including the tax basis schedule the statute calls for, with the disclosure and deadline notice that start the section 1005 one-year period. We work alongside your attorney and your tax preparer; we do not prepare tax returns.
This page provides general information about Maine fiduciary accounting requirements and is not legal or tax advice. Statutes and court rules change. Verify the current text before relying on any of it, and consult counsel on questions of legal interpretation.
More: the uniform framework · all state pages · our services
Primary source: Maine Revised Statutes Title 18-B (Maine Uniform Trust Code), Maine Legislature.
Written by Christina Gutman, C.P.A. — Founder and Principal of T.E.A. Fiduciary. Christina is licensed as a Certified Public Accountant by the State of California and has specialized exclusively in fiduciary accounting for over a decade, preparing trust, estate, and conservatorship accountings for law firms, professional fiduciaries, trust companies, family offices, and individual trustees nationwide. She has also served as a forensic consultant in contested accounting matters. More about Christina
