Kennebec County, ME Probate Information

The first Kennebec County question is which route fits the estate, and then what you must bring to the Register of Probate. Maine's routes are informal probate, an unsupervised administrative process handled by the Register of Probate on an application (18-C M.R.S. §3-301); formal probate, a court-supervised proceeding before the Judge of Probate on a petition (18-C M.R.S. §3-401); and, for a qualifying small estate, collection of personal property by affidavit (18-C M.R.S. §3-1201). Which one fits turns on whether the matter is contested and what the estate holds; the routes themselves are statewide and are covered on the Maine state page.

Before you file, identify every bank, credit union, brokerage, and retirement account, life insurance policy, vehicle, business interest, and parcel of Kennebec County real estate, along with every debt, and identify each heir and devisee by name. Only then can you pick the right route, complete the statewide forms accurately, and decide whether counsel is needed. Sunset's asset-discovery work, searching more than 2,300 financial institutions, exists for this step.

The Kennebec County Probate Court serves all of Kennebec County, in central Maine. Its communities include Augusta, the state capital, along with Waterville, Gardiner, Hallowell, Winslow, Winthrop, Oakland, Monmouth, Manchester, Readfield, Belgrade, Vassalboro, China, Sidney, Chelsea, Farmingdale, and the county's surrounding towns. Venue for probate lies in the county where the decedent was domiciled at death; if the decedent was not domiciled in Maine, venue is any county where the decedent's property was located at death (18-C M.R.S. §3-201). A Kennebec County decedent's estate is filed with the Register of Probate for Kennebec County regardless of which town within the county the person lived in.

Kennebec County has one Register of Probate office, at 95 State Street in Augusta, and that single Augusta office serves the entire county. Maine's probate courts are county courts and are not on the State Judicial Branch eCourts system; instead, a family anywhere in the county files electronically through MaineProbate.net's statewide EZ-File system, or on paper with the Register of Probate, in person at the Augusta office or by mail. The Augusta office is where filings are lodged, records are kept, and any hearing before the Judge of Probate takes place.

The court closes its lobby for scheduled administrative weeks. The Kennebec County Probate Court and its clerk's lobby close from 8:00 a.m. to noon during scheduled administrative weeks, so staff can complete court work. In 2026 those weeks are March 30 to April 3, July 27 to July 31, and October 19 to October 23; the county posts each year's dates on kennebec.gov/probate, so check the current list before planning in-person filing or records pickup. For an emergency guardianship or conservatorship filing during an administrative week, the county directs filers to email the Register's office.

The county publishes its own fee schedule with charges beyond the filing fee. Kennebec County publishes a probate fee schedule, effective December 15, 2025, listing the working costs an estate meets beyond the statutory filing fee: a $10 surcharge on every petition and application, which is the statewide records-preservation surcharge set by statute (18-C M.R.S. §1-607); $75 for the notice to creditors; $170 for formal publication; $5 for each probate notice to an heir, devisee, or the Department of Health and Human Services; and $60 for a real estate abstract (Kennebec County Probate Court fee schedule, effective December 15, 2025). Budget for these alongside the filing fee; the fees section below has the full list.

The counter takes cash, check, or money order; cards are for e-filing only. The county's fee schedule directs that checks be made payable to KCPC or Kennebec County Probate Court and states that debit and credit cards may be used for electronic filing only, subject to additional fees charged by ICON, the e-filing vendor. If you file at the Augusta counter, bring cash, a check, or a money order rather than a card.

Many Kennebec County families complete an uncontested estate on their own, using the statewide forms and the informal probate route handled by the Register of Probate. Counsel makes sense when the estate is contested, such as a will contest or a dispute over heirship; when the matter is moved to formal probate before the Judge of Probate; when the estate is insolvent or its solvency is in doubt; when a business interest or out-of-state property complicates administration; when Kennebec County real estate must be sold and the terms are disputed; or when heirs are in conflict. Sunset can connect families to a vetted Kennebec County probate attorney when the situation calls for counsel.

Find the accounts and assets. Sunset searches more than 2,300 financial institutions and public records to surface bank and credit union accounts, retirement plans, brokerage holdings, life insurance, Kennebec County real estate, business interests, and unclaimed property, so you know the estate's value for estate settlement and can pick the right Maine probate route before you file.

Generate the probate packet. Sunset assembles the Kennebec County filing: the informal probate application or the formal probate petition, the small estate affidavit where the estate qualifies, and the supporting inventory and notice forms from Maine's statewide set, ready to file with the Register of Probate by EZ-File, in person, or by mail.

Find a local probate attorney. When a matter is contested or otherwise calls for counsel, Sunset connects families to a vetted Kennebec County probate attorney.

Sunset is free for families. Revenue comes from bank partners that pay Sunset while estate funds sit in an FDIC-insured estate account ($3M coverage).