Your state's pack. New issues arrive periodically on Mondays. Bookmark it. I built this for the Maine T&E solo who knows Title 18-C cold but still loses an afternoon a week tracking the moving MaineCare pieces.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments I think actually matter to a Maine T&E solo. Each has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each comes with a reachable citation so you can verify it yourself before you use it with a client.
The recoverable estate (22 M.R.S. § 14) includes probate property plus interests passing by survivorship, life estate, and living trust — yet jointly-held real property is specifically excluded.
This is a Maine-specific planning lever: real estate titled in joint tenancy is not pursued, while a life estate or living-trust interest can be. Title choice drives recovery exposure.
22 M.R.S. § 14 · legislature.maine.gov; MaineCare Estate Recovery (maine.gov/dhhs)
Maine enacted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act (Title 18-C, §§ 6-401 et seq.; § 6-405 authorizes the deed). For 2026, Maine applies the higher home-equity limit of $1,130,000.
A recorded TOD deed keeps the home out of probate; combined with the JT-realty recovery carve-out, Maine gives the solo two real tools. The higher equity limit matters for high-value-home clients.
Me. Title 18-C § 6-405 · legislature.maine.gov; CMS 2026 Standards (medicaid.gov)
Maximum CSRA is $162,660 (minimum $32,532). Maine’s nursing-home Medicaid individual asset limit is $10,000 (not the $2,000 many states use), and Maine applies the higher $1,130,000 home-equity limit.
Community-spouse math runs on the federal CSRA, but the $10,000 individual resource limit changes the single-applicant spend-down. Flag the 2028 OBBBA $1,000,000 home-equity cap now.
42 U.S.C. § 1396p · CMS 2026 Standards (medicaid.gov)
Decisions from the courts that bind a Maine practitioner — the Maine Supreme Judicial Court (the Law Court), the U.S. District Court for the District of Maine, and the First Circuit — read for what actually changes how you draft, advise, and plan. Trusts and estates broadly, not Medicaid alone: wills and capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, guardianship and conservatorship, and estate recovery. One read, the holding, and the official cite.
R., who has vascular dementia following multiple strokes, petitioned to terminate the guardianship under which the Department of Health and Human Services served, while the Department petitioned to add itself as his conservator. The Cumberland County Probate Court denied termination and appointed the Department as public conservator, finding R. lacked insight into his limitations and was vulnerable to financial exploitation — he was expected to inherit a substantial sum, had given money to a woman he had never met but believed was his girlfriend with a $35 million inheritance, and wanted to leave his assisted-living facility to drive (with no license or car) to find her. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed, holding the clear-and-convincing-evidence findings supported both the refusal to terminate the guardianship (18-C M.R.S. §§ 5-301, 5-319) and the appointment of a conservator (§ 5-401(2)). But it went further: because the Legislature grants adults in these proceedings the right to court-appointed counsel, the court held — for the first time — that they are entitled to the effective assistance of that counsel at all stages, and it adopted a Strickland-style standard (deficient performance plus resulting prejudice) for challenging a guardianship or conservatorship order. On this record, counsel’s failure to obtain an independent psychological evaluation did not meet that standard.
Three things to carry into your files. One: a contested adult guardianship or conservatorship now carries a recognized right to effective assistance of counsel — appointed counsel’s performance is reviewable, and a deficient-and-prejudicial showing can unwind an order, so build a clean record (independent evaluations where warranted, documented strategy) when you represent a respondent. Two: the merits turn on clear and convincing evidence of incapacity and need, and vulnerability to financial exploitation — here, gifts to a stranger and unrealistic beliefs about an inheritance — is potent evidence supporting both continued guardianship and a conservator, which matters when a client is about to inherit. Three: for planners, a client’s impending inheritance can itself trigger a conservatorship where cognitive decline impairs financial judgment; a funded trust and a durable power of attorney executed while capacity is intact can reduce the need for a court-imposed conservator later.
Adult Guardianship & Conservatorship of R., 2026 ME 43 (Me. May 12, 2026) · official opinion — courts.maine.gov
This week in Maine for the T&E solo with MaineCare-planning clients: what the Maine State Bar Association, the probate courts, and Maine DHHS put in front of you.
The MSBA CLE calendar, the Estate Planning Section, and the DHHS estate-recovery updates all publish on different schedules. This is that sift, already done, with the link on each item.