Maine probate & fiduciary bonds.
For personal representatives, guardians & conservators.
When the Probate Court requires a fiduciary to be bonded, this is the bond.
It protects the heirs, devisees, beneficiaries, and creditors of the estate.
The court fixes the amount from the value of the property passing through your hands.
It is underwritten, not flat-rated — tell us the estate and the role, and we quote it.
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Built for the letters of appointment.
The Probate Court won’t issue your letters until the bond is approved and filed. Here is the whole process:
Tell us the role & the estate
Send your role (personal representative, guardian, or conservator), the Probate Court, and the estimated value of the property passing through your hands. That figure drives the court-set amount and the quote.
A specialist underwrites & quotes
A surety specialist reviews the matter, including a soft credit check, and returns a quote. Most fiduciary bonds clear on credit; larger estates may require financial statements, which we’ll flag up front.
Execute & file
We issue the bond on the Probate Court’s form, with the surety’s power of attorney attached, so it can be approved and your letters can issue.
What it is and who needs it.
What a fiduciary bond guarantees
When someone is appointed to handle a decedent’s estate, or to manage the affairs of a minor or an incapacitated adult, the Maine Probate Court holds them to a fiduciary duty — and may require a bond to back it.
The probate (or fiduciary) bond guarantees that the personal representative, guardian, or conservator will faithfully perform their duties: inventory the assets, account honestly, and distribute the estate as the law and the court direct. If they don’t, the bond compensates the harmed parties.
Under the Maine Probate Code (Title 18-C), a personal representative is generally not required to give bond unless a will or an interested person demands it or the court orders it — 18-C M.R.S. §3-603. When a bond is required, §3-604 fixes the amount: the person qualifying files a sworn statement of the estimated value of the estate and its expected income, and the bond is set in not less than that amount. The court can raise or lower it. Guardians and conservators are bonded under the protective-proceedings provisions of Article 5.
You need this bond if you’re
Start with your role and the estate value.
These are the actual underwriting fields — your fiduciary role, the court, the estate, and your business. Submit once and a surety specialist responds in about one business day with a quote and any financial requirement. No charge until the bond is issued.
Start the application →Common questions.
If yours isn't here, the bond team can usually answer within the hour.
What is a Maine probate bond? +
Who sets the bond amount? +
Does every Maine fiduciary need a bond? +
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Do you check credit? +
Other New York bonds.
Get bonded so your letters can issue.
Send your role and the estate value. A surety specialist underwrites it and returns a quote — typically within one business day. No charge until the bond is issued.