Reviewed July 2026
Filing for Divorce in Maine
A plain-language look at how divorce works under Maine law: who can file, how long it takes, what it costs, and where Maine's own court forms and self-help resources are.
Virdix's document-preparation product currently prepares divorce paperwork for California cases only. This page explains how the process works under Maine law, using Maine's own court forms and self-help resources, for people researching before they file. It is not legal advice, and Virdix does not prepare or file Maine divorce paperwork. See how Virdix works for California divorces.
Maine keeps an unusually long fault-grounds list (adultery, impotence, extreme cruelty, three-year desertion, habitual intoxication, nonsupport, cruel and abusive treatment, and guardianship-based incapacity) fully alongside its no-fault 'irreconcilable differences' ground, and treats recrimination as comparative rather than an absolute bar and condonation as discretionary rather than a complete defense (19-A M.R.S. § 902). Its residency rule is structured as four alternative tests rather than a single durational threshold: filers only need six months of Maine residency if none of the other three connections apply, so a case where the defendant currently lives in Maine can be filed immediately with no minimum residency wait. Contested cases involving minor children generally trigger a Case Management Conference before a family law magistrate and mandatory mediation 'in most cases,' which functions as Maine's de facto pre-hearing checkpoint in place of a separate simplified-divorce track. Separately, Maine is mid-rollout on a new statewide eCourts/eFiling system as of July 2026, so filers in different counties currently face genuinely different filing mechanics (electronic vs. paper) depending on where their case is venued.
Grounds for divorce in Maine
No-fault grounds
- Irreconcilable marital differences (19-A M.R.S. § 902)
Fault-based grounds
- Adultery
- Impotence
- Extreme cruelty
- Utter desertion continued for three consecutive years before filing
- Gross and confirmed habits of intoxication from voluntary use of liquor or drugs
- Nonsupport by a spouse of sufficient means who grossly, wantonly, or cruelly refuses or neglects to provide suitable maintenance
- Cruel and abusive treatment
- Placement of a spouse under guardianship with full powers
The statute treats recrimination as comparative rather than an absolute bar, and treats condonation as discretionary with the court rather than a complete defense.
Source: legislature.maine.gov
Who can file: residency rules
To file a divorce complaint in Maine, one of the following must be true under 19-A M.R.S. § 901: (1) the plaintiff has resided in good faith in Maine for six months immediately before filing; (2) the plaintiff is domiciled in Maine and the marriage took place in Maine; (3) the plaintiff is domiciled in Maine and both spouses lived in Maine when the grounds for divorce arose; or (4) the defendant is domiciled in Maine. Because option (4) has no durational component, a case can be filed with no minimum waiting period at all if the defendant currently lives in Maine, the six-month rule only controls filings where neither the marriage, the grounds, nor the defendant's residence otherwise connects the case to Maine.
19-A M.R.S. § 901
Source: legislature.maine.gov
How long it takes
Maine Judicial Branch's official divorce-process guidance states a minimum 60-day waiting period between the filing of complete divorce paperwork and the final divorce hearing. This timing rule was not found in the Title 19-A divorce statute text itself (see unverified), it appears to be a court-procedure requirement rather than a statutory one.
No Title 19-A statute section located for the 60-day rule; it is stated in Maine Judicial Branch court-procedure guidance rather than in the divorce statute itself (Title 19-A, Chapter 29 contains no waiting-period language per the text reviewed). See unverified.
Source: courts.maine.gov
That figure is the statutory floor, not a promise. Service, exchanging financial disclosures, and the court's own hearing calendar routinely add time on top of it, and a contested case takes longer than an uncontested one regardless of the minimum. California, by comparison, requires a mandatory six month waiting period from the date of service.
Cost and filing fees
$120, per Maine Judicial Branch's official family-matters process page. No indication that this fee varies by county, Maine's court system runs on a single statewide fee schedule. A separate $5 clerk fee applies to obtain the Family Matter Summons and Preliminary Injunction (Form FM-038), which must be issued in person by a clerk's office rather than downloaded with the complaint packet.
Source: courts.maine.gov
California's own statewide filing fee is generally $435 to $450 statewide, with a fee waiver available for those who qualify.
Divorce forms and papers
The petition
Maine uses two divorce-complaint form packets rather than a single numbered petition: "Forms to file a Complaint for Divorce with Children" (Form OTH-039) and "Forms to file a Complaint for Divorce without Children" (Form OTH-040). Both require the Family Matter Summons and Preliminary Injunction (Form FM-038), obtained in person from a clerk's office for a $5 fee rather than downloaded with the packet.
Source: courts.maine.gov
Fee waiver
Application to Proceed Without Payment of Fees (Form CV-067, rev. 6/1/2020). A bundled version is also published as Form OTH-123, "Application to Proceed Without Payment of Fee - Packet" (rev. 10/1/2024).
Source: mjbportal.courts.maine.gov
Not independently confirmedMaine publishes fillable forms for this process. Forms: https://www.courts.maine.gov/forms/index.html Maine Judicial Branch publishes downloadable PDF form packets (e.g., OTH-039, OTH-040, CV-067) through its online Court Forms database; whether individual PDFs have interactive fillable fields versus being print-and-complete was not confirmed from the raw file content retrieved.
California uses standardized Judicial Council forms, starting with the Petition (Form FL-100), across every county. See California's own divorce forms.
Filing online
County patchwork, not yet statewide, mid-rollout as of July 2026. Maine's new eCourts/eFiling platform is launching county-by-county rather than all at once. As of late July 2026 it was live for all case types in York, Androscoggin, Franklin, Oxford, Kennebec, Somerset, and Aroostook Counties; live for family and civil cases only in Penobscot County; and scheduled to launch in Hancock and Washington Counties on 7/27/2026. Where live, eFiling covers divorce and other family-matter case types (parental rights, child support, post-judgment motions, adoption, guardianship, name changes). Where not yet live, paper filing by mail or hand delivery with proof of service remains the method. Judicial Branch materials describe registered attorneys, firms, and parties using the system but do not state it is mandatory for self-represented filers.
Source: courts.maine.gov
Uncontested and simplified divorce
Maine does not have a separate statutory simplified or summary divorce track. An uncontested case still uses the standard process, it just moves faster because there is nothing to litigate.
No distinct simplified or summary divorce track is described in Maine's official self-help materials. All divorces proceed through the same Complaint for Divorce process (using the with-children or without-children packet); uncontested cases move faster in practice by avoiding a contested hearing, but there is no separate abbreviated-eligibility procedure comparable to a 'summary dissolution' track found in some other states.
Source: courts.maine.gov
California's equivalent is uncontested divorce in California, which uses the same statewide forms as any other case but moves faster once both spouses agree on every term.
Filing without a lawyer
Maine allows self-represented filers, and most divorces filed in the state proceed this way. Because Virdix prepares paperwork for California cases only, a Maine filer handling their own case works directly from Maine's own forms and self-help materials rather than a Virdix-prepared packet. Maine's official self-help resources are the direct source for the current forms and instructions.
For how self-representation works in the state Virdix does serve, see divorce without a lawyer in California and DIY divorce vs. hiring a lawyer.
More about divorce in Maine
How property is divided
Equitable distribution state, not community property. Under 19-A M.R.S. § 953, the court sets apart each spouse's separate property and then divides marital property in proportions it considers just after weighing statutory factors, rather than dividing marital property automatically in half.
Source: legislature.maine.gov
Parenting class requirement
Not independently confirmedNot required by statute statewide.
Not automatically mandatory for every divorce with minor children. Maine's Co-Parent Education Program is a four-hour, in-person class (some organizations offer online registration for scheduling) that the court may order participation in 'in certain cases' involving minor children, per the Judicial Branch's official parent-education page. The page does not state it is required in every case with minor children, and attendees generally pay a workshop fee to the third-party organization running the class, separate from court filing fees. Treat this as a case-by-case court order rather than a universal statutory filing prerequisite.
Source: courts.maine.gov
California is the only state on this site with a full county-by-county breakdown. See how California's divorce process compares across its 58 counties.
This page is general information about Maine divorce procedure, not legal advice for your situation. Laws, fees, and forms change over time; confirm current details with Maine's own courts before relying on anything here. Virdix is not a law firm, is not licensed to practice law in Maine, and does not prepare or file Maine divorce paperwork. It is not a substitute for an attorney licensed in Maine.