ME · rules
M.R. Civ. P. 80A
REAL ACTIONS
(a) Applicability. Writs of entry are abolished, and these Rules of Civil
Procedure shall govern the procedure in real actions including actions in the
District Court to quiet title to real estate under 14 M.R.S.A. §§ 6651-6658 and
36 M.R.S.A. § 946, except as otherwise provided in this rule.
(b) Commencement of Action; Service. An action to recover any estate in
fee simple, in fee tail, for life, or for any term of years shall be commenced by
complaint and service of summons as in other civil actions.
(c) Complaint. The demanded premises shall be clearly described in the
complaint. The plaintiff shall declare on the plaintiff’s own seizin within
20 years then last past, without naming any particular day or averring a taking
of the profits, and shall allege a disseizin by the defendant. The plaintiff shall
set forth the estate which the plaintiff claims in the premises, but if the plaintiff
proves a lesser estate than the plaintiff has alleged, amendment may be made
to conform to the proof and judgment ordered accordingly. The plaintiff need
not state in the complaint the origin of the plaintiff’s title, but the court may, on
motion of the defendant, order the plaintiff to file a statement of the plaintiff’s
title and its origin. The complaint shall include any claim against the defendant
for damages which have accrued at the time of commencement of the action for
the rents and profits of the premises or for any destruction or waste of the
buildings or other property for which the defendant is by law answerable.
(d) Answer. All defenses shall be made by answer as in other actions. The
defendant may defend for a part only of the premises, and when for a part only,
it shall be described in the answer with like certainty as is required in the
complaint. If the defendant defends for a part only, the plaintiff shall, subject to
the provisions of Rule 54(b), have judgment against the defendant on the
pleadings for recovery of possession of the part not defended. If the defendant
by answer alleges that the defendant has been in possession of a tract of land
lying in one body for 6 years or more before the commencement of the action,
that only part of it is demanded, and that the plaintiff has as good a title to the
whole as to such part, proof of that fact shall defeat the action unless the
complaint is amended so as to include the whole tract, which the court may
allow without costs. A defendant not in possession of the premises when the
action was commenced may defeat the action by disclaiming in the answer any
right or title to the premises.
(e) No Abatement by Death or Intermarriage. No real action shall be
abated by the death or intermarriage of either party after it has been
commenced. The court shall proceed to try and determine such action, but only
after such notice as the court orders has been given to all persons interested in
his estate.
(f) Judgment. The judgment shall declare the estate, if any, in all or in any
part of the demanded premises to which the plaintiff is entitled; and if the
plaintiff shall recover judgment for title and possession of all or any part of the
demanded premises, the court may order one or more writs of possession to
issue in accordance with law. If either party dies before a writ of possession is
executed or the action is otherwise disposed of, any money payable by the
defendant may be paid by the defendant, the defendant’s executor or
administrator, or by any person entitled to the estate under the defendant, to
the plaintiff, or the plaintiff’s executor or administrator with the same effect as
if both parties were living. The writ of possession shall be issued in the name
of the original plaintiff against the original defendant, although either or both
are dead; and when executed, it shall enure to the use and benefit of the
plaintiff, or of the person who is then entitled to the premises under the
plaintiff, as if executed in the lifetime of the parties.
(g) Foreclosure of Mortgage. An action under this rule may be used for
the purpose of the foreclosure of a mortgage of real estate as provided by law.
Provenance
- Source
- courts.maine.gov
- Retrieved
- 2026-09-24
- Edition
- 2026-09-24
- Content hash
5db93ec1ad531d5ae09c44d391c1c8b4bda0159049560c58361423042c248399
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