| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §4072, as amended by PL 1989, c. 42, §2, is further | amended to read: |
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| | All property subject to taxes under this chapter, in whatever | form of investment it may happen to be, is charged with a lien | for all taxes, interest and penalties which that are or may | become due on that property. The lien does not attach to any | real or personal property after the property has been sold or | disposed of for value by the personal representative, trustee or | surviving joint tenant. Upon payment of those taxes, interest | and penalties due under this chapter, or upon determination that | no tax is due, the State Tax Assessor shall upon request execute | a discharge of the tax lien for recording in the appropriate | registry or registries of deeds. |
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| | Any lien that attached to real property after the property was | sold or disposed of for value by the personal representative, | trustee or surviving joint tenant prior to September 30, 1989 is | released by operation of this section. |
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| | Current law provides that an estate tax lien does not attach | to real or personal property after the property is sold for value | by the personal representative, trustee or surviving joint | tenant. For short periods in the past, however, the law allowed | liens to attach under these circumstances. For example, as a | result of statutory changes in 1988 and 1989, liens were created | during the period from August 4, 1988 to September 29, 1989, but | not before or after that time period. This bill releases estate | tax liens that attached to real property sold by a personal | representative, trustee or surviving joint tenant prior to | September 30, 1989, so that all property sales since the | effective date of the estate tax will be treated the same for | purposes of the estate tax lien. |
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