Any Family Division action pending in the Superior Court may be transferred to the District Court. Transfer shall be accomplished by filing a notice of transfer agreed to by the parties or their counsel and by paying to the clerk of the Superior Court any required fees. No transfer may be requested during a hearing or while the court has under advisement the merits of the action or any motion after hearing. The action may be transferred to a division of the District Court, located within the county in which either party resided at the commencement of the action. The notice must designate the receiving District Court. After a judgment has become final, the action may be transferred to any division of the District Court. The clerk shall file a copy of the record and all original papers in the action in the District Court in that division. Thereafter the action shall be prosecuted as if all prior proceedings in the action had taken place in the District Court.
Rule 122.Transfer from Superior Court to District Court
Last verified July 8, 2026
In one sentenceRule 122 lets the parties transfer a pending Family Division action from the Superior Court to a District Court division by filing an agreed notice of transfer and paying any required fees, bars transfer during a hearing or while a matter is under advisement, and treats the transferred action as if it had always proceeded in the District Court.
Full Text of Rule 122
Advisory Committee’s Notes & Reporter’s Notes
Advisory Notes — June 2008
Rule 122 is similar to Rule 80(l). The court unification legislation authorized all actions for divorce and annulment pending in the Superior Court as original actions on or before December 31, 2000, to continue to be adjudicated in the Superior Court. At the same time, the unification legislation called for opportunity to transfer such actions to the District Court. This rule allows actions for divorce and annulment pending as original matters in the Superior Court to be transferred to the District Court for further processing under the Family Division rules. This transfer can only occur by agreement of the parties. Transfers cannot occur while the Superior Court is hearing or has under advisement the merits of any contested matter before it.
Plain-English Summary
A Family Division action pending in the Superior Court may move to the District Court by filing a notice of transfer the parties or their counsel agree to, along with any required fees paid to the Superior Court clerk. No one can request a transfer during a hearing or while the court has the merits of the action or a post-hearing motion under advisement. Before judgment, the case transfers to a District Court division in the county where either party resided when the action began; the notice must name the receiving court. After judgment becomes final, the case can transfer to any District Court division. The clerk files a copy of the record and all original papers with the receiving District Court, and from then on the action proceeds as though it had always been pending there.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does a Family Division case move from Superior Court to District Court in Maine?
By filing a notice of transfer that the parties or their counsel agree to, along with any required fees, subject to Rule 122's timing limits.
Can a case be transferred while a hearing is underway?
No. Rule 122 bars a transfer request during a hearing or while the court has the case's merits or a post-hearing motion under advisement.
What happens to the case record when a transfer is approved?
The Superior Court clerk files a copy of the record and all original papers with the receiving District Court, and the action proceeds as if it had always been pending there.
Source & verification. The rule text and Advisory Committee’s Notes / Reporter’s
Notes are reproduced verbatim from the official Maine Rules of Civil Procedure (Me. R. Civ. P. 122), prescribed by the
Supreme Judicial Court of Maine (4 M.R.S. § 8, the Rules Enabling Act). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: transfer family case superior to district court Mainenotice of transfer divorce case