The Maine military affidavit

How Maine handles it

Maine does not publish a separate military affidavit for civil cases. The statement lives inside CV-061, Affidavit and Request for Default and Default Judgment (Rev. 10/22), which cites M.R. Civ. P. 55 and carries a checkbox at the top for Superior Court, District Court, or BCD. Paragraph 3 is the military paragraph: "To the personal knowledge of the undersigned, Defendant is not in the Military Service of the United States, as defined in the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act of 2003, (50 USC 3911)(no default against servicemembers allowed per 50 USC 3931)." Under it is a blank asking you to evidence that "by the following facts as to residence, employment, etc."

The rest of CV-061 explains why clerks reject it. Paragraph 2 addresses minority and incompetency, paragraph 4 states whether the claim is for a sum certain and notes that a fee is imposed under M.R. Civ. P. 55(e) when the amount is $10,000 or more, paragraph 5 asks you to show that venue was properly laid, and paragraph 6 certifies that notice was given under M.R. Civ. P. 55(f). Page 3 is the order itself, and both the clerk judgment block and the court judgment block recite as a finding "that the defendant is not in the military." The clerk cannot sign that line if paragraph 3 is blank.

Divorce, parentage, and other family filings use a different document with a name that hides it. FM-052 is captioned FEDERAL AFFIDAVIT, 50 U.S.C. 3911 (Rev. 08/20), and it is a District Court form. It offers three factual checkboxes: the defendant resides in a named Maine town, the defendant is employed at a named employer in a named Maine town, or other facts showing the defendant is not in the military. The same page then makes you state the venue basis, and the footer warns that the form must be filed if the defendant has failed to answer the complaint or file a notice of appearance.

When you genuinely cannot locate the person, Maine gives you a court order instead of a checkbox. CV-066, Petition and Order for Military Certification (3/2025), asks the judge to direct the Adjutant General of the Army, the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, the Chief of the Bureau of Naval Personnel, the Commandant of the Marine Corps, and the Commandant of the Coast Guard to issue certificates of status. It asks for the missing party date of birth and service number, and it routes the Social Security number to a separate confidential form.

What trips filers up here

• Searching the Maine forms list for "military" does not find the affidavit you probably need. The family form is filed under the name Federal Affidavit, and the only form title containing the word is CV-066, Petition and Order for Military Certification.
• Neither CV-061 nor FM-052 mentions the Defense Manpower Data Center or gives you a box to attach a status report. The DMDC certificate has to go into the free-text facts blank and be attached on your own initiative.
• The perjury warning is printed in Maine dollars and years, not by reference: "I am subject to prosecution for perjury punishable by up to 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000 if I give false information to the court."
• CV-066 still cites 50 App U.S.C. 582 in a form revised in March 2025. That appendix numbering was retired when the SCRA was moved into 50 U.S.C. 3901 and following in 2015.

Signing it: notarization required

Both Maine forms are sworn, not declared. Under the signature line each one prints "Personally appeared the above-named affiant and made oath to the foregoing affidavit," with a checkbox for Notary Public, Attorney at Law, or Clerk. An attorney of the Maine bar can therefore take the oath without a notary seal.

This form carries a notary block, so budget for a notary before your filing date. Federal law sets a floor, not a ceiling: 50 U.S.C. § 3931(b)(4) permits an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury, but a state is free to require more on its own form, and this one does.

Maine law on top of the federal rule

37-B M.R.S. 389-A: The Maine Servicemembers’ Civil Relief Act. It reaches members of the state military forces on active state service and lets a court stay any action in which a Guard or Reserve member is a party, during service and for 60 days after, unless the court finds the ability to prosecute or defend is not materially affected. It does not add a state rate cap.

Getting the military-status answer right

The affidavit is only as good as the search behind it. The Defense Manpower Data Center runs the free lookup that courts and creditors rely on, and since 2026 it requires a free account even for a single record. Our guide to the DMDC SCRA website covers the search itself, what a "no information found" result does and does not prove, and the batch route for high-volume filers. The federal rules behind this form, including what happens when you genuinely cannot determine status, sit on the hub page.

If one was filed against you

A false affidavit is not a technicality. In May 2026 the Justice Department settled with a Florida property manager that swore a Navy sailor was not on active duty, took a default eviction judgment, and left him with an eviction on his record that a dozen landlords then refused to rent around: $60,000 to one servicemember plus a civil penalty . If a default judgment was entered against you while you were serving, it can be reopened; the default-judgment shield walks the deadlines.

Serving in Maine and looking for what the state adds to your own protections rather than court procedure? That is a different page: Maine SCRA benefits.