Start touching and rubbing the Maltese paws from the time they are little. If you adopted them as an adult start by touching the paws, and then give a small kibble of food or a treat.
It does not have to be stressful to trim the paw pads. I use scissors around the edge and then use the Wahl peanut clippers to trim the hair between the paw pads.
Trimming Maltese Paw Pads
https://youtu.be/nK8s0vGVwGo