What to gather for a small estate in Maryland

A short estate case opened with the Register of Wills in the county where the person lived. The register appoints a personal representative and issues letters of administration, which banks and the MVA accept to release or transfer the person's property.

Limit

Up to $50,000 Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

The person's probate property in Maryland must be worth $50,000 or less on the date of death, after subtracting debts of record secured by the property. The limit is $100,000 or less if the surviving spouse is the only heir or beneficiary (see the spouse procedure).

What counts

The value on the date of death of the person's property in Maryland that goes through probate (property in the person's name alone or as a tenant in common). Each item is valued at fair market value minus debts of record secured by that item, such as a mortgage or car loan. Property that passes to someone else by its own terms or by law (joint, payable-on-death, beneficiary, trust property) is not counted.

Waiting period

The law sets no waiting period to file the petition. If property remains after funeral costs and family allowances are paid, a notice is published once in a newspaper: people have 30 days from publication to object, and creditors must file claims by the earlier of 6 months after the death or 30 days after the personal representative mails or delivers a notice to them.

Who can use it

Any person entitled to be personal representative under Maryland's order of priority: first the personal representative named in the will, then the surviving spouse, registered domestic partner and children (no will) or the surviving spouse (with a will), then residuary beneficiaries, grandchildren, parents, brothers and sisters, other relatives, the largest creditor and others. People with equal or higher priority may need to sign a Consent to Appointment. The petitioner must be at least 18 and meet the citizenship, residency or family-relationship rules stated on the petition; a personal representative who lives outside Maryland must appoint a Maryland resident agent.

Court or where to file

Register of Wills (Orphans' Court) in the county where the person was domiciled at death. If the person did not live in Maryland, the petition states why that county is the proper office.

Notary

The petition and schedules are signed under penalties of perjury; the forms have no notary block.

Papers to attach

• Death certificate (original or copy) or other proof of death
• The original will, if there is one
• Schedule B: every asset in the person's name alone or as tenant in common with its date-of-death value and how the value was found, and every known creditor and claim
• Date-of-death statements for bank and other financial accounts, stock information, vehicle titles, and the tax assessment value for any real property
• List of Interested Persons, listing all heirs even if there is a will
• Consent to Appointment of Personal Representative, if needed
• Documentation of funeral expenses
• Appointment of Resident Agent, if the personal representative lives outside Maryland
• Information Report and, if the person owned firearms, the firearms affidavit

Steps

1. Call or visit the Register of Wills in the county where the person lived to confirm the forms and documents needed.
2. Gather the death certificate, any original will, and date-of-death values for everything in the person's name alone.
3. Fill in the Small Estate Petition (RW1103), Schedule B (RW1137), the List of Interested Persons (RW1104) and the other forms in the Small Estate Packet.
4. File them with the Register of Wills. If the register finds the papers accurate, it appoints you personal representative and issues letters of administration.
5. The register directs payment of allowable funeral expenses and family allowances. If property is left over, the will (if any) is admitted and the Small Estate Notice (RW1109) is published one time.
6. Use the letters to collect the property, pay proper claims after the claim period ends, and distribute what is left under the will or Maryland's inheritance law.
7. Report any property found later by a supplemental petition. If it raises the total above the limit, the estate continues as a regular estate.

Fee

The Registers of Wills' fee schedule shows no probate fee for an estate valued under $50,000 opened on or after October 1, 2022, and no fees on a small estate where the spouse is the only heir or beneficiary (up to $100,000). Four certificates of letters are included; each extra one costs $1. If notice must be published, the newspaper charges for publication, and some registers collect that payment when the estate is opened. A bond is not required if the estate is under $10,000 after funeral costs and allowances are paid.

If you can't pay

A register of wills must waive its fees if the estate cannot pay them because of poverty and the person's Maryland real estate is going to an heir who lives on it, or has a tax-sale lien against it.

Debts and responsibility

A personal representative of a small estate is not personally liable for paying claims or distributing property under these rules if, at the time, they had no actual knowledge of a valid, unbarred claim that had not been filed with the register. A personal representative of a small estate is not paid a commission.

Forms

• Small Estate Packet (Register of Wills, Rev. 10/01/2026)
• RW1103 Petition for Administration of a Small Estate
• RW1137 Small Estate Schedule B
• RW1104 List of Interested Persons

Law: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts secs. 5-601 to 5-607, 5-104, 2-206

Source: Official page