Simplified route
$50,000
Small-estate administration; waiting period not verified.
Eligibility and caveatsMaryland estate administration
Maryland probate: rules, process, costs, executor fees and deadlines
Small-estate limit: $50,000
This guide explains probate in Maryland: Maryland’s small-estate administration is a threshold-based court track through the Register of Wills. Modified administration is a separate consent-based track for qualifying solvent estates, with election, report, and distribution deadlines rather than a small-estate cap.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.
Answer first
Maryland simplified probate route
Up to $50,000; waiting period not verified. Source: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 5-601.
Small-estate administrationScreen a specific Maryland estate with the calculators on the small-estate page and the executor-fee page, or compare states in the full estate navigator.
What the reviewed rules establish
Court cost
Tiered
1 published schedule, itemised on the filing-cost page.
Filing-cost detailExecutor compensation
Court-reviewed
The statute caps compensation; the court sets the amount within it. Source: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 7-601.
Compensation detailCreditor deadline
Multiple triggers
Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 7-103 (Maryland General Assembly; reviewed August 9, 2026)
Timeline and creditor detailsMaryland decision map
The four facts that change the Maryland route
Each Maryland answer below links to the page that sets out its source.
| Question | Recorded Maryland answer |
|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Small-estate administration |
| What property and basis count? | probate property within the rule's stated scope; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. |
| What is the amount screen? | $50,000 |
| What is the time or deadline record? | No waiting-period number verified; creditor deadlines: separate clocks by triggering event |
| What does the cost record establish? | 1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total. |
| What does compensation use? | Statutory ceiling, measured on gross probate property. |
Limits and unresolved costs
- Maryland statute pages have no usable currentness marker.
- The final probate-fee tier cannot be safely represented by the existing FilingFeeComponent union because it is 0.02% only of excess over $10 million.
Continue
What Maryland courts publish
Every link is probed before each release.
- Official formSmall Estate Packet (Rev. 10/01/2026) (PDF)Maryland Registers of Wills
- Forms indexModified Administration Packet (PDF)Maryland Registers of Wills
- Fee scheduleRegister of Wills feesMaryland Registers of Wills
- Court resourceRegister of Wills directoryMaryland Registers of Wills
Limits on court material
- Maryland publishes separate statewide packets for small estates and modified administration.
- The Register of Wills receives filings and the Orphans’ Court exercises probate jurisdiction; the circuit court hears specified appeals.
Maryland primary sources
- Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 5-601 — Maryland Estates and Trusts, Small Estate Thresholds
- Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 5-602 — Maryland Estates and Trusts, Small Estate Petition
- Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 5-702 — Maryland Estates and Trusts, Modified Administration Eligibility
- Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 7-601 — Maryland Estates and Trusts, Personal Representative Compensation
- Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 2-206 — Maryland Estates and Trusts, Register of Wills Probate Fees
- Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 7-103 — Maryland Estates and Trusts, Notice of Appointment
- Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 8-103 — Maryland Estates and Trusts, Limitation on Claims
Every quotation, edition label and machine check is on the Maryland source record.
Maryland record: 7/7 verified, 25 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction