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MARYLAND LEGAL INFORMATION
Last Will and Testament Statutes
Link to the Maryland Statutes online which contain the portion of the Probate Code dealing with last wills, select "Estates and Trusts" and, then, "Wills, Title 4".
General Estate Information Guide from the Maryland Register of Wills.
American Bar Association Guide to Wills and Estates
American Bar Association, Estate Planning
Selected Maryland Statutes
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 3-203. Right to elective share.
(a) "Net estate" defined.- In this section, "net estate" means the property of the decedent passing by testate succession, without a deduction for State or federal estate or inheritance taxes, and reduced by:
- Funeral and administration expenses;
- Family allowances; and
- Enforceable claims and debts against the estate.
(b) In general.- Instead of property left to the surviving spouse by will, the surviving spouse may elect to take a one-third share of the net estate if there is also a surviving issue, or a one-half share of the net estate if there is no surviving issue.
(c) Limitation.- The surviving spouse who makes this election may not take more than a one-half share of the net estate.
(d) Valuation.- For the purposes of this section, the net estate and the property allocable to a share of a surviving spouse shall be valued as of the date or dates of distribution.
(e) Applicable share; adjustment.-
- For the purposes of this section, a surviving spouse who has elected to take against a will shall be entitled to the surviving spouse's portion of the income earned on the net estate during the period of administration based on a one-third or one-half share, whichever is applicable.
- If one or more distributions have been made to a surviving spouse or another person that require an adjustment in the relative interests of the beneficiaries, the applicable share shall be adjusted.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-101. Any person may make a will if he is 18 years of age or older, and legally competent to make a will.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-102. Except as provided in §§ 4-103 and 4-104, every will shall be (1) in writing, (2) signed by the testator, or by some other person for him, in his presence and by his express direction, and (3) attested and signed by two or more credible witnesses in the presence of the testator.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-103.
(a) A will entirely in the handwriting of a testator who is serving in the armed services of the United States is a valid holographic will if signed by the testator outside of a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United States even if there are no attesting witnesses.
(b) A holographic will is void one year after the discharge of the testator from the armed services unless the testator has died prior to expiration of the year or does not then possess testamentary capacity.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-104. A will executed outside this state is properly executed if it is: (1)In writing; (2) Signed by the testator; and (3) Executed in conformity with the provisions of § 4-102, or the law of the domicile of the testator, or the place where the will is executed.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-105. A will, or any part of it, may not be revoked in a manner other than as provided in this section.
(1) By provision in a subsequent, validly executed will which (i) revokes any prior will or part of it either expressly or by necessary implication, or (ii) expressly republishes an earlier will that had been revoked by an intermediate will but is still in existence;
(2) By burning, cancelling, tearing, or obliterating the same, by the testator himself, or by some other person in his presence and by his express direction and consent;
(3) By the subsequent marriage of the testator followed by the birth, adoption, or legitimation of a child by him, provided such child or his descendant survives the testator; and all wills executed prior to such marriage shall be revoked; or
(4) By an absolute divorce of a testator and his spouse or the annulment of the marriage, either of which occurs subsequent to the execution of the testator's will; and all provisions in the will relating to the spouse, and only those provisions, shall be revoked unless otherwise provided in the will or decree.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-106. If a testator makes a subsequent will intended to revoke a prior will, the destruction or other revocation of the subsequent will does not revive the prior will unless the will is still in existence and is republished with the same formalities as are required for the execution of a will in this subtitle.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-107. The terms of any writing which is in existence when a will or trust instrument is executed, including but not limited to a statement of administrative provisions and fiduciary powers recorded in a record office of this State, may be incorporated into the will or trust instrument by reference to it to the extent the language of the will or trust instrument manifests an intent to do so and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification. Nothing in this section shall be construed as casting doubt upon the validity of incorporation by reference made prior to the adoption of this section.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-201.
(a) A will may be deposited by the testator, or by his agent, for safekeeping with the register of the county where the testator resides. The register shall give a receipt for it, upon the payment of the required fee.
(b) The will shall be enclosed in a sealed wrapper, which shall have endorsed on it "Will of," followed by the name of the testator, his address, and his Social Security number, if available. The register shall endorse on it the day when and the person from whom it was received. The will is not to be delivered or opened except as provided in this subtitle.
(c) During the lifetime of the testator a deposited will may be delivered only to him, or to a person authorized by him in writing to receive it.
(d) The will shall be opened by the register after being informed of the death of the testator. The register shall notify the personal representative named in the will, and any other person the register considers appropriate, that the will is on deposit with the register. The will shall be retained by the register as a deposited will until offered for probate. The register shall keep a photographic copy of a will transmitted elsewhere for probate.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-401. A legatee, other than his spouse, who fails to survive the testator by 30 full days is considered to have predeceased the testator, unless the will of the testator expressly creates a presumption that the legatee is considered to survive the testator or requires that the legatee survives the testator for a stated period in order to take under the will and the legatee survives for the stated period.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 4-402. There is a presumption that a will passes all property the testator owns at the time of his death. This includes property acquired after the execution of the will.
- Maryland Article Estates and Trusts § 5-303. Proof of execution of will. The register shall assume due execution of the will:
(1) If the will appears to have been duly executed and contains a recital by attesting witnesses of facts constituting due execution; or
(2) If it does not so appear, or if the will does not contain that recital, then upon the verified statement of a person with personal knowledge of the circumstances of execution whether or not the person was in fact an attesting witness.
Library of Informational Legal Articles
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