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Maryland route screening

Maryland small-estate limit: $50,000

Property subject to Maryland administration may use small-estate administration at $50,000 or less, or $100,000 or less when the surviving spouse is sole legatee or heir. Value is date-of-death fair market value less debts of record secured by the property to the extent insurance does not pay the secured debt. This court petition is distinct from modified administration, which is not a small-estate threshold track.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch September 15, 2026.

Threshold evidence and currency

What the reviewed source establishes

Currency: No later session-law supersession is recorded in the reviewed source set for this threshold. The edition/currentness label below is the basis for the published figure.

Controlling citation: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 5-601 — Publisher edition or amendment label not stated; verified September 15, 2026.

Verbatim threshold text from that source:

§5-601. (a) If the property of the decedent subject to administration in Maryland is established to have a value of $50,000 or less as of the date of the death of the decedent, the estate may be administered in accordance with the provisions of §§ 5-602 through 5-607 of this subtitle. (b) If, before the filing of an initial account in administration proceedings instituted under Subtitle 3 or Subtitle 4 of this title, the property of the decedent subject to administration in Maryland is established to have a value of $50,000 or less as of the date of the death of the decedent, the estate thereafter may be administered in accordance with the provisions of §§ 5-602 through 5-607 of this subtitle.
1. Where and when
Private by design: entries stay in this browser.
2. What they left

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Asset 1

Asset 2

Your working estimate

Maryland estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted
Court chargeMore information neededProbate fees assessed on the value of the probate estate2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.
Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.The court-selected commission may not exceed 9% of the first $20,000 of property subject to administration plus $1,800 and 3.6% of the excess over $20,000. A will may provide a larger measure; the statute calls compensation reasonable and permits renunciation. It states no separate extraordinary-services percentage.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

What the Maryland amount screen counts

The headline limit is not a count of everything the person owned. It is a test of the property and deductions named by this procedure. Classify title and beneficiary status first; property that transfers by a valid survivorship right, beneficiary designation, or funded trust follows its own transfer path.

This screen counts the probate estate within the statute’s stated scope, not merely cash accounts. Solely owned real property can therefore affect the amount test. That does not necessarily mean the same simplified procedure transfers the house; counting scope and transfer authority are separate questions.

The reviewed value basis subtracts enforceable liens and encumbrances. Enter the asset value and the lien separately. An unsecured bill is not a lien against an asset unless this state separately requires it as an input.

Timing and facts the threshold cannot answer

No waiting-period number is published because it has not been verified to the same primary-source standard as the threshold.

A separate surviving-spouse ceiling of $100,000 appears in the reviewed rule. The relationship and inheritance condition must be true; checking a spouse box does not decide a disputed family or will question.

What does not qualify for this route

  • An estate above $50,000 does not qualify for this value-based route, unless the separately described alternate route applies.
  • Property that transfers by survivorship, beneficiary designation, or a funded trust is not probate property for this screen.
  • A pending or completed personal-representative appointment, a will condition, creditor issue, or family-rights condition can disqualify the route even when the amount appears within the reviewed rule.

Move from the screen to the official Maryland path

Assemble the death date, will status, asset titles, beneficiary confirmations, values, enforceable liens, family facts, and any prior court filing before signing anything. Then use the court publisher’s current artifact for the selected route.

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.

If the state publishes no statewide form, that is a finding—not a missing link. Contact the Orphans’ Court / Register of Wills or clerk in the proper county for its packet and current filing instructions rather than borrowing an unofficial form from another county.

Questions to resolve before relying on “likely qualifies”

  • 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.
  • Confirm deed, account title, beneficiary, and trust ownership from the actual records.
  • Confirm whether a will, prior appointment, creditor issue, or family allowance changes the route.
  • Confirm the official form, fee, copy count, and filing method with the receiving court or institution.
Use this as a starting point.

This is general information, not legal, tax, or financial advice, and it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Probate law varies by state and county and changes over time. Verify the current rule with the court or a licensed attorney in the relevant state.

Maryland eligibility map

What the Maryland simplified route still requires

The Maryland threshold is one screen, not a complete legal conclusion. This map pairs the recorded ceiling with the property scope, deductions, date, and court artifact that have to be checked before relying on a likely-qualifies result.

QuestionRecorded Maryland answerCarry into the case
What route is being screened?Small-estate administrationConfirm that the will, prior appointment, family facts, and asset titles fit this route.
What property and basis count?probate property within the rule's stated scope; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances.Keep real property, liens, beneficiary transfers, and survivorship transfers classified separately.
What is the amount screen?$50,000Use the counted property, not a bank-balance shortcut.
What is the time or deadline record?No waiting-period number verified; The general bar uses the earlier of a death-based outer period and an individual-notice period, while publication is weekly for three weeks and special claims have separate rules; one days value would misstate the framework.Keep the event that starts each clock with the date; do not combine separate periods into one number.
What does the cost record establish?1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.Ask the Orphans’ Court / Register of Wills about local surcharges, copies, publication, bond, and later filings.
What does compensation use?The court-selected commission may not exceed 9% of the first $20,000 of property subject to administration plus $1,800 and 3.6% of the excess over $20,000. A will may provide a larger measure; the statute calls compensation reasonable and permits renunciation. It states no separate extraordinary-services percentage. The relevant base is gross probate property.Keep the will, task log, receipts, and accounting base together; extraordinary work is separate.

Eligibility inputs

The Maryland screen is made of these inputs

A threshold is useful only when the amount is measured the way the source describes. Keep this table with the asset worksheet so an empty or misclassified field cannot look like a confirmed qualification.

InputRegistry record
Threshold$50,000
Property scopeprobate property within the rule's stated scope
Value basisnet of enforceable liens and encumbrances
Waiting periodNo waiting-period number verified
Required extra factsNone listed in the registry
Surviving-spouse ceiling$100,000

Case-file context

Keep the Maryland answer with its neighboring conditions

A route answer is easier to use when the facts that can change it stay in the same record. These are the reviewed Maryland descriptions adjacent to this page\'s main question; they are not a substitute for the source quotations or the receiving court\'s instructions.

Cost context

The statewide probate fee is $0 below $50,000; $100 from $50,000 to below $100,000; $200 from $100,000 to below $500,000; $1,000 from $500,000 to below $1 million; $2,000 from $1 million to below $2.5 million; $5,000 from $2.5 million to below $5 million; $7,500 from $5 million to below $7.5 million; $10,000 from $7.5 million to below $10 million; and $10,000 plus 0.02% of excess over $10 million thereafter, with no stated cap.

1 published schedule; the proceeding and value basis control the total.

Compensation context

The court-selected commission may not exceed 9% of the first $20,000 of property subject to administration plus $1,800 and 3.6% of the excess over $20,000. A will may provide a larger measure; the statute calls compensation reasonable and permits renunciation. It states no separate extraordinary-services percentage.

The court-selected commission may not exceed 9% of the first $20,000 of property subject to administration plus $1,800 and 3.6% of the excess over $20,000. A will may provide a larger measure; the statute calls compensation reasonable and permits renunciation. It states no separate extraordinary-services percentage. The relevant base is gross probate property.

Deadline context

The general bar uses the earlier of a death-based outer period and an individual-notice period, while publication is weekly for three weeks and special claims have separate rules; one days value would misstate the framework.

  • 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.

Court-material note: 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.

Arithmetic illustration

See the Maryland amount screen without mistaking it for a result

The recorded Maryland ceiling is $50,000, and it is tested against probate property within the rule's stated scope, on a basis this site records as net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. Counted that way, $37,500 sits below the Maryland figure and $62,500 sits above it. Both are comparisons to a published number rather than legal outcomes: two estates holding the same total can land on opposite sides of this line, because what Maryland counts and how it values it are decided before the comparison is made.

Illustrative counted amountComparison to the Maryland ceilingWhat it does not decide
$37,500Below $50,000Title, liens, waiting period, appointment, or creditor duties
$62,500Above $50,000Whether another statutory route or court process applies

Next evidence to collect

Use the calculator for arithmetic, then verify title, timing, and the receiving court's form.

  1. Record the date of death, the county, and the exact proceeding or affidavit being considered.
  2. Classify each asset by title, beneficiary, trust, real-property status, and the value basis shown above.
  3. Open the official court material below and keep its form or schedule with the estate record.
  4. Do not distribute property until the route, creditor position, and required approvals are resolved.

Official 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.

Source trail

Records used by this Maryland map

Controlling source

Each legal input links to the government source reviewed for this page. Source text can change; confirm the current rule before acting.

Continue in Maryland