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Maryland timeline

Maryland probate timeline and creditor deadlines

The waiting-period requirement has not been verified, so no number is published below.

That clock is one condition among several, and it is not the whole estate timeline. The deadlines that carry the most risk are creditor deadlines, and in Maryland they are set out below against the event each one runs from.

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

The one date this page can source

The waiting-period requirement for this route has not been verified, so no number is published. Read the statute below before assuming any waiting period applies.

Creditor deadlines

Maryland does not run one creditor clock. Separate periods start from separate events, and the date that actually bars a claim is the one the applicable period produces. They are listed here against the event that starts each, because a period attached to the wrong starting event is how a deadline gets missed by weeks.

From publication of notice to creditors
The register publishes once a week for three successive weeks after appointment, but the general claim bar is not measured from publication.
From actual notice to a known creditor
Two months after the personal representative mails or otherwise delivers written notice.
From appointment of the representative
Appointment triggers publication; objections to appointment/will use six months from appointment, distinct from creditor claims.
Outer limit, running from death
For general claims, six months after death, subject to express exceptions; the earlier of this and individual notice controls.

How these combine. 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.

§7-103. (a) (1) After the appointment of a personal representative, the register shall have a notice of the appointment published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of appointment once a week in 3 successive weeks, announcing the appointment and address of the personal representative, and notifying creditors of the estate to present their claims. (2) The personal representative shall file or have filed with the register a certification that a notice has been published. (b) The notice of appointment shall be substantially in the following form: "To all persons interested in the estate of.......................: This is to give notice that the undersigned, ......... whose address is ......... was, on ........., appointed personal representative of the estate of ......... who died on ...... (with) (without) a will.Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 7-103 — Maryland General Assembly; verified September 15, 2026.

Publishing notice starts a period after which most claims are barred. Missing a required notice can extend the estate’s exposure and, in some circumstances, the personal exposure of the person administering it. Confirm the dates that apply to this estate with the Orphans’ Court / Register of Wills before relying on them, because a specific case can carry deadlines these general provisions do not reach.

Maryland timeline decision map

What must be established before the Maryland clock matters

The Maryland waiting period is only one condition. Use this map to separate the route clock from creditor deadlines, asset scope, court costs, and the documents needed to move from screening to filing.

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.

Clock ledger

Do not compress the Maryland deadlines into one date

The Maryland record names separate triggers. The description beside each trigger is the source-bound statement to carry into the estate calendar; the interaction rule explains which period controls when more than one applies.

Clock starts withRecorded periodSource
Publication of noticeThe register publishes once a week for three successive weeks after appointment, but the general claim bar is not measured from publication.Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 7-103
Actual notice to a known creditorTwo months after the personal representative mails or otherwise delivers written notice.Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 7-103
Appointment of the representativeAppointment triggers publication; objections to appointment/will use six months from appointment, distinct from creditor claims.Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 7-103
Outer limit from deathFor general claims, six months after death, subject to express exceptions; the earlier of this and individual notice controls.Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 7-103

How the periods combine: 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.

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.

Route context

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.

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.

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.

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

Calendar the verified gate, preserve the unresolved questions, and confirm the county filing path before distributing property.

  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

The general sequence

The order in which an estate is actually worked — secure property, confirm title and beneficiary designations, identify the court route, notify and account, then close — is the same everywhere and carries no citation, so it is set out once rather than repeated on each state’s page. Read it inthe executor’s first week, and seehow long probate takes for how the phases stretch in practice.

What is jurisdiction-specific is above: the Maryland periods, the event each one runs from, and the source each was read in.

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.

Continue in Maryland