Estate Management - 2. The Will and the Personal Representative

Topics on this page:

• Overview
• Obtaining the Will
• When No Valid Will Exists
• Determining the Personal Representative

Overview

Managing a probate estate begins with two essential steps:  

1. obtaining the Will to be filed and  
2. designating the Personal Representative.  

Obtaining the Will

The first step is figuring out whether the Decedent had a Will. Common storage locations include:  

• a safe or filing cabinet,  
• safe deposit box (if the Decedent had one),  
• among their important papers, or  
• filed with the Register of Wills in their County of residence.

If the Decedent did have a Will, it’s important to verify:

• Whether the Will that has been located is the Decedent’s most recent version
• Whether the Will is an original (not a copy, although it is sometimes possible to probate a copy)
• Whether the Will was signed and witnessed in accordance with what the law requires

A Will should describe how the Decedent’s probate estate will be distributed after they pass away. If a Will is located, the original Will must be filed with the Register of Wills office in the County where the Estate will be opened.   

A valid will describes how the decedent’s property will be distributed. The original will must be filed with the Register of Wills office in the county where the estate will be opened.  

When No Valid Will Exists

Maryland Intestate Law controls how the Decedent’s probate estate is distributed when:

• No Will is found
• The Will lacks necessary provisions
• The Will contains provisions contrary to law
• Execution was improper (missing signatures, fraudulent circumstances)
• Named beneficiaries predeceased the decedent

Determining the Personal Representative

Selection Priority

A decedent's Will typically names an individual to serve as Personal Representative. When no Will exists, the Will omits this appointment, or the named individual is unavailable or unwilling to serve, Maryland Intestate Law establishes a priority order for selection: 

An individual with priority to serve as Personal Representative may allow another person to serve by filing a “Consent to Appointment of Personal Representative” Form. The form must be signed by the individual with first priority to serve as well as all of the “Interested Persons” of the Estate—which, in general, includes the decision-makers of the Estate and the people inheriting from the Estate. All people who have priority over that individual must sign this form.

Once the appropriate individual is selected to serve as Personal Representative, that person will be named in a “Petition for Administration.”  After appointment, Letters of Administration are issued to officially name the Personal Representative

Administrative petitions may designate either Small or Regular estates depending on probate asset value. At initial stages, the Personal Representative often lacks sufficient information to determine actual estate value. Opening a Small Estate provides access to records needed for informed classification. Conversion from Small to Regular status remains available as more information becomes accessible.

The Personal Representative is not only in charge of completing the remaining steps of managing the estate, but must also meet several deadlines under Maryland law throughout the process (in the case of a Regular Estate, but not necessarily for a Small Estate). The deadlines are described in fuller detail later in this series.