How Do I Avoid Probate in Maryland?

In Maryland, a home with a transfer on death deed, a payable on death account and a vehicle with a transfer on death designation pass outside probate, as does property in a revocable trust; what is left is the probate estate.

Mark what the owner holds

Maryland law says how each asset passes at death. Mark what the owner holds and how each piece is titled to see which pass outside probate and what remains for the probate estate.

Examples:

General information about how each asset passes at death under state law, and what remains for probate, not legal or tax advice. The probate cost figures are the probate cost estimator’s, run at the size of the probate estate. Consult a licensed attorney for legal questions.

At a death in Maryland, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a p.o.d. account passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death.

Maryland's nonprobate-transfer statute does not name an insurance policy, so whether the death benefit passes to a named beneficiary outside probate rests on other law. A policy with no beneficiary, or one payable to the estate, is part of the probate estate.

An employer plan is governed by federal law: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another. An IRA is the state's: Maryland's statute does not name an individual retirement account, so whether it passes to its beneficiary outside probate rests on other law. A retirement account with no beneficiary named is part of the probate estate.

Survivorship title in Maryland: Maryland's survivorship vestings are joint tenancy, which the deed must expressly provide, and tenancy by the entirety between spouses. No Maryland statute names an instrument to record at a joint owner's death; a circuit court clerk's office may treat a new deed as the way to change the names on record. Maryland recognizes the transfer on death deed: the home passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. A home in the owner's name alone, with no survivor, deed beneficiary or trust, is part of the probate estate.

Maryland titles a vehicle with a transfer on death designation: the vehicle passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. The form is the standard title application. A vehicle in the owner's name alone is part of the probate estate.

Avoiding Probate in Maryland

Probate reaches what a person owned in their own name alone at death, with no survivor, beneficiary or trust named to take it. That is the probate estate, and the will, or the intestacy statute where there is none, governs only that. In Maryland an estate under $50,000 may be settled by RW1103 Petition for Administration of a Small Estate, with Schedule B instead of a full probate.

Maryland recognizes the transfer on death deed: the home passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. A home retitled to a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms; the deed used is Special Warranty Deed or General Warranty Deed.

At a death, the sums in a joint account belong to the surviving owner unless the account says otherwise. On the pay on death designation: a p.o.d. account passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death. At a party's death, funds in a Maryland joint account belong to the surviving party unless the account agreement expressly provides otherwise. A P.O.D. account passes to the payees then living; with none, the funds belong to the last party's personal representative.

Maryland's nontestamentary-transfer section names a transfer-on-death provision in a deposit or share account agreement and a transfer on death under an LLC operating or partnership agreement. It names no insurance policy or retirement account. The statute does not name an insurance policy, so whether a policy passes to its beneficiary outside probate rests on other law. It does not name an individual retirement account. An employer plan is federal: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another.

Maryland titles a vehicle with a transfer on death designation: the vehicle passes to the named beneficiary at the owner's death without probate. The form is the standard title application.

SimplyTrust Editorial·Updated November 1, 2026

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Data sourced from Maryland statutes and official state code. How we research.

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How Do I Avoid Probate in Maryland?

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