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Maryland Intestate Succession
Pillar GuideMaryland12 min read

Maryland Intestate Succession

Who inherits under Maryland intestate succession: after the 2023 reform, a surviving spouse takes the whole estate, one-half, or the first $100,000 plus half.

By Settled Editorial

When a Maryland resident dies without a will, Md. Code, Estates and Trusts Title 3, Subtitle 1 decides who inherits. A surviving spouse or registered domestic partner takes the whole estate when no minor child survives and every child of the decedent is also the spouse's. The share drops to one-half when a minor child survives, and to the first $100,000 plus half of the rest when the decedent left a child who is not the spouse's.

This guide answers one question: who gets what. It maps the distribution rules in Maryland's intestacy article, Estates and Trusts Title 3, Subtitle 1. For how an intestate estate is opened and settled through the Register of Wills, read the Maryland probate guide. A surviving spouse or registered domestic partner also holds a separate protection, the elective share, which the sections below point you to.

What Intestate Succession Covers

Dying without a will is called dying intestate. When that happens, no will names the heirs, so Maryland statute does. Intestacy reaches only probate property, meaning the assets that pass through the estate. Property with a named beneficiary, a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death tag, survivorship rights, or trust ownership passes outside intestacy. A life insurance policy with a named beneficiary, or a joint bank account with survivorship, goes to that person no matter what Title 3 says. To see which assets skip the estate, read how to avoid probate in Maryland.

A validly executed will overrides all of this. The Maryland will requirements guide covers how a will replaces these defaults with the decedent's own plan.

The October 1, 2023 Reform Changed the Spouse's Share

Maryland rewrote its intestacy shares for anyone who dies on or after October 1, 2023. Two changes stand out. First, a surviving spouse now takes the entire intestate estate in more situations, including when only a parent of the decedent survives and when every surviving child is an adult the couple shares. Second, the state created the registered domestic partnership, so a surviving registered domestic partner now inherits the same way a surviving spouse does.

Older articles still describe the pre-2023 rule, where the surviving spouse took a set dollar amount plus one-half in some situations and a surviving parent could share the estate. Check the date of death before you trust any share you read. The tables here state the current law. For a death before October 1, 2023, confirm the older scheme with the Register of Wills.

Allowances and the Elective Share Come First

Before the shares below are worked out, a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner can claim the family allowance under Estates and Trusts §3-201: $10,000 for the spouse or partner plus $5,000 for each unmarried child of the decedent under age 18. The allowance is paid for personal support during administration and comes ahead of general creditor claims. Maryland has a family allowance but no separate exempt-property set-aside, so this cash allowance is the family's protected amount. The Maryland family allowance guide works through it.

A surviving spouse or registered domestic partner can also reject the intestate share and elect against the estate instead. Under Estates and Trusts §3-403, the elective share is one-third of the estate subject to election if the decedent left surviving descendants, or one-half if not. This augmented-estate model reaches many non-probate assets, not just the probate estate. The election carries a deadline, and the Maryland surviving spouse rights guide compares the election with the intestate share.

The Surviving Spouse or Registered Domestic Partner Share

The spouse or partner share under Estates and Trusts §3-102 turns on two facts: whether a minor child of the decedent survives, and whether every surviving child is also the spouse's or partner's.

Family situationSurviving spouse or registered domestic partner takes
No surviving descendants and no surviving parentThe entire estate
No surviving descendants, but a parent survivesThe entire estate
Surviving descendants, none is a minor, and all are shared with the spouse or partnerThe entire estate
A minor child of the decedent survivesOne-half
No minor child, but a surviving child is not the spouse's or partner'sThe first $100,000 plus one-half of the residue

Here is the pattern. The spouse or partner takes everything when the couple's children are the only descendants and all are adults, or when no descendant survives at all. Because that whole-estate rule now applies even when a parent survives, Maryland no longer carves out a share for the decedent's parents while a spouse or partner is alive.

The two reduced shares handle two situations. A surviving minor child of the decedent cuts the spouse or partner to one-half, and the surviving descendants split the other half by representation. When there is no minor child but the decedent left a child who is not the spouse's or partner's, such as an adult child from a prior relationship, the spouse or partner takes the first $100,000 plus one-half of what remains, and the decedent's descendants take the balance by representation. (Source: Estates and Trusts §3-102.)

When There Is No Spouse or Partner

With no surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, or for any portion that does not pass to one, Estates and Trusts §3-103 and §3-104 send the estate down a fixed order of classes. Each class must be empty before the next inherits.

  1. Descendants. The decedent's children and their descendants take the estate by representation under §3-103.
  2. Parents. With no descendant, the estate passes to the decedent's parents equally, or to the surviving parent.
  3. Siblings and their descendants. With no descendant and no parent, the estate passes to the issue of the decedent's parents, meaning brothers and sisters and their descendants, by representation.
  4. Grandparents and their descendants. With none of the above, the estate splits in half. One-half passes to the paternal grandparents or their descendants by representation, and one-half to the maternal side the same way, reaching more distant kin on each side when a nearer relative does not survive.
  5. Stepchildren. As a last resort, if no blood relative can take under §3-104, the estate passes to the decedent's stepchildren and the descendants of a stepchild who died first.

If a class has a living member, the search stops there. The estate does not skip a living parent to reach a sibling.

Stepchildren Can Inherit as a Last Resort

Maryland is one of the few states where a stepchild can inherit by intestacy. Under Estates and Trusts §3-104(c), if the decedent left no surviving spouse or partner, no descendant, and no blood relative entitled to take, the estate passes to the decedent's stepchildren and the surviving descendants of a stepchild who died first. A stepchild here means the child of a spouse the decedent had not divorced. This class takes only after every blood relative in the earlier classes is exhausted, and only before the estate would otherwise pass to the state.

Representation: How a Deceased Heir's Branch Inherits

Maryland divides a deceased heir's share by representation, defined in Estates and Trusts §1-210. Maryland uses strict per stirpes representation, so each deceased heir's share stays within that heir's own branch of the family. Here is how it runs.

Find the generation nearest the decedent that has at least one living member. Split the estate into one share for each living member of that generation and one share for each deceased member who left descendants. Each living member takes one share. The remaining shares are combined and divided again the same way among the next generation.

A worked example makes it concrete. Say a decedent with no spouse had three children, and two died first, one leaving a single child and the other leaving three children. The estate divides into three shares at the children's generation. The one living child takes one-third. The branch of the child who left a single grandchild takes that child's one-third share, so that grandchild receives one-third. The branch of the child who left three grandchildren splits that child's one-third share among them, so each of those grandchildren receives one-ninth. Under strict per stirpes a deceased child's share stays inside that child's own branch, so grandchildren in different branches can receive different amounts.

Half-Blood Relatives Inherit the Same Share

When the heirs are collateral relatives, such as half-siblings, the half blood does not cut anyone's share in Maryland. Under Estates and Trusts §1-204, a relative of the half blood has the same status as a relative of the whole blood of the same degree, so a half-sibling who shares one parent with the decedent inherits the same as a full sibling. Cross-state guides get this wrong often, because several states reduce a half-blood collateral's share. A separate rule, Estates and Trusts §1-207(a), treats an adopted child as the natural child of the adopting parent.

The 30-Day Survival Rule and Afterborn Heirs

Two timing rules can change who counts as an heir. An heir must outlive the decedent by 30 full days. Under Estates and Trusts §3-110, a descendant, ancestor, or descendant of an ancestor who does not survive the decedent by 30 days is treated as having died first, and the shares are worked out as if that person were not there. When the order of two deaths cannot be established, the statute treats the possible heir as not having survived.

A child conceived before the decedent's death but born after still inherits. Under Estates and Trusts §3-107, a relative in gestation when the decedent died inherits as if born during the decedent's lifetime, subject to the statute's survival conditions.

What Happens If No Heir Exists

Maryland's intestacy article reaches a wide circle of relatives, so an estate rarely runs out of heirs. If none of the classes above has a taker, Estates and Trusts §3-105 sends the estate to the state rather than to a private heir. When the decedent received long-term care benefits under the Maryland Medical Assistance Program, the net estate is converted to cash and paid to the Maryland Department of Health. Otherwise the net estate is paid to the board of education of the county where the Register of Wills granted letters, for the public schools. A relative within the fifth degree may file a refund claim within the statutory period. This escheat is the last resort, not the ordinary result of dying without a will.

How the Pieces Fit Together

Read a Maryland intestate distribution in this order:

  1. Separate probate property from assets that pass by beneficiary, survivorship, or trust. Only probate property follows Title 3.
  2. Confirm the date of death is on or after October 1, 2023 before you use the shares here.
  3. Take the family allowance off the top for a surviving spouse, registered domestic partner, or minor children.
  4. Apply the spouse or partner share under §3-102: the whole estate, one-half, or the first $100,000 plus half the residue.
  5. For any portion that does not pass to a spouse or partner, run the class order in §3-103 and §3-104: descendants, then parents, then siblings and their descendants, then the paternal and maternal grandparent halves, then stepchildren.
  6. Apply representation under §1-210 for a deceased heir's branch, and remember that half-blood relatives take a full share.
  7. Adjust for the 30-day survival rule or an afterborn heir.

Whoever settles the estate still follows the Maryland executor duties of gathering assets, paying valid debts, and distributing the shares through the Register of Wills. To see how these rules divide a specific estate, use the Maryland inheritance calculator and model who inherits what when there is no will.

When to Get Help

Some intestate distributions are simple to map from the statute. Others need a licensed Maryland attorney, above all when:

  • a child from a prior relationship moves the spouse or partner share between the whole estate, one-half, and the first $100,000 plus half
  • a deceased heir's branch raises a representation question
  • the estate reaches grandparents and splits between the maternal and paternal sides
  • a stepchild or a registered domestic partnership is part of the family tree
  • an heir cannot be located, or the family tree is unclear
  • real estate must be sold to pay debts

This guide helps you organize the source-backed shares and the questions to ask. A licensed Maryland attorney can advise on rights, disputes, and signing decisions for a specific estate.

This is general information about Maryland estates, not advice for your situation. Confirm anything that affects your estate with the Register of Wills, the Orphans' Court, or a licensed Maryland attorney.

Sources:

It is not legal advice.

Information current as of July 21, 2026

Settled Estate is not a law firm, and this content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Probate laws and procedures in Maryland can change. Consult with a qualified attorney for advice specific to your situation. Full disclaimer.

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