Skip to main content
Maryland Probate Accounting
Support GuideMaryland10 min read

Maryland Probate Accounting

Maryland probate accounting: file the inventory within 3 months, then the administration account within 9 months and every 6 months until the estate closes.

By Settled Editorial

A Maryland personal representative keeps the estate's financial record and reports it in two filings: an inventory within three months of appointment, then a written administration account. The first account is due within nine months, and another follows every six months until the estate closes. The Register of Wills reviews each filing and the Orphans' Court approves it.

Maryland probate runs through two offices. The elected Register of Wills opens the estate, appoints you, reviews your account, and collects the fees. The three-judge Orphans' Court is Maryland's probate court, and it approves the account and hears any objection. In Montgomery, Harford, and Howard counties the Circuit Court judges sit as the Orphans' Court instead. Read this with the Maryland probate guide and the Maryland executor duties guide. This is general information, not legal advice.

Why the Account Matters

The account grows out of your fiduciary duty. You manage property that belongs to the estate and its beneficiaries, so you owe them a clear record of every dollar you took in and paid out. Maryland supervises that record: the Register of Wills reviews each account and the Orphans' Court approves it.

A clean account protects you too. It shows you paid claims in the right order, took only the compensation the court allowed, and distributed only what the estate could support. Weak records leave you open to a claim that you mishandled estate money, and a personal representative who mixes estate funds with personal money or hands out assets too early can face personal liability.

Start With the Inventory

Before any account is due, you file an inventory of the estate with the Register of Wills within three months of your appointment. This is Est. and Trusts Section 7-201. The inventory lists what the decedent owned at death at fair market value as of the date of death, with any lien noted on each item.

Here is what belongs on it:

  • Real property, with a description and its date-of-death value
  • Bank accounts and other financial accounts in the decedent's sole name
  • Corporate stock and other securities
  • Tangible personal property of meaningful value, such as vehicles, jewelry, and collectibles
  • Debts owed to the decedent

Maryland pairs the inventory with an information report covering property that passed outside the estate, such as joint accounts and payable-on-death designations. That report feeds the inheritance tax review at the Register of Wills. The inventory sets your starting balance, so accuracy here saves rework later. Every account you file measures against it.

The Administration Account and Its Deadlines

Section 7-301 puts the duty plainly: you file written accounts of how you managed and distributed the estate, and you certify that you sent notice of each account to interested persons. The schedule sits in Est. and Trusts Section 7-305. Your first administration account is due within nine months of your appointment. After that, you file another account within six months of the last one, and you keep filing every six months until the final account. The court can extend a deadline for good cause if you ask in writing before it passes.

Here is how the review works. The Register of Wills examines each account and checks that the numbers reconcile and that proof backs every payment. The Orphans' Court then approves the account. If an account does not balance or a voucher is missing, it comes back to you to fix before approval.

What Goes in a Maryland Administration Account

Whether it is a first, interim, or final account, the same parts appear, and each figure needs a voucher, statement, or receipt.

Beginning balance

The value carried in from the inventory for a first account, or the balance carried forward from your last account.

Receipts

Money and property that came into the estate during the period: cash collected from accounts in the decedent's name, income earned after death such as interest, dividends, and rent, and proceeds from any sale of estate property.

Disbursements

Every payment out of estate funds, each backed by a voucher: funeral expenses, valid creditor claims paid in the statutory order, administration costs and Register fees, the family allowance, taxes, and your approved commission under Est. and Trusts Section 7-601 along with any attorney fees.

Distributions and ending balance

What you paid or delivered to each beneficiary, with signed receipts, and what remains on hand. A final account should reconcile to nothing left once distribution is complete.

Modified Administration: One Final Report Instead

Not every estate files recurring accounts. Modified administration lets a qualifying estate replace the ongoing accounts with a single verified final report. You elect it with the Register of Wills within three months of appointment under Est. and Trusts Section 5-702.

An estate qualifies when the takers are a narrow class: the personal representative, or people exempt from Maryland inheritance tax, such as a spouse, the decedent's children and other lineal descendants, parents, grandparents, and siblings. The estate must be solvent with enough assets to cover the gifts in the will, and every residuary legatee under a will or heir at law in an intestate estate must consent.

The trade for that shortcut is a firm deadline. You file the verified final report within ten months of appointment under Est. and Trusts Section 5-704, and make final distribution within twelve months under Est. and Trusts Section 5-702. Miss the report deadline and the Register can revoke the modified administration and put you back on the regular account schedule. If you find property later, you file a further final report within sixty days of the discovery.

When Interested Persons Can Object

Maryland builds objection rights into the account itself. Because you certify that each account went to interested persons, a beneficiary, heir, or creditor has notice and a supervised record to review. Someone who thinks an account is wrong can raise the objection with the Register of Wills and the Orphans' Court, which weighs it before approving the account.

Keeping beneficiaries informed with short, regular updates lowers the chance anyone objects. An informed beneficiary rarely needs to escalate. See the Maryland creditor claims guide for how the claim bar clears the way before you distribute, and the Maryland intestate succession guide for who takes when there is no will.

Closing the Estate: The Final Account

The estate closes through a final account, not a quiet wind-down. After the creditor claim window runs, taxes are handled, and distributions are made, you file a final account showing the estate is fully administered and nothing remains on hand. The Register of Wills confirms every figure is supported and the Orphans' Court approves it. Once the court approves the final account, your duties as personal representative end.

Timing protects you here. A creditor's claim is barred at the earlier of six months after the date of death or two months after you mail written notice to that creditor, under Est. and Trusts Section 8-103. Do not make final distributions before the claim window closes and the Orphans' Court approves the account covering that distribution. Hand assets out too early and a later valid claim can fall on you personally. The Maryland probate timeline sets the 9-month and 6-month accounts against the rest of the deadlines.

Protecting Yourself as Personal Representative

Open a separate estate account on day one. Run every estate transaction through it and never mix estate money with your own. This one habit keeps your accounts clean for the Register.

Save every voucher and receipt. The Register checks proof for each payment, so keep documentation for every dollar in and every dollar out from the start.

Date everything. Note when a claim arrived, when you paid a bill, and when you distributed. Dates settle many accounting questions.

Track the three deadlines: the inventory within three months, the first account within nine months, and each further account within six months after the last. A missed account can bring the estate back before the Orphans' Court.

Ask the Register about procedure, not strategy. The office can explain what a filing must contain and how to submit it, but it cannot tell you what to do in your situation. For that, a Maryland probate attorney is the right resource. The full task list in deadline order sits in the Maryland executor duties guide.

Common Questions

When is the first probate account due in Maryland?

Your first administration account is due within nine months of your appointment as personal representative, under Est. and Trusts Section 7-305. After that, you file another account every six months until the final account, and the Orphans' Court approves each one.

What is the difference between the inventory and the account?

The inventory is a one-time snapshot of what the decedent owned at death, filed within three months under Est. and Trusts Section 7-201. The account is an ongoing record of what came in, what you paid, and what you distributed, filed at nine months and then every six months until the estate closes.

Can modified administration skip the recurring accounts?

Yes. A qualifying estate can elect modified administration within three months of appointment and file one verified final report within ten months instead of recurring accounts, under Est. and Trusts Sections 5-702 and 5-704. The takers must be a narrow inheritance-tax-exempt family class, the estate must be solvent, and everyone entitled must consent.

What happens if I file an account late?

A missed account can bring you back before the Register of Wills and the Orphans' Court and can put a modified administration estate back on the regular schedule. Ask the court in writing to extend a deadline for good cause before it passes rather than filing late.

This guide is general information about Maryland estates. It is not legal advice. Confirm anything that affects your situation 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.

Need help with your probate case?

Answer a few questions to see whether Maryland probate is required and which process applies.

Take the 2-minute assessment
All Maryland guides← Back to all articles