MD HB623

Registers of wills for all Maryland counties and Baltimore City must coordinate to establish and maintain a centralized website for publishing estate administration notices required under the Estates and Trusts Article

Website publication satisfies newspaper publication requirements when a decedent's heirs are limited to a spouse, registered domestic partner, lineal ancestors, and lineal descendants

Notice requirements change from newspaper publication "once a week for successive weeks" to publication on the centralized website for 2-3 weeks depending on the type of notice (personal representative appointment, judicial probate requests, foreign personal representative estates)

Registers must submit annual reports by December 1 to the Maryland Register of Wills Association tracking estates where interested parties objected, filed claims, or challenged wills because they either did not receive mailed notice or learned of the estate through newspaper publication

Effective date: October 1, 2025