How much does probate cost in Maryland?
5 Aug 2026
Maryland caps the personal representative at 9% of the first $20,000 of property subject to administration, plus $1,800.00 and 3.6% of everything above it — and the same table caps the attorney and the representative together on the route that avoids court.
The register of wills charges by the size of the estate too, from nothing below $50,000 up to $10,000.00 and a percentage tail above $10,000,000 — and that fee is assessed when the first administration account is filed, not when the estate opens. The register also places the creditors’ notice, so no newspaper deals with the family. A bond is required unless the will excuses it or every interested person waives it in writing, and even an excused bond is a smaller bond rather than none.
Md. Code, Est. and Trusts §7-601 — Maryland Statutes, published by the Maryland General Assembly · Verified 5 Aug 2026
Informational only, not legal advice. Figures verified on the date stamped. Details: /disclaimer/
Work it out on your own number
Maryland publishes both a commission ceiling and a banded court fee, so both work to the dollar — but they run on two different bases and must not be added from one number.
| Commission — property subject to administration not over $20,000 | no more than 9% |
| Commission — above $20,000 | no more than $1,800.00 plus 3.6% of the excess |
| Register probate fee — probate estate under $50,000 | no fee |
| Register probate fee — $50,000 to under $100,000 | $100.00 |
| $100,000 to under $500,000 | $200.00 |
| $500,000 to under $1,000,000 | $1,000.00 |
| $1,000,000 to under $2,500,000 | $2,000.00 |
| $2,500,000 to under $5,000,000 | $5,000.00 |
| $5,000,000 to under $7,500,000 | $7,500.00 |
| $7,500,000 to under $10,000,000 | $10,000.00 |
| $10,000,000 and above | $10,000.00 plus 0.02% of the excess |
| Attorney | reasonable — inside the same table on the consent route |
Worked through: property subject to administration of $500,000.00 gives a commission ceiling of $19,080.00; $1,000,000.00 gives $37,080.00; $100,000.00 gives $4,680.00. A probate estate of $12,000,000.00 carries a register fee of $10,400.00.
The table is a ceiling on what the court may allow, not an entitlement. On a petition filed in reasonable detail the court allows the commissions it considers appropriate, and either side can appeal to the circuit court within 30 days — which may raise the allowance, but never above the table, or cut it.
A will may provide a larger measure of compensation than the table, and where a will sets a stated figure the court judges insufficient, more may be allowed. The ceiling binds the court, not the testator.
The two bases are different. The commission runs on property subject to administration; the register fee runs on the value of the probate estate as defined in §2-206(b)(3) — inventories plus principal and income receipts plus increases on disposition, less decreases. Feeding one figure into both will misstate at least one of them.
What each part costs
Every row is one figure, one source, one date. Where Maryland fixes no price, the row says so instead of guessing.
| Fee | Amount or formula | Set by | Source | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Attorney feeLegal services to the estate | No separate scheduleJoined by law: Maryland treats the attorney’s and the representative’s pay as one pot — the two combined cannot exceed the statutory table. Maryland does not publish an attorney percentage, but it does something almost no other state does: it caps the two fees together. The attorney is entitled to reasonable compensation for legal services to the estate or the representative, allowed by the court on a petition filed in reasonable detail, and it must be fair and reasonable in the light of all the circumstances. Where the court allows fees to more than one attorney, it looks at what a fair and reasonable total charge would be for administering the whole estate and may not allow more than that in aggregate. The practical route avoids court entirely: the representative may pay both the commissions and the attorney fees without court approval if every creditor with an open claim and all interested persons consent in writing, the signed consent stating the amounts is filed with the register, and the combined sum does not exceed the §7-601 table. A litigation fee under a contingency agreement signed by the deceased or the representative is treated separately, provided the agreement is on file and the attorney states that the representation does not extend to administering the estate. | The court, or written consent inside the combined cap | Est. and Trusts §7-602 and §7-604 | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Personal representativeOr special administrator | No more than 9% / $1,800.00 plus 3.6%Joined by law: Maryland treats the attorney’s and the representative’s pay as one pot — the two combined cannot exceed the statutory table. Maryland publishes a ceiling rather than a price. The representative is entitled to reasonable compensation, and on a petition filed in reasonable detail the court allows the commissions it considers appropriate — but those commissions may not exceed the statutory table: 9% where the property subject to administration is not over $20,000, and $1,800.00 plus 3.6% of everything above $20,000. A will may provide a larger measure of compensation, and where a will sets a stated figure that the court judges insufficient, more may be allowed. The right to compensation can be renounced in whole or in part at any time. Either side can appeal the allowance to the circuit court within 30 days, and that court can raise it — but never above the table — or cut it. If a real estate broker is used to sell property, the broker is an expense of administration and is not deducted from the representative’s commissions. | Statute — a ceiling the court allows within | Est. and Trusts §7-601 | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Court filing feeThe register of wills probate fee | Banded on the value of the probate estateMaryland charges by the size of the estate: no fee at all below $50,000; $100.00 from $50,000 to under $100,000; $200.00 to under $500,000; $1,000.00 to under $1,000,000; $2,000.00 to under $2,500,000; $5,000.00 to under $5,000,000; $7,500.00 to under $7,500,000; $10,000.00 to under $10,000,000; and above that $10,000.00 plus 0.02% of the excess. That single fee covers a long list of work — taking probate of the will, two certified copies, granting letters, twelve certificates of letters, warrants to appraise, recording the will, bonds, inventories, accounts, petitions and orders. The value is taken from the administration accounts, and if a later account shows the estate is worth more, the register assesses the difference and collects it then. The register takes a commission of 25% of any inheritance tax it collects for the State, and charges a single fee of 1% of gross value for a foreign personal representative. | Statute, statewide, assessed at the first account | Est. and Trusts §2-206 Value defined at §2-206(b)(3) — a different base from the commission | 5 Aug 2026 |
| Newspaper publicationNotice of appointment — placed by the register | Not fixed by statuteNot fixed by statute — the statute sets how often the notice runs and for how long, and in Maryland the register does the advertising, not the family. After a personal representative is appointed, the register has a notice of the appointment published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county of appointment, once a week for three successive weeks, giving the representative’s name and address and telling creditors to present their claims. The statute prints the wording. The representative’s only job is to file a certification with the register that the notice has been published. Two deadlines run from it: anyone objecting to the appointment, or to probate of the will, has six months from the date of appointment; and a creditor must present a claim by the earlier of six months from the death, or two months after the representative mails or delivers the published notice or other written notice warning that the claim will be barred. Anything filed after that is unenforceable. Neither this section nor the register’s fee schedule states a rate or names who bears the printing cost, so this page does not say what publication costs in Maryland. | The register arranges it; no rate is published | Est. and Trusts §7-103 | 5 Aug 2026 |
| BondPersonal representative’s bond | Required unless excused — and an excused bond is a smaller bond
|
The court or register, inside a statutory ceiling | Est. and Trusts §6-102 | 5 Aug 2026 |
The commission base and the court-fee base are not the same number. The commission runs on property subject to administration; the register fee runs on the §2-206(b)(3) value — inventories plus principal and income receipts plus increases on disposition, less decreases. Any page that works both from one estate figure is guessing at one of them.
The table caps the attorney and the representative together on the consent route. Where fees are paid without court approval, the combined sum may not exceed the §7-601 figures. Budgeting the two separately against the table will overstate what the estate can pay without going to court.
How the Maryland sources are linked. The General Assembly serves each statute section from one address with the article and section as parameters, so every source above opens the exact section we read.
What can change the bill — allowances, waivers and one-off charges
- Extra letter of administration — $1.00. Copies — $2.00 a page. Copy of a hearing recording — $25.00.
- Depositing a will with the register during the testator’s lifetime — $5.00. Filing a caveat — $20.00.
- Foreign personal representative — a single fee of 1% of gross value.
- Inheritance tax collected by the register for the State — the register takes a commission of 25% of what it collects.
- You may not have to pay at all. All register fees are waived where the estate cannot pay them by reason of poverty — defined as household income below half the State median at the death — or where the representative is represented through the Maryland Legal Services Corporation. It is a genuine zero, not a deferral. There is also no probate fee at all on an estate under $50,000.00.
- The bond premium is charged against the property of the estate. Maryland says so expressly.
- A real estate broker used to sell property is an expense of administration and is not deducted from the representative’s commissions.
Est. and Trusts §2-206; §6-102; §7-601 — Maryland Statutes · Verified 5 Aug 2026
What changes YOUR number in Maryland
- One table, two people
- Maryland is the only state in this database where a single statutory table caps the lawyer and the executor together. On the route that avoids court — written consent from every creditor with an open claim and all interested persons, filed with the register — the combined sum may not exceed the §7-601 figures. Going to court instead lets each fee be assessed on its own, but both still have to be fair and reasonable, and multiple attorneys are capped in aggregate at what a fair total charge for the whole administration would be.
- The ceiling binds the court, not the will
- A will may provide a larger measure of compensation than the table, and where a will sets a stated figure the court judges insufficient, more may be allowed. What the table constrains is the court’s allowance, including on appeal: the circuit court can raise an allowance on a 30-day appeal, but never above the table.
- The court fee is not payable when you open the estate
- The register assesses the probate fee when the first administration account is filed, or when the final report is filed under modified administration. If a later account shows the estate is worth more than the band first used, the register assesses the difference and collects it then. Budget it as a cost of closing rather than of opening.
- Below $50,000 the register charges nothing
- The bottom band is a genuine zero, and the poverty waiver above it is another: all fees are waived where household income was below half the State median at the death, or where the representative is represented through the Maryland Legal Services Corporation.
- An excused bond is a smaller bond, not no bond
- Where the will expressly excuses the bond or all interested persons waive it in writing, a bond must still be given in an amount sufficient to secure the debts and the Maryland inheritance taxes the representative will have to pay. Only a national banking association or trust company serving as representative gives none at all.
- The claim clock runs from the death, not from the notice
- A creditor must present a claim by the earlier of six months from the death, or two months after the representative mails or delivers the published notice or other written notice. That is shorter than most states, and it starts before the notice does. Objections to the appointment or to probate of the will run six months from the date of appointment instead.
- The register buys the advertisement
- The register has the notice published and prints the wording. Your only job is to file a certification that it ran. Neither the notice section nor the register’s fee schedule states a rate or names who bears the printing cost, so we do not state one.
Maryland has one small-estate route with two ceilings — $50,000, or $100,000 for a sole surviving spouse
Up to $100,000.00 where the surviving spouse is the sole legatee or heir; otherwise $50,000.00. Where the property subject to administration in Maryland is worth no more than the applicable figure at the date of death, the estate can be administered under the small estate subtitle.
- The value is not gross. It is fair market value less debts of record secured by the property at the date of death, except to the extent insurance pays the secured lender. An estate that looks too large from the outside can fall inside the route.
- The figure is taken at the date of death.
- An estate can switch across mid-administration. Where a regular administration has been opened but the initial account has not yet been filed, and the value turns out to be within the ceiling, it may be administered as a small estate from then on. That is rare and it is a real saving.
- The sections setting out how a small estate is actually administered were not read for this page, so nothing here describes the procedure — only who qualifies.
- Remember the separate register threshold: no probate fee at all is charged on a probate estate under $50,000.00, on a different base again.
Md. Code, Est. and Trusts §5-601 — Maryland Statutes · Verified 5 Aug 2026
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Maryland probate cost questions
How much does an executor get paid in Maryland?
No more than nine percent of the first twenty thousand dollars of property subject to administration, and no more than eighteen hundred dollars plus three point six percent of everything above that. It is a ceiling, not an entitlement: the court allows what it considers appropriate on a petition filed in reasonable detail. A will may provide more than the table, and where a will sets a figure the court judges insufficient, more may be allowed. On property of five hundred thousand dollars the ceiling is nineteen thousand and eighty dollars.
Does Maryland set probate attorney fees by statute?
Not as a separate percentage, but the same table caps the attorney and the representative together where fees are paid without court approval. That route needs written consent from every creditor with an open claim and from all interested persons, stating the amounts, filed with the register. Otherwise the attorney is allowed reasonable compensation by the court, fair and reasonable in the light of all the circumstances, and multiple attorneys are capped in aggregate at a fair total charge for administering the whole estate.
What does it cost to file for probate in Maryland?
It depends on the size of the estate and it is not payable at the start. The register assesses a probate fee when the first administration account is filed: nothing below fifty thousand dollars, one hundred dollars to under one hundred thousand, two hundred dollars to under five hundred thousand, one thousand dollars to under a million, and upward from there to ten thousand dollars plus a fifth of a tenth of one percent above ten million. All fees are waived where the estate cannot pay them by reason of poverty.
Does an executor need a bond in Maryland?
Yes, unless the will expressly excuses it or all interested persons waive it in writing — and even then a bond must still be given in an amount sufficient to secure the debts and the Maryland inheritance taxes. The penalty sum may not exceed the probable maximum value of the personal property during administration, less collateral posted with the court and less estate cash in an approved restricted account. A national banking association or trust company gives none, and the premium is charged against the estate.
Does Maryland have a small estate procedure?
Yes, with two ceilings in one section. Fifty thousand dollars of property subject to administration, or one hundred thousand where the surviving spouse is the sole legatee or heir. The value is fair market value less debts of record secured by the property at the date of death. Unusually, an estate already in regular administration can switch to the small estate route if the initial account has not yet been filed and the value turns out to be within the ceiling.
Sources & verification
Every figure on this page was checked against the official source on the date shown. The Maryland General Assembly serves each statute section from one address with the article and section as parameters.
- Personal representative’s commissions — Est. and Trusts §7-601 mgaleg.maryland.govVerified 5 Aug 2026 · the base is property subject to administration, not gross estate value · annual statutory re-check
- Attorney fee and the combined cap — Est. and Trusts §7-602 and §7-604 mgaleg.maryland.govVerified 5 Aug 2026 · both sections read in full in the same session · annual statutory re-check
- Register probate fee — Est. and Trusts §2-206 mgaleg.maryland.govVerified 5 Aug 2026 · full section read · value defined at §2-206(b)(3), a different base from the commission · annual statutory re-check
- Publication by the register — Est. and Trusts §7-103 mgaleg.maryland.govVerified 5 Aug 2026 · the section states no rate and names no cost-bearer, recorded as a checked negative
- Bond — Est. and Trusts §6-102 mgaleg.maryland.govVerified 5 Aug 2026 · annual statutory re-check
- Small estate ceilings — Est. and Trusts §5-601 mgaleg.maryland.govVerified 5 Aug 2026 · §§5-602 to 5-607, which govern how a small estate is administered, were not read
Researched and verified by John Terra · Methodology
This page is information, not legal advice. Reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Laws and fee schedules change; every figure here was verified on the date stamped beside it. For advice about your own situation, consult an attorney licensed in Maryland. Full terms: /disclaimer/ · Privacy
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