What Happens if You Die Without a Will in Maryland?

Here’s a truth that surprises many people: everybody has an estate plan, including you. If you didn’t write one, Maryland wrote one for you. It’s called intestate succession. It’s the statutory formula that decides who inherits when someone dies without a valid will, and its results can look nothing like what the person would have chosen.

The Basics: How Intestacy Works

When a Maryland resident dies “intestate” (without a will), their probate assets pass to relatives in an order fixed by statute. The court doesn’t consider who was closest to the deceased, who cared for them, or what they said they wanted. The formula is the formula.

A few important framing points before the details:

• Intestacy only governs probate assets, which is property owned solely in the deceased’s name with no beneficiary designation. Joint accounts, life insurance, retirement accounts with beneficiaries, and trust assets pass outside this system.
• The estate still goes through probate, with a court-appointed personal representative and the usual timeline, often with extra friction, since the family must agree (or fight) over who serves.

Who Inherits: The General Order

The shares depend on which relatives survive. In broad strokes, Maryland’s scheme works like this:

Married with children. Your spouse does not automatically inherit everything. The outcome depends on the details, such as whether any children are minors, and whether all of your children are also your spouse’s children. In some family structures the spouse takes the entire estate; in others, particularly blended families, where you have children from a prior relationship, the spouse shares the estate with your children. This is the scenario where intestacy most often produces results nobody wanted.

Married, no children, surviving parents. Depending on the length of the marriage, your spouse may take everything, or share the estate with your parents. This was changed by law for people passing away after Oct. 1, 2023, which is an example of how your “intestate estate plan” can change on a whim depending on factors outside of your control, such as when you die.

Single with children. Your children inherit everything in equal shares. If a child died before you, that child’s children typically take their parent’s share.

Single, no children. The estate moves outward: parents, then siblings (and their descendants), then grandparents and more distant relatives.

No relatives at all. In rare cases the estate ultimately passes to the state or, in certain circumstances, to a county board of education.

The precise fractions and dollar thresholds in these rules have changed in recent years, which is its own lesson: a plan that relies on “the default” relies on something the legislature can rewrite and that they often do.

Five Problems Intestacy Creates

1. Blended families get the worst outcomes

The classic heartbreak: a second marriage, children from the first, no will. The spouse and the children split the estate by formula, sometimes forcing the sale of the family home, and grief turns into mistrust which turns into litigation.

2. Unmarried partners inherit nothing

Intestacy follows bloodlines and marriage certificates. A partner of thirty years, if unmarried, takes zero under the statute, no matter what the deceased intended. Consider Maryland’s Registered Domestic Partnership option.

3. Minor children inherit outright at 18

With no will, there’s no trust structure. A court-supervised arrangement holds a minor’s inheritance then and hands the full amount over at age 18, an age few parents would choose for a lump sum. Ask yourself how you would have handled inheriting your parent’s life savings if you received it outright as a lump sum on your 18th birthday.

4. No chosen guardian, no chosen personal representative

A will is where you name the guardian for your children and the person who administers your estate. Without one, the court decides both. And sometimes amid family disagreement about who should serve.

5. Avoidable taxes and costs

Intestate distribution can send assets to relatives such as nieces, nephews, cousins whose inheritances trigger the 10% Maryland inheritance tax, with no planning to soften it.

“But My Family Knows What I Wanted”

Maryland courts cannot honor verbal wishes, text messages, or “everyone knew Mom wanted…” The statute controls. Period. The only way your wishes have legal force is to put them in a properly executed will or trust. (And no — an online template is not the safe shortcut it appears to be.)

Taking Control Is Easier Than You Think

Replacing the state’s plan with your own usually takes two meetings. You decide who inherits, who’s in charge, who raises your kids, and how an 18-year-old’s inheritance is protected. Start with our Wills & Trusts page or, if probate avoidance matters to you, read whether you need a trust too.

Frequently Asked Questions