Maryland probate deadlines: two widely repeated errors

While building our Maryland pages we checked every interval against the Register of Wills’ published deadline chart rather than against other websites. Two figures that circulate almost everywhere do not match it. Here is what the official chart says, why the wrong numbers spread, and what believing them could cost you.

Error 1: the creditor claim bar is not 30 days after notice

You will very often read that a creditor’s claim against a Maryland estate is barred at the earlier of six months after death or 30 days after the personal representative delivers notice.

The Register of Wills’ deadline chart says the second limb is two months, not 30 days. The chart lists claims as due on or before the earlier of six months from the date of death, or “2 months after the personal representative mails or otherwise delivers to a creditor a copy of the published notice or other written notice.” Est. & Trusts § 8-103(a) reads the same way.

Why this error spreads

Because 30 days is a real Maryland deadline — just not this one. In a small estate, § 5-603(b) provides for notice published once and a 30-day window for claims. Maryland runs regular estates and small estates as genuinely different tracks with different numbers, and a summary that flattens them into a single “Maryland probate deadlines” table produces exactly this mistake. It is a conflation, not an invention, which is why it survives repetition by people acting in good faith.

What believing the wrong figure could cost you

Thirty days is shorter than two months, so the error makes the claims window look like it closes sooner than it does. A personal representative who believes the bar has fallen and distributes the estate on that basis may find a valid claim arriving afterwards, against an estate that no longer holds the assets to pay it. That is the scenario the deadline exists to prevent, and it is the one the wrong number walks you into.

Error 2: subsequent accounts have no “9 months after filed” limb

The second figure you will see repeated is that accounts after the first are due at the earlier of six months after the prior account was approved, or nine months after the prior account was filed.

That nine-month limb does not appear in the Register’s chart, which states simply: “Within 6 Months from the order file date of the preceding account.” Nor does it appear in the text of § 7-305(a), which provides for accounts rendered within six months after the preceding one until the final account is filed.

We do not know where the nine-month version originated, and we are not going to guess. What we can say is that we could not source it to either the statute or the Register, and that a deadline you cannot source to a primary authority is not one to plan around. The practical risk here runs the other way from Error 1: a longer imagined deadline invites a late filing, and late accounts are what draw the Register’s attention.

How to check any Maryland deadline yourself in about a minute

You do not need us for this, and that is rather the point.

Start with the Register of Wills’ deadline chart. It is a single page listing every filing deadline in the administration, published by the office you will actually be filing with. If a figure you have read elsewhere disagrees with that chart, the chart wins.

Then read the section itself. The Estates & Trusts article is published in full and is searchable. Reading one section is less daunting than it sounds, and it settles the question completely.

Watch for the track. Before you accept any Maryland number, establish whether it applies to a regular estate, a small estate, or modified administration. Most of the contradictions you will encounter are not really contradictions — they are correct answers to a question about a different track.

What we are not saying

We are not accusing anyone of carelessness, and we have deliberately not named any site. Secondary summaries drift for ordinary reasons: rules change and pages do not, a figure is copied from an older source, or two tracks get merged for readability. We have made errors of exactly this kind on our own pages and corrected them — the creditor-bar figure above is one we published wrongly ourselves before checking it against the chart.

The point is narrower and duller than an accusation: on the specific numbers that determine whether you are on time, secondary sources are not reliable, including ours. Check the chart.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Maryland creditor claim deadline 30 days or 2 months after notice?

For a regular estate it is two months. The Register of Wills' deadline chart lists claims as due on or before the earlier of six months from the date of death, or two months after the personal representative mails or otherwise delivers notice to a creditor, and Est. & Trusts § 8-103(a) reads the same way. The 30-day figure that circulates widely is the small estate rule under § 5-603(b), applied to the wrong track.

Where does the 30-day figure come from, if it is wrong?

It is a real Maryland deadline attached to the wrong process. Small estates under § 5-603(b) use notice published once and a 30-day claim window. Maryland runs regular estates, small estates and modified administration as separate tracks with different numbers, and summaries that merge them into one table produce this error. It is a conflation rather than an invention, which is why careful writers repeat it.

When are subsequent administration accounts actually due in Maryland?

Within six months from the order file date of the preceding account, per the Register of Wills' chart, continuing until the final account is filed. § 7-305(a) provides for accounts rendered within six months after the preceding one. The commonly repeated alternative of nine months after the prior account was filed does not appear in either source, and we could not trace it to a primary authority.

What happens if I rely on the wrong creditor deadline?

The 30-day figure is shorter than the true two months, so it makes the claims window appear to close earlier than it does. A personal representative who distributes on that basis can face a valid claim arriving against an estate that no longer holds assets to satisfy it. Whether that creates personal exposure depends on the facts, and it is a question for an attorney rather than for a website.

How can I verify a Maryland deadline myself?

Use the Register of Wills' deadline chart first — it is one page, published by the office you file with, and it covers every filing in the administration. Then read the relevant section of the Estates & Trusts article, which is published in full. Before accepting any figure, establish which track it applies to: regular estate, small estate, or modified administration. Most apparent contradictions are correct answers about a different track.

Has ExecutorPilot published these errors too?

Yes. We published the 30-day creditor figure on our own Maryland pages before checking it against the Register's chart, and corrected it across the site once we did. That is part of why this page exists. The reliable move is not picking a trusted website, it is checking the chart and the statute, including against us.