Will requirements in Maryland

Maryland requires you to be at least 18 and of sound mind. Capacity is judged at the moment of signing and asks whether you understood the nature of the act, the general extent of your property, and who would ordinarily expect to inherit from you.

A Maryland will is valid without a notary. Your signature and two credible witnesses are what make it effective.

What changed is how the will is proved afterwards. Following a 2023 change, a properly witnessed Maryland will is treated as effectively self-proved, and some sources now list Maryland among the states where wills are automatically self-proved without a separate notarized affidavit. California and Illinois take a comparable approach.

Because this is recent, we are flagging it rather than presenting it as long-settled. If you executed a Maryland will before the change, or you are working from older guidance, confirm which position applies to your document. Maryland separately has its own electronic wills statute, which is a distinct execution route with its own requirements.

Maryland recognises holographic wills only for members of the armed forces. For everyone else, a handwritten and unwitnessed document has no effect as a will.

The military exception is also time-limited in a way people miss: such a will becomes void one year after the testator's discharge from the armed forces. It is emergency provision for people who cannot access the usual formalities, not a lasting alternative to a witnessed will.

Anyone relying on a handwritten will made during service should replace it with a properly witnessed Maryland will once circumstances allow. New York takes a similarly narrow approach for service members and mariners.

Maryland's small-estate procedure is tiered rather than a single number. One limit applies generally, and a higher limit applies where the surviving spouse is the sole heir.

Because the structure is tiered we are not printing figures that would mislead in isolation — an estate can qualify on one measure and not the other. The Register of Wills for the relevant county, or for Baltimore City, will confirm the current limits and which applies.

Maryland is a common law property state. Ownership follows title rather than being automatically shared between spouses because property was acquired during the marriage.

A surviving spouse has an elective share, so a spouse generally cannot be disinherited by will alone. How that interacts with non-probate transfers is worth confirming with an attorney if your plan relies on beneficiary designations or joint ownership.

Maryland's statutory advance directive lets you appoint a health-care agent and record treatment preferences. Maryland also operates an advance directive registry so the document can be located in an emergency, and uses MOLST forms in clinical settings, which are medical orders rather than advance directives.

A statutory personal financial power of attorney covers money and property. These documents operate while you are alive, which is precisely the gap a will never fills.