The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Maryland?

By The Estate Planning Guide Editorial Team Researched against primary sources

Published June 3, 2026 8 min read

Quick answer

If a married Marylander with children dies without a will, Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §3-102 sets the split by reference to the children. Under §3-102(b), if there is a surviving minor child the spouse's share is one-half. Under §3-102(a) the spouse's share is the entire intestate estate, subject to (b) and (c); under §3-102(c), where there is no surviving minor child but there is surviving issue who are not the spouse's, the share is the first $100,000 plus one-half of the residue. Maryland is a common-law (separate property) state.

⚠️ Educational information only — not legal, tax, or financial advice.

The figures on this page are general estimates. Laws, fees, thresholds, and prices differ by state and change often, and your own situation may change the result. Before you act, confirm the current numbers and rules for Maryland with a licensed professional — an attorney, tax advisor, or licensed agent as appropriate. Reading this page does not create a professional relationship.

How intestacy works in Maryland

When someone dies in Maryland without a valid will, Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §3-101 et seq. decides who inherits. The statute orders potential heirs by their relationship to the deceased — spouse and children first, then parents, then more distant relatives — and specifies exactly what share each one receives.

Maryland is a common-law (separate property) state, so there is no community-property split; the shares above apply to the whole probate estate.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse only (no children, no parents)

With no surviving descendants and no surviving parents, the spouse inherits the entire estate. Est. & Trusts §3-102(a) also gives the spouse or registered domestic partner the entire intestate estate where the decedent leaves parents but no descendants, because neither §3-102(b) nor §3-102(c) is engaged in that case. The date of the amendment that produced this wording is not stated here: the enactment history could not be read at the Maryland General Assembly's statute viewer.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse and children

This is the most common situation and where Maryland’s rules get specific:

If there is a surviving minor child, the spouse takes one-half and the children share one-half (§3-102(b)). If there is no minor child but there is surviving issue who are not the surviving spouse's, the spouse takes the first $100,000 plus one-half of the residue and the issue take the rest (§3-102(c)). If all surviving issue are also the spouse's and none are minors, neither subsection is engaged, so §3-102(a) gives the spouse the entire intestate estate. §3-102(a) extends the same share to a registered domestic partner.

For families where everyone is from the same marriage, the spouse generally gets a meaningful share. For blended families — where one or more children are from a prior relationship — many states change the math substantially. If your situation might fit that, the section above is exactly the rule that applies.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse and parents (no children)

If the decedent leaves a spouse and parents but no descendants, the surviving spouse inherits the entire estate: §3-102(a) makes the share the entire intestate estate subject only to (b) and (c), and neither applies where no issue survive. The older rule that split the estate with the parents is not in the current text; its repeal date is not stated here, because the enactment history could not be read at source.

What happens when there are children but no spouse

The entire estate passes to the children equally; a deceased child's share goes to that child's descendants by representation (Est. & Trusts §3-103).

What happens when there’s no spouse and no children

Order: descendants → parents → siblings and their descendants → grandparents and their descendants → great-grandparents and their descendants → more remote kindred → and, if no heirs exist, the estate escheats to the county board of education (or to the Maryland Department of Health if the decedent was a recipient of long-term care from a state facility) (Est. & Trusts §3-104, §3-105).

This is where intestacy starts producing results that often surprise people — distant relatives the deceased may not have been close to can end up inheriting, and a long-time unmarried partner inherits nothing.

A Maryland-specific quirk

Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §3-102(a) makes the spouse's share the entire intestate estate, subject only to §3-102(b) and (c), so a surviving spouse takes everything where no minor child survives and every surviving descendant is also the spouse's. §3-102(d) provides that the net estate is calculated without a deduction for the tax defined in §7-308 of the Tax – General Article.

What intestacy can’t do (and why it usually fails most people)

Even when Maryland’s intestacy rules produce a result close to what someone would have chosen, the rules can never:

  • Leave anything to an unmarried partner — intestacy doesn’t recognize unmarried partners regardless of relationship length
  • Leave anything to a step-child you didn’t formally adopt
  • Leave anything to a friend, charity, or specific person outside your family
  • Name a guardian for your minor children — a Maryland judge picks
  • Specify who handles your estate — a court appoints an administrator
  • Identify specific items for specific people
  • Account for blended-family dynamics in nuanced ways
  • Reduce probate costs and time — intestate estates still go through full probate

For most Maryland families, a basic will — costing $300 to $1,500 with a local attorney, or $50 to $300 with an online service — is meaningfully better than the default rules.

What probate looks like in Maryland when there’s no will

If someone dies intestate in Maryland, the estate still goes through probate. A court appoints an administrator (rather than an “executor” — the title is different for intestacy) to:

  1. Inventory the estate’s assets
  2. Notify creditors and pay debts
  3. Identify legal heirs under Maryland’s intestacy statute
  4. Distribute remaining assets to heirs according to the statute

For details on what probate costs and how long it takes in Maryland, see:

What displaces the Maryland intestacy statutes

Each of the following changes some or all of what the Maryland intestacy statutes would otherwise direct:

  1. A basic will, prepared through an online service or by a local attorney; what each charges is set by the seller and no independent source for it is cited. A will names an executor, names a guardian for any minor children, and directs who takes what, in place of the intestacy shares set out above.
  2. Beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and POD/TOD bank accounts. These pass outside both the will and intestacy.
  3. A financial power of attorney and a healthcare directive. These operate on incapacity rather than on death, and authorise a named agent in place of a court-appointed guardian.

The reported cost of all three together is under $1,500 for a typical Maryland estate. Those figures are market estimates and carry no named, dated publisher.

What happens without a will in other states

Intestacy rules differ from state to state — here’s what happens when someone dies without a will elsewhere:

This page explains Maryland intestacy law in general terms as of 2026. It is not legal advice; intestacy provisions, dollar thresholds, and statute citations can change. Confirm current rules with a licensed Maryland attorney before relying on this page. Sources: Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §3-102 (share of surviving spouse), Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §3-103 (division among descendants), Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §3-104 (distribution when no surviving spouse), Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §3-105 (escheat).

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