The Maryland Home After a Death

What “homestead” means in Maryland

Maryland has no homestead rule in the sense some states do — no restriction on leaving the home and no homestead allowance. Its law speaks of the family allowance a surviving spouse or registered domestic partner and each unmarried minor child receive from the estate (Est. & Trusts § 3-201) and of a bankruptcy exemption for an owner-occupied residence, including a settlor's residence held in a revocable trust (Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 11-504). Who inherits the home is decided by the will, the trust, the deed or intestacy.

Who gets the home

In Maryland the home passes like the decedent's other property — under the will or the trust, by the deed, or by intestacy (Est. & Trusts § 3-102) — subject to the surviving spouse's elective share (Est. & Trusts § 3-403) and the family allowance from the estate (Est. & Trusts § 3-201):

• With a will or a trust that disposes of the home, it passes as the instrument says — subject to the surviving spouse's right to elect a share of the estate subject to election, which counts a trust revocable at the death (Est. & Trusts § 3-403; Est. & Trusts § 14.5-606).
• Without one, the home passes by intestacy with the rest of the estate — the whole to the surviving spouse or registered domestic partner, one-half where a minor child survives, and the first $100,000 plus one-half of the rest where the decedent leaves issue who are not the spouse's or partner's (Est. & Trusts § 3-102) — the rest to the issue by representation (Est. & Trusts § 1-210).
• A home owned with a right of survivorship passes to the survivor outside the will; a married couple's entireties property conveyed to their trust keeps its immunity from either spouse's separate creditors on the statute's conditions (Est. & Trusts § 14.5-511); and, from October 1, 2026, a recorded transfer-on-death deed passes the home to its beneficiaries at death (Real Prop. § 14-1003).

Can the home be left by will or by trust? Yes

Maryland places no restriction on leaving a home by will or by trust: the owner may leave it to anyone, subject to the surviving spouse's right to elect a share of the estate subject to election, which counts a trust revocable at the death (Est. & Trusts § 3-403; Est. & Trusts § 14.5-606).

Creditors and the home after a death

After the owner's death, a home in the estate answers for the decedent's debts in the estate's administration, claims presented within the earlier of six months after the death or two months after the personal representative's notice (Est. & Trusts § 8-103). A home in a trust that was revocable at the death answers for the settlor's creditors (Est. & Trusts § 14.5-508(b)) — through the estate's periods where one is opened, or a trustee's published notice where none is. Liens and mortgages on the home still apply. Whether particular property is reachable is fact-specific attorney territory.

Property taxes

Maryland imposes no recordation, transfer or other State or local excise tax on a deed of a home into a trust without consideration, or out of a revocable trust to a beneficiary as a result of the settlor's death (Est. & Trusts § 14.5-1001). A share of the home passing to a recipient outside the inheritance tax's exempt family classes is taxed at 10 percent of its clear value (Tax-Gen. § 7-204). A Maryland attorney can confirm what applies.

What should happen next?

Outcomes turn on facts: who survived, how the deed reads, whether minors are involved, and a spouse's election, made within the later of nine months after the death or six months after the first appointment of a personal representative (Est. & Trusts § 3-407). This page is general information, not legal advice. A free role check shows you where you stand, and a Maryland attorney can confirm how the home passes in your situation.

General information about Maryland law, not legal advice.