Free, statute-anchored, for self-represented trustees
The Trustee Learning Center
Learn what Maryland law actually provides — in plain language, on the real statutes — before you decide anything. The library states the law and recommends nothing.
The guides
Getting started · 7 min read
You were named successor trustee. What does Maryland law expect?
Accepting or declining the office, the duties from day one, the two notices and the January 1, 2015 line, and the estate beside the trust.
Core duties · 7 min read
Keeping Maryland beneficiaries informed: the requests, the two notices and the report
Answering requests and the copy of the instrument, the two notices and how they are delivered, the report on request, and the waivers and the terms.
Core duties · 6 min read
Prudent administration in Maryland: the prudent person and the prudent investor
The prudent person standard, the prudent investor rule and whom it binds, reasonable costs and special skills, and protecting the trust's claims.
Distributions · 7 min read
Making distributions as a Maryland trustee: discretion, timing and representation
Discretion and its limits, a beneficiary-trustee, what comes before distributing, the proposal for distribution, and by representation.
Compensation · 6 min read
Getting paid as a Maryland trustee: reasonable compensation and the schedule of rates
Reasonable compensation and the terms' figure, the court's eight factors, the schedule of rates and who may file one, and reimbursement.
Working with others · 6 min read
Serving with a co-trustee in Maryland: everyone participates
No majority rule, the vacancy and urgency exceptions, delegation to a cotrustee, a successor and the predecessor, and when cooperation fails.
Working with others · 6 min read
Delegating as a Maryland trustee: agents, advisers and directions
Delegating to an agent with care, advisers and their directions, the settlor's direction while revocable, and a trustee's counsel.
Records · 6 min read
Keeping a Maryland trust's records: what the report and the release draw on
Adequate records and separate property, what a report contains, the one-year rule, reimbursement, and the five years a release report covers.
Disputes · 7 min read
When Maryland beneficiaries disagree: agreement, representation and the court
A binding agreement without a court, who may represent whom, the court's role, removal and remedies, and a no-contest clause.
Closing · 7 min read
Ending a Maryland trust: the distribution, the proposal and the release
How a trust ends, distributing expeditiously with a reserve, the proposal and its 60 days, a small trust, and the 120-day release.
The library, by question
What does the role ask of me?
Notices and accountings
Money: fees and costs
Timelines, property, and closing
Planning ahead? Our sister product
Need an estate plan, will, or trust? That's EstateDraft.
TrusteeClear administers what a plan creates. For making the plan itself, our sister product EstateDraft assembles self-help estate-planning documents from each state's own statutes and your own answers. It opens state by state, and its site shows which states are open.
Wills · revocable trusts · powers of attorney · health care directives — in the states EstateDraft serves.
Visit EstateDraft.aiEstateDraft is a separate TrusteeClear-family product with its own terms. Self-help software — general legal information, not legal advice.
- Going there sends nothing from TrusteeClear: not your Trust, your documents, your answers or your sign-in.
- Each sister platform has its own terms and its own account.
- Links open in a new tab. This page stays where you left it, and your TrusteeClear record stays here, unchanged.
The Learning Center is general information about Maryland law — not legal advice, and not a substitute for advice from a licensed Maryland attorney about your specific facts. TrusteeClear is software, not a law firm.