Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Maryland

If there is a will, the personal representative must produce the will at the same time as the petition to open the estate, although it is possible to petition for "limited" authority to find a will. Children get listed as "interested persons" whether or not they inherit under the will so you can know what is going on with the estate. If no will exists, then distribution will be under the laws of intestate succession. Basically a statutory formula indicates who gets what if the decedent did not have a will.

Note that the personal representative (i.e., the person charged with handling the estate) may or may not be the surviving spouse. Also, wills may be kept for safekeeping at the Register of Wills. Once informed of a death, the Register can open up any will it has stored for safekeeping.