Ancillary Probate in Maryland

When you are retired, you can go wherever you want whenever you want, since work commitments are not tying you to a particular place. Therefore, many retirees who can afford to do so own property in more than one place. While this might make for a fun retirement conducive to family togetherness, it introduces some complexities into the probate case when the property owner dies. If you are the personal representative of an estate where the decedent owned property in more than one state, it means that it will be your responsibility to ensure the transfer of the property in multiple jurisdictions. If the main probate case is in another state, but the decedent also owned real estate or other property in Maryland, then Maryland ancillary probate must be part of the process. If you are the personal representative of the estate of someone who owned property in Maryland, even though most of the decedent’s property was somewhere else, contact a Washington, D.C. probate lawyer.

How Does the Law Deal With a Deceased Person’s Property in Maryland When the Probate Case Is in Another State?

Ancillary probate is a secondary probate case, an auxiliary case besides the main event; this is the meaning of the word ancillary. According to Maryland law, every person can have only one legal domicile, the state that officially counts as the person’s legal home. Your domicile is the state where you are registered to vote and where your driver’s license was issued. Meanwhile, plenty of estates that go through probate court involve property in more than one state.

Every state has its own way of transferring estate property on its soil when that state is not the decedent’s legal domicile. In Maryland, the personal representative who was appointed by the probate court in the decedent’s main state of residence can initiate ancillary probate proceedings in Maryland to transfer the decedent’s property that is located here. The way to do this is to petition the probate court in Maryland to appoint you as a foreign personal representative, which means that you live in another case but you are engaging in ancillary probate in Maryland. You must submit a copy of the will, listing the Maryland property, plus the order by the probate court in your home state which appoints you as the personal representative.

How a Maryland Probate Lawyer Can Help With Ancillary Probate

Ancillary probate does not require the foreign personal representative to relocate to Maryland, or even to travel here for court appearances; usually, foreign personal representatives only do this if they live in a nearby state such as Virginia or Delaware. You must, however, list a local contact person for the ancillary probate case, and a probate lawyer in the Maryland county where the decedent’s property is located is the best person for the case.

Contact Tobin O’Connor Concino P.C. About Ancillary Probate

A Washington, D.C. probate attorney can act as your local contact in a Maryland ancillary probate case.  Contact Tobin O’Connor Concino P.C.  in Washington, D.C. or call 202-362-5900.

Source:

peoples-law.org/ancillary-probate-and-foreign-personal-representatives-maryland