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Terms Used In Maryland Code, ESTATES AND TRUSTS 10-104

  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
  • Person: includes an individual, receiver, trustee, guardian, personal representative, fiduciary, representative of any kind, corporation, partnership, business trust, statutory trust, limited liability company, firm, association, or other nongovernmental entity. See
  • Personal representative: includes an administrator and an executor. See
(a) Except as provided in subsection (c) of this section, if property is discovered after an estate has been closed and the appointment of the personal representative has been terminated under § 10-101 of this subtitle, the court, on petition of an interested person and on any notice as the court may direct, may appoint the same or a successor personal representative and make other appropriate orders.

(b) Further proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of the estates of decedents law as may be applicable, but no claim previously barred may be asserted in the reopened administration.

(c) (1) Subject to paragraph (2) of this subsection, if a check payable to a decedent or the estate of a decedent for a sum not exceeding $1,000 is discovered after an estate is closed and the appointment of the personal representative has terminated under § 10-101 of this subtitle, on a verified petition made by an interested person, the court may enter an order authorizing the interested person to indorse and deposit the check into the interested person’s bank account for the limited purpose of distributing the funds in accordance with the will or, if the decedent died intestate, in accordance with Title 3, Subtitle 1 of this article.

(2) (i) Unless requested by an interested person, the court may enter an order under paragraph (1) of this subsection without a hearing.

(ii) The court may not enter an order under paragraph (1) of this subsection if:

1. The estate of the decedent was insolvent when it was closed;

2. The check discovered after the estate was closed increases the value of the estate above the value that qualifies under § 5-601 of this article for administration as a small estate; or

3. Any additional fees and inheritance taxes due as a result of the discovered check are not paid with the petition.

(iii) The distribution of funds by an interested person under paragraph (1) of this subsection must be made within 60 days after the court’s order authorizing the distribution.