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Upon the death of a person, their Will is filed with the probate court, and generally speaking the Personal Representative named in the Will petitions the court to settle the deceased's estate in accordance with the Will. This entire process is known as "probate."
In Maryland the probate court is known as the "Orphan's Court." This name goes back to the founding of the Colony of Maryland. In those days it was very common for someone to have little or no property, but to have one or more children. Thus, upon the death of a person it was far more important to care for the children (the orphans of the deceased) than to determine what to do with the little property the deceased had. The name lives on in this State.
The first step the Orphan's Court will take is to ascertain the validity of the Will. Notice will be sent out to all "interested persons" and any one of them will have time to challenge the Will.
Once the Will is validated, the Court will appoint the Personal Representative (PR) as so appointed in the Will. The PR will be responsible for inventorying the property of the estate, providing accountings to the court, paying taxes, fees and any creditor claims, distributing property to the named beneficiaries in the Will, and in general carrying out the provisions of the Will. The Maryland law provides compensation out of the Estate assets for the Personal Representative, unless the Will states otherwise or the PR opts to "waive" compensation.
Often a Personal Representative is not familiar with the probate process,
which can be fairly complex and time consuming, and will seek the assistance
of an attorney. Maryland law provides for compensation out
of the Estate assets for legal counsel.
