MD · State estate & inheritance tax
Maryland estate tax, inheritance tax & probate costs
Exemptions, rates, and probate costs for Maryland (MD), current as of IRS SOI state filings 2021-2023 | federal exemption 2026 | Tax Foundation 2024 state survey - in plain language, from IRS Statistics of Income data and Maryland fee schedules.
Data updated 2026-08-06
- State estate-tax exemption · Moderate exemption vs. federal
- $5M
- Estate-tax top rate · High top rate
- 16%
- Inheritance tax (paid by heirs) · Rare among states
- Yes
- Typical probate timeline · Slower than most states
- 9–18 mo
The verdict
Maryland taxes estates above $5M at up to 16%, and levies an inheritance tax paid by beneficiaries, and probate typically takes about 14 months, putting it in the 0th percentile of 51 for estate-friendliness, one of the least estate-friendly states.
- 0th
- Estate-friendliness percentile of 51
- 1/5
- Estate-friendliness score
- 0/100
- Probate Burden Score (F)
- 13
- States with a state-level estate tax
Estate-friendliness blends tax presence, probate cost and timeline into one composite score. Maryland ranks ahead of 0 of the other 50 states on that composite. On maximum probate filing fee alone, Maryland sits #49 of 51 (lowest fee = #1).
Based on this state's own probate-cost record -- filing fee, timeline, executor fee, and attorney fee -- each benchmarked against every tracked state (50 states + DC). Not a measure of estate-tax or inheritance-tax burden, which are shown separately above.
Estate tax docket plate
Sheet MD · Maryland $5M · 16%
DUAL-TAX · DECOUPLED · STEEP-16 · NO-PORT · FEE-STEEP · LOCAL-CODE
- DUAL-TAX Estate + inherit
- DECOUPLED Far below federal
- STEEP-16 Top 16%
- NO-PORT No portability
- FEE-STEEP Max $1,000
- LOCAL-CODE Local probate code
Nearest exemption peer: Vermont (+ 0.0M)
Instrument codes from this state’s levy posture, federal-exemption gap, rate shape, portability, probate filing-fee tier, and UPC adoption, not a planning recommendation.
Maryland standing among 13 estate-tax states
- Maryland is one of 13 of 51 surveyed jurisdictions that levy a state estate tax.
- State exemption $5M sits $10M below the permanent federal $15M line, that gap is the Maryland-only taxable band the IRS SOI tables do not print as a rank.
- Maximum probate filing fee $1,000 is above the corpus upper third (> $450) · corpus #49 of 51 (lowest max fee = #1).
- On tax-burden friendliness alone, Maryland ranks ahead of 0 other states in this extract.
Exemption neighbourhood around Maryland
Lowest/highest poles plus estate-tax states nearest Maryland on exemption ($M). Full ladder: /rankings/lowest-exemptions/.
State Estate Tax
Maryland is the only state with BOTH estate AND inheritance taxes. Estate tax: $5M exemption, rates 0.8%-16%.
Inheritance Tax
Collateral heirs (siblings, nieces/nephews, others): 10% flat. Lineal heirs (spouse, parents, children, grandchildren): exempt.
Probate Costs
Small estate: $50,000 ($100,000 if surviving spouse is sole heir)
Probate Code
Maryland has not adopted the Uniform Probate Code.
Property System
Maryland follows common-law (separate property) rules.
Federal estate-tax returns filed - Maryland
Returns filed by state residents, by IRS filing year
Maryland probate timeline
Months from filing to distribution, minimum, typical, and maximum
Maryland's probate timeline vs. every US state
Upper-bound probate duration (18 mo) across all 51 states
18 Longer than most longer than 61% of 51 states
every US state, bucketed by value
Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more states. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count and share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source PlainEstate probate-timeline dataset, all 51 states · current
Cost vs. speed, all 51 states
Where Maryland lands on cost and speed together
Each dot is a state, plotted by its maximum court filing fee (x) against its upper-bound probate timeline (y). States that adopted the Uniform Probate Code average $344 and 13.6 months to probate; states that haven't average $457 and 15 months. Streamlining the legal process correlates with a cheaper court-fee schedule too, not just a faster one.
View all 51 states as a list
- Colorado : $164 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Alaska : $200 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Connecticut : $200 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Idaho : $200 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Indiana : $200 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Montana : $200 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Nebraska : $200 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- North Dakota : $200 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Maine : $250 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Wisconsin : $250 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Arkansas : $300 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- District of Columbia : $300 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Georgia : $300 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Hawaii : $300 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Kansas : $300 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Kentucky : $300 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Mississippi : $300 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- New Hampshire : $300 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- New Mexico : $300 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- South Dakota : $300 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- West Virginia : $300 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Wyoming : $300 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Utah : $350 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Arizona : $380 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Florida : $400 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Louisiana : $400 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Missouri : $400 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Oklahoma : $400 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Rhode Island : $400 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Texas : $400 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Virginia : $400 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Washington : $400 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- California : $435 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Iowa : $450 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Vermont : $450 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Alabama : $500 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Delaware : $500 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Illinois : $500 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Nevada : $500 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- New Jersey : $500 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Ohio : $500 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Oregon : $500 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- South Carolina : $500 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Tennessee : $500 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Michigan : $600 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Minnesota : $600 max filing fee, 12 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- North Carolina : $600 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Pennsylvania : $700 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (UPC-adopted)
- Maryland (highlighted above) : $1,000 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- Massachusetts : $1,000 max filing fee, 18 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
- New York : $1,250 max filing fee, 24 mo probate timeline (non-UPC)
Federal Estate Tax Filings - Maryland
IRS Statistics of Income data showing estate tax returns filed by Maryland residents.
What changed: reported federal estate-tax returns increased by 29 from 109 in 2022 to 138 in 2023. This compares adjacent IRS filing-year releases; it does not describe a change in state tax law.
| Filing Year | Returns Filed | Gross Estate | Net Tax Paid | State Death Tax |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 138 | $3.3B | $0.3B | $176,295K |
| 2022 | 109 | $4.5B | $0.2B | $127,476K |
| 2021 | 104 | $2.5B | $0.2B | $126,787K |
Source: IRS Statistics of Income - Estate Tax Returns Filed (Table 2, by State of Residence). Dollar amounts in thousands. State rate / exemption tables compiled from Tax Foundation 2024 Estate & Inheritance Tax Survey.
Maryland estate-tax shape: DUAL-LEVY·HIGH-FEE·SOI-MID
Maryland adds a state estate-tax layer plus inheritance tax - for many households the state exemption binds before the permanent federal line. IRS SOI prints 138 federal returns here in the latest year, a mid-band SOI footprint. Exemption $5,000,000 with rates from 0.8% to 16%; no spousal portability. Beneficiaries separately face a state inheritance tax under Maryland law.
IRS Statistics of Income data show 138 federal estate tax returns filed by Maryland residents in filing year 2023, reporting $3.35 billion in combined gross estate value. Net federal estate tax paid totaled $0.30 billion that year. Multi-year SOI average: roughly 117 taxable filings/year. Effective federal rate on reported gross estates ≈ 6.9%.
Probate clock 9–18 mo · max filing $1,000 · corpus #49 of 51 · statutory attorney ≈ 5% · non-UPC · common law · small-estate track under $50,000.
States with similar estate-tax and probate profiles to Maryland
Similar exemption threshold
Nearest estate-tax states by exemption ($5M here).
Similar top marginal rate
Nearest estate-tax states by top rate (16% here).
Similar probate filing fee
Nearest states by maximum probate filing fee ($1000 here).
Maryland Estate Tax FAQs
Does Maryland have an estate tax?
Yes. Maryland has a state estate tax with a $5,000,000 exemption, with rates from 0.8% to 16%. This is in addition to the federal estate tax.
Does Maryland have an inheritance tax?
Yes. Maryland has a state inheritance tax. Collateral heirs (siblings, nieces/nephews, others): 10% flat. Lineal heirs (spouse, parents, children, grandchildren): exempt. Only six states impose an inheritance tax, which is paid by beneficiaries rather than the estate itself.
How long does probate take in Maryland?
Probate in Maryland typically takes 9 to 18 months. Estates under $50,000 may qualify for a simplified small estate procedure, which is significantly faster.
How much does probate cost in Maryland?
Court filing fees in Maryland range from $100 to $1,000. Attorney fees are typically 5% of the estate value (statutory).
Where does Maryland sit among states on probate filing fees?
According to PlainEstate's compiled state court fee schedules, Maryland ranks #49 of 51 surveyed states by maximum probate filing fee (lowest max fee = #1). That ordinal matches the /rankings/lowest-probate-costs listing. See /methodology/#corpus-placement for the exact sort basis.
Is Maryland's probate timeline shorter or longer than most states?
Maryland's upper-bound probate estimate of 18 months is shorter than 2% of the 51 states PlainEstate tracks (31 states have a shorter estimate, 1 have a longer one). A shorter upper bound means less exposure to worst-case delays, not a guarantee every estate closes that fast.
Can you avoid probate in Maryland?
Yes. Common probate avoidance strategies in Maryland include revocable living trusts, transfer-on-death (TOD) deeds for real estate, payable-on-death (POD) accounts for bank and investment accounts, and joint ownership with right of survivorship. Maryland also offers a simplified process for small estates under $50,000.
What happened to the 2026 federal estate tax sunset, and how does it affect Maryland residents?
The TCJA provisions were scheduled to sunset after December 31, 2025, which would have cut the federal exemption from $13,990,000 to roughly $7,000,000 per person. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Pub. L. 119-21), signed July 4, 2025, repealed that sunset and set a permanent $15,000,000 per-individual exemption effective January 1, 2026, indexed for inflation. Maryland residents still face state estate tax in addition to federal estate tax, so the state-level rules remain the main planning consideration for most Maryland estates.
How Maryland’s probate clock interacts with its estate-tax layer: probate process guide. Compare thresholds on the state rankings or the estate tax calculator.
Notice a figure that looks out of date, such as a state changing its exemption or rate? Report it via the contact page and we'll verify it against the source and correct it, per our editorial policy.
Disclaimer: This information is provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal or tax advice. Consult a qualified estate-planning attorney or tax professional before making decisions based on this data.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
What to do with Maryland's numbers
Every state page here answers one question: what does the tax layer look like. These are the next steps.
- Maryland is one of 13 states with a state-level estate tax; see how its exemption and top rate compare across the full set before assuming this is a typical rule. All 50 states
- A documented plan (will, trust, beneficiary designations) determines who actually inherits, regardless of which state or federal tax layer applies. Estate planning basics
- Full corpus context: see the current gift-tax exclusion and lifetime exemption that interact with any state-level threshold. Gift tax explained
Figures are compiled from IRS Statistics of Income and state statutes; verify current thresholds with a qualified attorney before acting.