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Maryland's first constitution,
adopted in November of 1776, authorized a Register of Wills to
oversee probate in each county. The following Spring, the
General Assembly formally established the Orphans' Court as the
mechanism for probate administration, with the Register of Wills
as the Court's Chief Clerk.
Today, the Orphans' Court hears
all matters involving decedents' estates which are contested and
supervises all of those estates which are probated judicially.
It approves accounts, awards of personal representative's commissions,
and attorney's fees in all estates. The Court also has concurrent
jurisdiction with the circuit court in the guardianships of minors
and their property. All matters involving the validity of
wills and the transfer of property in which legal questions and
disputes occur are resolved by the Orphans' Court.
There are three judges who sit on the Orphans' Court in Baltimore
City and in each of the counties, with the exception of Harford
County and Montgomery County, where circuit court judges sit as
judges of the Orphans' Court.
Directory of Orphans' Court
Judges and Registers of Wills
Conference
of Orphans' Court Judges (created
by Administrative Order
dated November 2003)
Maryland Registers
of Wills website
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