What is a Personal Representative?

• A person appointed to administer the will or estate (commonly known as the executor or administrator).
• The powers and responsibilities of a personal representative begin once the Letters of Administration have been delivered.  (A Letter of Administration is a document issued by the Register of Wills that authorizes a personal representative to administer an estate.)

What are the Duties of a Personal Representative?

• Filing an inventory of property owned by decedent;
• Appraising values of certain types of property, and obtaining appraisal by a third-party appraiser for others;
• Filing an information report on other assets, including those jointly owned by decedent, property located outside of Maryland, etc.;
• Filing an account, which includes assets, income, taxes etc.
• Please see Duties of Personal Representative Section for further info.

Can anyone be a personal representative?

Maryland law has several restrictions on the right to these powers (Letters of Administration) as a personal representative, they include all persons:

• Under 18 years of age;
• Mentally incompetent;
• Convicted of a serious crime;
• Not a citizen of the United States, unless the person is a permanent resident of the United States and is the spouse, ancestor, descendant or sibling of the decedent