Title 4. Wills — Subtitle 1. Execution, Revocation, and Revival
Statutes in effect as of October 1, 2026.
Md. Code Ann., Est. & Trusts § 4-101 (2026)
Title 4. Wills
Subtitle 1. Execution, Revocation, and Revival
§ 4–101LinkCopy Citation
(a)
In this subtitle the following words have the meanings indicated.
(b)
“Electronic” means technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities.
(c)
“Electronic presence” means two or more individuals communicating in real time using electronic audio–visual means to the same extent as if the individuals were in the physical presence of each other.
(d)
“Electronic signature” means an electronic symbol, sound, or process attached to or logically associated with a record and executed or adopted by an individual with the intent to sign the record.
(e)
“Electronic will” means a will containing one or more electronic signatures and executed in compliance with this subtitle.
(f)
“Physical presence” means being close enough to see, hear, and speak with another individual without using electronic audio–visual means.
(g)
“Record” means information readable as text that is inscribed on a tangible medium or that is stored in an electronic medium and retrievable in perceivable form.
(h)
“Remotely witnessed will” means a will that is:
(1)
Signed by the testator under circumstances where a witness is in the electronic presence, but not the physical presence, of the testator when the witness attests to and signs the will; and
(2)
Executed, prepared, and certified in compliance with § 4–102 of this subtitle.
(i)
“Sign” means, with present intent to authenticate or adopt a record, to:
(1)
Execute or adopt a tangible symbol; or
(2)
Attach to or logically associate with the record an electronic symbol, sound, or process.
(j)
“Supervising attorney” means an individual who has been admitted to practice law before the courts of this State and is in good standing.
(k)
“Will” means a record that the testator intends to adopt as the testator’s codicil or testamentary instrument and that:
(1)
(i)
Appoints a personal representative;
(ii)
Revokes or revises another will;
(iii)
Nominates a guardian;
(iv)
Directs the disposition of the testator’s property; or
(v)
Expressly excludes or limits the right of an individual or class to succeed to property of a decedent passing by intestate succession;
(2)
Is executed in the form prescribed under §§ 4–102 through 4–104 of this subtitle; and
(3)
Has not been revoked in a manner provided by § 4–105 of this subtitle.
Md. Code Ann., Est. & Trusts § 4-102 (2026)
Title 4. Wills
Subtitle 1. Execution, Revocation, and Revival
§ 4–102LinkCopy Citation
(a)
Any person may make a will if the person is 18 years of age or older, and legally competent to make a will.
(b)
Except as provided in §§ 4–103 and 4–104 of this subtitle and subsection (f) of this section, every will shall be:
(1)
In writing;
(2)
Signed by the testator, or by some other person for the testator, in the testator’s physical presence and by the testator’s express direction; and
(3)
Attested and signed by two or more credible witnesses in:
(i)
The physical presence of the testator; or
(ii)
The electronic presence of the testator, provided that an electronic will or remotely witnessed will satisfies the requirements under subsection (c) or (d) of this section.
(c)
An electronic will or remotely witnessed will executed under this subsection shall satisfy the following requirements:
(1)
At the time the testator and witnesses sign the will, the testator and all witnesses shall be in the physical presence or electronic presence of one another and a supervising attorney, who may be one of the witnesses unless the will is signed, acknowledged, and sworn to before the supervising attorney as described in item (5)(iii)2 of this subsection;
(2)
At the time the testator signs the will, the testator shall be a resident of, or physically located in, the State;
(3)
Each witness who is in the electronic presence of the testator when the witness attests and signs the will, or provides an electronic signature on the will, shall be a resident of the United States and be physically located in the United States at the time the witness attests and signs the will;
(4)
The testator and witnesses shall sign the same will or any counterpart thereof; and
(5)
The supervising attorney shall create a certified will that shall include:
(i)
A true, complete, and accurate paper version of all pages of the will including the original signatures or electronic signatures of the testator and all witnesses;
(ii)
A signed original paper certification by the supervising attorney stating the date that the supervising attorney observed the testator and witnesses sign the will and that the supervising attorney took reasonable steps to verify:
(1)
That the certified will includes a true, complete, and accurate paper version of all pages of the will;
(2)
That the signatures contained in the certified will are the original signatures of each party signing the same paper will, or any counterpart thereof, and electronic signatures of each party signing the same electronic will, or any counterpart thereof;
(3)
That the testator and each of the witnesses signed the same will or any counterpart thereof;
(4)
The identity of each witness and that each witness who was not in the physical presence of the testator when the witness attested and signed the will, or provided an electronic signature on the will, was a resident of the United States and physically located in the United States at the time that the witness attested and signed the will; and
(5)
The identity of the testator and that the testator was a resident of, or was physically located in, the State at the time that the testator signed the will; and
(iii)
An acknowledgement of the testator and the affidavits of the attesting witnesses before:
(1)
A notary public, under seal, attached or annexed to the will, in substantially the following form and content:
The State of Maryland.
County of ____________.
Before me, the undersigned notary public, on this day personally appeared ____________, ____________, and ____________, known to me to be the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument and, all of these persons being by me duly sworn, ____________, the testator, declared to me and to the witnesses in my physical or electronic presence that the said instrument is the testator’s will, that the testator is of sound mind, and that the testator had willingly signed or willingly directed another to sign the will under no constraint or undue influence, and executed it in the physical or electronic presence of the witnesses as a free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that the witnesses, in the physical or electronic presence and at the request of the testator, signed the will as witnesses, and that to the best of the witnesses’ knowledge the testator was at least 18 years old, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
____________ Testator
____________ Witness
____________ Witness
Subscribed, sworn and acknowledged before me by ____________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by ____________ and ___________, witnesses, this ______ day of _________, ____.
__________ Seal ____________ Notary Public; or
(2)
The supervising attorney, attached or annexed to the will, in substantially the following form and content:
Before me, the undersigned supervising attorney, on this day personally appeared ____________, ____________, and ____________, known to me to be the testator and the witnesses, respectively, whose names are signed to the attached or foregoing instrument, and the testator declared to me and to the witnesses in my physical or electronic presence that the said instrument is the testator’s will, that the testator is of sound mind, and that the testator had willingly signed or willingly directed another to sign the will under no constraint or undue influence, and executed it in the physical or electronic presence of the witnesses as a free and voluntary act for the purposes therein expressed, and that the witnesses, in the physical or electronic presence and at the request of the testator, signed the will as witnesses, and that to the best of the witnesses’ knowledge the testator was at least 18 years old, of sound mind, and under no constraint or undue influence.
____________ Testator
____________ Witness
____________ Witness
Subscribed, sworn and acknowledged before me by ____________, the testator, and subscribed and sworn to before me by ____________ and ___________, witnesses, this ______ day of _________, ____.
____________ Supervising attorney.
(d)
An electronic will or remotely witnessed will executed under this subsection shall satisfy the following requirements:
(1)
At the time the testator and witnesses sign the will, the testator and all witnesses shall be in the physical presence or electronic presence of one another;
(2)
The requirements under subsection (c)(2) through (4) of this section shall be satisfied; and
(3)
The testator shall create a certified will that shall include:
(i)
A true, complete, and accurate paper version of all pages of the will including the original signatures or electronic signatures of the testator and all witnesses; and
(ii)
An original paper certification signed and acknowledged by the testator in the physical presence or electronic presence of a notary public, who may not be one of the witnesses, stating:
(1)
The date that the testator and witnesses signed the will; and
(2)
That the testator took reasonable steps to verify the same facts and information required under subsection (c)(5)(ii) of this section.
(e)
(1)
Once the supervising attorney or testator creates a certified will as provided in subsection (c) or (d) of this section, the certified will shall be deemed to be the original will of the testator for all purposes under this article.
(2)
The date of execution for a certified will described under paragraph (1) of this subsection shall be the date of execution stated in the certified will.
(f)
A will executed in conformance with the provisions of Executive Order 20.04.10.01, authorizing remote witnessing and electronic signing of certain documents, shall be deemed to have been signed and witnessed in conformity with this section if the will was signed and witnessed during the time that the executive order was in effect.
Md. Code Ann., Est. & Trusts § 4-103 (2026)
Title 4. Wills
Subtitle 1. Execution, Revocation, and Revival
§ 4–103LinkCopy Citation
(a)
A will entirely in the handwriting of a testator who is serving in the armed services of the United States is a valid holographic will if signed by the testator outside of a state of the United States, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United States even if there are no attesting witnesses.
(b)
A holographic will is void one year after the discharge of the testator from the armed services unless the testator has died prior to expiration of the year or does not then possess testamentary capacity.
Md. Code Ann., Est. & Trusts § 4-104 (2026)
Title 4. Wills
Subtitle 1. Execution, Revocation, and Revival
§ 4–104LinkCopy Citation
If a testator is physically outside the State at the time the testator executes the will, the will is properly executed if it is:
(1)
In writing;
(2)
Signed by the testator or by some other person on the testator’s behalf, in the testator’s physical presence, and by the testator’s express direction; and
(3)
Executed in conformity with:
(i)
The provisions of § 4–102 of this subtitle;
(ii)
The law of the domicile of the testator; or
(iii)
The law of the place where the testator is physically located at the time the testator signs the will.
Md. Code Ann., Est. & Trusts § 4-105 (2026)
Title 4. Wills
Subtitle 1. Execution, Revocation, and Revival
§ 4–105LinkCopy Citation
(a)
Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a will, or any part of it, may not be revoked in any manner.
(b)
A will may be revoked under the following circumstances:
(1)
By provision in a subsequent, validly executed will that:
(i)
Revokes any prior will or part of it either expressly or by necessary implication; or
(ii)
Expressly republishes an earlier will that had been revoked by an intermediate will but is still in existence;
(2)
By burning, cancelling, tearing, or obliterating the will, by the testator, or by some other person in the testator’s presence and by the testator’s express direction and consent;
(3)
By subsequent marriage of the testator followed by the birth, adoption, or legitimation of a child by the testator provided the child or the child’s descendant survives the testator; and all wills executed before the marriage shall be revoked; or
(4)
By an absolute divorce of a testator and the testator’s spouse or the annulment of the marriage, either of which occurs subsequent to the execution of the testator’s will; and all provisions in the will relating to the spouse, and only those provisions, shall be revoked unless otherwise provided in the will or decree.
Md. Code Ann., Est. & Trusts § 4-106 (2026)
Title 4. Wills
Subtitle 1. Execution, Revocation, and Revival
§ 4–106LinkCopy Citation
If a testator makes a subsequent will intended to revoke a prior will, the destruction or other revocation of the subsequent will does not revive the prior will unless the will is still in existence and is republished with the same formalities as are required for the execution of a will in this subtitle.
Md. Code Ann., Est. & Trusts § 4-107 (2026)
Title 4. Wills
Subtitle 1. Execution, Revocation, and Revival
§ 4–107LinkCopy Citation
The terms of any writing which is in existence when a will or trust instrument is executed, including but not limited to a statement of administrative provisions and fiduciary powers recorded in a record office of this State, may be incorporated into the will or trust instrument by reference to it to the extent the language of the will or trust instrument manifests an intent to do so and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification. Nothing in this section shall be construed as casting doubt upon the validity of incorporation by reference made prior to the adoption of this section.