Estate Search - coverage

What does Estate Search - coverage publish?

Coverage start year (published values by court, case type, and county - for example, District Court criminal late 1991, civil 1989, Montgomery County civil 1978)
1998 to present for all estates filed with the Register of Wills' office; some counties have entered some older estates (as published)

Case types covered (traffic, criminal, civil, judgments and liens, estate, appeals)
Estate records: decedent's name, estate number and status, date of death, date of filing, personal representative, attorney, decedent alias, docket history

Result cap (published: Case Search 600 results, Estate Search 500)
500 records (published message: 'The result set exceeds the limit of 500 records. Please narrow your search.')

How far back estate records are available on EstateSearch (Maryland Registers of Wills).

court level: —
case type: estate
county: —
Coverage start year (published values by court, case type, and county - for example, District Court criminal late 1991, civil 1989, Montgomery County civil 1978): 1998 to present for all estates filed with the Register of Wills' office; some counties have entered some older estates (as published)
Case types covered (traffic, criminal, civil, judgments and liens, estate, appeals): Estate records: decedent's name, estate number and status, date of death, date of filing, personal representative, attorney, decedent alias, docket history
Result cap (published: Case Search 600 results, Estate Search 500): 500 records (published message: 'The result set exceeds the limit of 500 records. Please narrow your search.')
Name search rules (exact match by default; partial match is the first letter of the surname + %; % is not allowed at the start or inside a word; company names go in the Person Search surname field): Use a % as a wildcard at the end of a field (e.g. Smith%); searching a date range requires a last or first name (partials allowed)
Lookup fee (published: Case Search is free, Civil Judgment and Satisfaction Data is subscription-based): Viewing basic estate information and estate dockets online is free using the Estate Search page; estate records in .pdf format may be downloaded for a fee of $0.50 per page; some offices have public viewing stations where viewing is free and printing is $0.50 per page (as published)
Where and how to request copies (in person or in writing at the record-holding court; estates via the county Register of Wills): At the Register of Wills' Office in the county where the estate record is on file; requests must be made in person or in writing (as published)
Non-public and automatic suppression (automatic suppression under expungement law, HB 1336, HB 837, stet after 3 years, as published): Last Wills and Testaments filed for safekeeping by living persons are not public record; only the testator (the individual who filed the Will), or someone authorized by them in writing, may view or remove the Will from the safekeeping records (as published)
Source: Maryland Judiciary: Case Search FAQ (coverage periods, search rules, result caps, and the ban on background-check use)(retrieved 2026-10-22)

Next to explore

Estate Search - estate number formatPublished rule for searching by estate number.Estate Search - how to obtain additional estate informationPublished request channel for additional estate information.Estate Search - search tips (% wildcard)Published search tips for EstateSearch.Estate Search - result limitPublished result cap for EstateSearch searches.Estate Search - estate typesPublished list of estate types in EstateSearch with the small-estate thresholds.Estate Search - update frequencyPublished update frequency of EstateSearch data.

All case search record