To challenge a will in Maryland, you file a caveat petition with the Register of Wills in the county where the deceased person lived, and you must do it within six months of the court’s first appointment of a personal representative. Only heirs and people named as beneficiaries in a will or codicil have standing to file. The petition has to state a recognized legal ground for invalidating the will, not just a sense that the distribution is unfair.
Who Can File
Maryland Rule 6-431 limits caveat filings to two groups: heirs of the deceased and legatees named in any document claiming to be the deceased person’s will or codicil.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rule 6-431 – Caveat Heirs are the people who would inherit under Maryland’s intestacy laws if no valid will existed, typically a surviving spouse or children. Legatees include anyone named as a beneficiary in the contested will or in a prior version.
Maryland’s statutory definition of “interested person” covers heirs, legatees, executors named in a will, and serving personal representatives.2Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Code Estates and Trusts 1-101 – Definitions Creditors are not on that list. Neither is a close friend who was never written into any version of the will. The practical test: would you stand to inherit more if the contested will were thrown out? If not, the court will dismiss your petition.
When You Have to File
The clock starts when the court first appoints a personal representative under the will. You have six months from that appointment to file, and that deadline holds whether or not a later judicial probate or new personal representative appointment occurs.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Estates and Trusts Code 5-207 – Caveat of a Will You can also file before anyone has petitioned for probate; there is no rule that you must wait for the will to be formally admitted.
If a different will or codicil surfaces later and is offered for probate, a second window opens. You get three months after that later probate, or six months after the first personal representative appointment, whichever is later.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rule 6-431 – Caveat
Missing the six-month deadline does not always end your case. Rule 6-431 allows a petition for extension if filed within 18 months of the deceased person’s death. You have to show that you never received actual or statutory notice of the probate proceedings, or that the proceedings involved fraud, a material mistake, or a substantial irregularity.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rule 6-431 – Caveat The court decides whether the circumstances justify extra time. Simply not knowing about the deadline is rarely enough.
Legal Grounds You Need
A caveat petition has to rest on a legally recognized basis for invalidating the will. “Unfair” is not a ground. The petition must identify specific grounds, and the burdens differ depending on what you allege.
Lack of Testamentary Capacity
A valid will requires the person making it to have a “sound and disposing mind” at the moment of signing. Maryland courts look at whether the person understood what property they owned, recognized the people who would naturally expect to inherit, and grasped what signing the will would do. The focus is on the day of execution, not weeks before or after.
Proving incapacity usually involves medical records showing conditions like advanced dementia around the time of signing, testimony from the person’s physicians, and statements from people who interacted with them that day. A diagnosis alone is rarely enough. Courts regularly uphold wills signed by people with cognitive decline when they had a lucid interval at the time of signing. The challenger bears the burden by a preponderance of the evidence.
Undue Influence
Undue influence means someone exerted pressure so overwhelming that the will reflects the influencer’s wishes rather than the deceased person’s own intentions.4Maryland Peoples Law Library. Contesting a Will – Caveat Proceeding This goes beyond ordinary persuasion or persistent nagging. The question is whether the person’s free will was effectively replaced by someone else’s.
Evidence supporting an undue influence claim often includes a close or dependent relationship between the deceased person and the alleged influencer, active involvement by the influencer in drafting the will, isolation of the deceased from family or friends, and a sudden change in estate plans that disproportionately benefits the influencer. No single factor decides it. The challenger must prove undue influence by a preponderance of the evidence.
Fraud
Fraud covers two situations. Fraud in the execution occurs when someone tricks the person into signing a will without realizing what the document is. Fraud in the inducement happens when someone feeds false information to the person making the will, causing them to include or exclude provisions they otherwise would not have. Telling a parent that their child has died when the child is alive, prompting the parent to leave everything to the liar, is a classic example.
You need evidence that deception actually occurred and that it changed what the will says. Communications, witness testimony, and evidence of the deceased person’s susceptibility to being misled all come into play. The standard is preponderance of the evidence.
Execution Defects
Maryland has specific formal requirements. The document must be in writing, signed by the person making it (or by someone else at their direction and in their presence), and attested and signed by two or more credible witnesses in the person’s presence.5Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Estates and Trusts Code 4-102 – Writing A witness in a different physical location does not count, even if the person could see them on a video screen.
If any of these requirements were not met, the will can be challenged on that basis alone. The will’s proponent initially bears the burden of showing proper execution. Once they do, the challenger has to overcome the presumption of valid execution by clear and convincing evidence.
Duress, Forgery, and a Newer Will
Duress is distinct from undue influence. Duress involves an actual threat directed at the person making the will to force signing or specific terms.4Maryland Peoples Law Library. Contesting a Will – Caveat Proceeding The threats can be physical, financial, or emotional. A caveat can also rest on forgery, where the will or the signature was fabricated, or on the existence of a newer will that revokes the one being offered for probate.
How to File
You file with the Register of Wills in the county where the deceased person lived, not directly with the Orphans’ Court.4Maryland Peoples Law Library. Contesting a Will – Caveat Proceeding The filing fee is $20.6Maryland Register of Wills. Fees
The petition has to be signed, verified under oath, and include:
- Your name, address, and connection to the estate, meaning whether you are an heir, a legatee, or both, and what your specific interest is.
- The deceased person’s date of death.
- Identification of the document you are contesting, and whether it has already been offered for or admitted to probate.
- A specific allegation that the document is not a valid will, with the legal basis (incapacity, undue influence, fraud, improper execution, or another recognized ground).
- If you believe a different document is the true last will, identification of that document and a copy attached, or an explanation if you cannot attach it.
- Names and addresses of all interested persons who could be affected, to the extent you know them.
- The relief you are asking the court to grant, including probate of an alternative will if applicable.1New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rule 6-431 – Caveat
Within five days of your filing, the Register of Wills issues an order requiring the personal representative to respond within 20 days. The Register also mails notice to all interested persons and publishes a public notice in a local newspaper for two consecutive weeks.7New York Codes, Rules and Regulations. Maryland Rule 6-432 – Order to Answer and Registers Notice and Service You do not have to handle notification yourself.
What Happens After You File
Filing a caveat operates as a request for judicial probate.3Maryland General Assembly. Maryland Estates and Trusts Code 5-207 – Caveat of a Will If the will had only gone through administrative probate, the court treats that determination as though it never happened. If judicial probate already occurred, the court reopens the case.
The Orphans’ Court handles caveat proceedings at the start. After the personal representative responds, the case enters discovery, where both sides gather evidence through depositions, document requests, and written questions. Medical records, financial statements, and testimony from witnesses to the signing are common targets.
Either party can request that unresolved factual issues be transferred from the Orphans’ Court to the Circuit Court for trial.8Maryland Courts. The History of the Orphans Court in Maryland That is where jury trials happen. The Orphans’ Court does not use juries, so if you want a jury to decide the will’s validity, you need to request the transfer. Many contested caveats end up in Circuit Court because factual disputes about intent or pressure are well suited to a jury. If neither side asks for a transfer, the Orphans’ Court judges decide. Many cases settle before trial because litigation costs and the emotional toll weigh on both sides.
No-Contest Clauses
Some wills include a no-contest clause (sometimes called an “in terrorem” clause) designed to discourage challenges by threatening to disinherit anyone who files one. Maryland enforces these clauses, so a beneficiary who challenges a will and loses can forfeit whatever they were originally set to inherit.
There is an important exception. Maryland law voids a no-contest clause when the challenger had probable cause to bring the claim. A challenge resting on a legitimate legal basis and reasonable evidence is protected even if it ultimately loses. The clause also has no effect on someone who was not a beneficiary in the first place, since there is nothing to forfeit. If you are named in a will that also contains a no-contest clause, evaluate the strength of your evidence carefully before filing.
Effect on the Estate While the Case Is Pending
A caveat pauses the normal flow of probate. The court will not allow final distribution of assets or make permanent administrative decisions while the challenge is pending. Straightforward cases add a few months. Complex disputes involving extensive discovery or a Circuit Court trial can stretch the delay to a year or longer.
The court can appoint a special administrator to handle time-sensitive matters during the litigation, such as paying debts, maintaining property, or preserving assets that would lose value if left unattended. A special administrator cannot distribute inheritances.
Litigation costs come out of the picture on both sides, and the estate itself may bear some of them. If the will is invalidated, the court looks for a prior valid will to follow. If none exists, the estate passes to heirs under Maryland’s intestacy laws. If the will is upheld, the estate is distributed according to its terms. Courts can also invalidate specific provisions while leaving the rest intact, depending on the nature and scope of the problem.