Md. Rule 10-601 (2026)

(a) Who May File. A fiduciary or interested person may file a petition requesting a court to assume jurisdiction over the fiduciary estate for the purpose of determining its distribution if the petitioner believes that there may be a person whose identity or present whereabouts is unknown who is entitled to share in the estate.

(b) Venue. The petition shall be filed in the court which has assumed jurisdiction over the fiduciary estate, or if jurisdiction has not been assumed, then in the county where any part of the property to be distributed is located or where the fiduciary, if any, resides, is regularly employed, or maintains a place of business.

(c) Contents of Petition. In addition to any other material allegations, the petition shall contain at least the following information:

(1) The petitioner's name, address, and telephone number.

(2) The nature, value, and location of any property comprising the fiduciary estate.

(3) The reasons for seeking the assumption of jurisdiction by the court and the proposed distribution.

(4) An identification of any instrument creating the fiduciary estate, with a copy attached to the petition, if possible, and, if not, an explanation of its absence.

(5) The reason it is believed that there may be a person whose identity or whereabouts is unknown.

(6) An affidavit of attempts to contact, locate, and identify filed substantially in the form set forth in Rule 10-203 showing that the petitioner has searched diligently for the person whose identity or whereabouts is unknown.

Committee note: For substantive law on absent persons, see Uniform Absent Persons Act, Code, Courts Article, §§ 3-101 to 3-110. For substantive law on abandoned property, see Uniform Disposition of Abandoned Property Act, Code, Commercial Law Article, §§ 17-301 to 17-324.

Source: This Rule is in part derived from former Rules V71, V79, and R77 and is in part new.

Credits

[Adopted June 5, 1996, eff. Jan. 1, 1997. Amended Sept. 17, 2015, eff. Jan. 1, 2016.]