Travel Expenses in Maryland Estate Administration

Travel Expenses in Maryland Estate Administration.

In Maryland estates, personal representatives ordinarily do not receive travel expenses associated with their service, given that when undertaking the duties, a personal representative “was aware that her attendance would be required at the Register’s Office and Orphans’ Court . . . in the normal course of the administration of the estate”. See 59 Op. Atty Gen. Md. 613, 1974 Md. AG LEXIS 82 at *3. The Attorney General’s November 7, 1974 Opinion states that maximum commissions are not to be granted routinely, but that the travel expenses could be considered as a factor by the Orphans’ Court in setting a personal representative’s commission. Id. The Attorney General’s Opinion gives flexibility in drafting a will, opining that the “decedent could have provided in her will for compensation of the personal representative in excess of the statutory limits and in the absence of such provision compensation is limited to the maximum allowable under Section 7-601.” In other words, unless expressly contemplated in a will, travel expenses are not necessarily an expense of administering the estate nor reimbursed to a personal representative. Such expenses should not be paid in advance or when incurred, otherwise the personal representative runs the risk of disapproval of an accounting or other rebuke by the Register of Wills or the Orphans’ Court. According to the Opinion, “if upon consideration of all of the relevant evidence and circumstances it is determined that particular travel expenses claimed by the personal representative were necessary to the conduct of the business of the estate and not the mere attendance to the ordinary duties of administration” then the Court may allow such expenses. In sum, it is best to address travel expenses in one’s estate plans.

In many estate plans, an individual making a will (known as a testator) and the drafting attorney need not worry about travel expenses, particularly where the those nominated in the will to serve as personal representative are in the same locale as the primary residence/domicile of the testator and all assets are located in that same geographic area. Including a travel expense clause in a client’s will is especially appropriate in many situations. For example, when those nominated to serve live far from the testator, the testator is contemplating a move to a distant location in Maryland or elsewhere, and/or if the testator has real estate (or other significant connections) in multiple jurisdictions (especially if not simultaneously placing out of state real estate into a trust).