Clear Money Guide
What this state guide covers
A quick view of the questions, practical details and source notes below.
Updated August 3, 2026. Quick answer for Maryland: nobody publishes a reliable, state-specific median for what a will costs here, and the figures you will see quoted — including ours — are national. Anyone showing you a precise Maryland number is estimating. What is genuinely Maryland-specific, and what actually decides whether your will works, is how it has to be executed. The detail worth knowing before you sign anything: Maryland does recognise electronic wills, which most states still do not.
Putting a loan in writing? The interest limit, the signing rules and the time limit to sue, from the state’s own statutes: Maryland promissory note.
How to make a will in Maryland: what the statute says
Each line is a passage quoted from the Maryland statute itself; the section has the exceptions.
- Signing and witnesses. Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-102(b)(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.”
- Handwritten (holographic) will, armed-services testators only. Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-103(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.”
- Handwritten (holographic) will, duration. Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-103(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.”
The cost of settling an estate is a separate question: Maryland Probate Cost 2026.
The honest position on Maryland pricing
We publish a national attorney median for a simple will of $625 (middle 50% $450–$1,000) and a DIY platform range of $129–$599. Attorney figures are the national medians from the LegalTemplates 2026 survey of 909 firms, verified July 23, 2026. They are national, not state-specific — see the note on state pricing below. Geographic multipliers are widely republished, but the primary source for them blocks automated verification, so we will not apply one to Maryland and present the result as a Maryland figure. When a defensible state-level dataset exists, this page will carry it and say where it came from.
What Maryland law actually requires
This is the part that is genuinely state-specific, and the part that decides whether the document works at all. Every line below is read from the statute, with the citation attached:
- Witnesses: 2. Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-102(b)(3)
- Notary required for the will to be valid: no. A notary is not what makes a will valid here — the witnesses are. Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-102(b)
- Handwritten wills: recognised for service members under section 4-103 , and for wills signed outside Maryland that comply with the law of the testator’s domicile or of the place of signing under section 4-104. Section 4-103 validates a handwritten will for a testator serving in the U.S. armed services if the will is entirely in the testator’s handwriting and signed outside a state, D.C. or a territory, even without witnesses; it is void one year after discharge unless the testator died before then or does not then have testamentary capacity. Separately, section 4-104 treats a will signed while the testator is physically outside Maryland as properly executed if it conforms to the law of the testator’s domicile or of the place where it was signed. Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-103
- Electronic wills: recognised. Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 4-102(c)-(d)
The full 44-jurisdiction comparison is on what each state requires for a will to be valid.
Does Maryland give you a free form?
No. We found no complete statutory will form in the Maryland code. California, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico and Wisconsin each print one in their own codes. In Maryland your realistic routes are a DIY platform, a flat-fee attorney will, or an hourly engagement if the estate is complicated.
If a DIY will is the right route for you in Maryland
Where the estate is straightforward and none of the complications above apply, a properly executed DIY will does the job, and how it is signed matters far more than where the document came from. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament, which you then sign and witness under the Maryland rules above.
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link — it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
What skipping it costs in Maryland
A will does not avoid probate — it directs it. What it prevents is the estate being distributed by Maryland’s intestacy statute instead of by you, and it lets you name the executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. The arithmetic on the other side is on what probate costs in Maryland.
What a will costs nationally — every route priced, and the four situations where DIY fails.
Statutory text read at the state’s own legislature or official code site. Pricing figures are national and dated above. General information, not legal advice.
Related: whether Maryland requires the executor to post a bond.
The court’s own filing fee to open probate is a separate cost from what’s on this page, see the Maryland probate filing fee.
Related: how long creditors have to file a claim against an estate in Maryland.