Your state’s pack. New issues arrive periodically on Mondays. Bookmark it. I built this for the Maryland T&E solo who knows the Estates & Trusts Article (Maryland’s own code, not the UPC) cold but still loses an afternoon a week hunting the current homestead number, the Maryland Medical Assistance (LTSS) slot posture, whether the latest MSBA / Appellate Court of Maryland guidance changes how you scope an engagement, or whether a recent Appellate Court of Maryland decision just moved the law on capacity, undue influence, or a trustee’s duties. What’s below is what mattered in Maryland lately — the week’s developments and the recent rulings from the bench.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments from the last seven days that I think actually matter to a Maryland T&E solo. Each one has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each one comes with the citation so you can verify the detail yourself before you use it with a client.
HB 738 (Ch. 751) / SB 651 (Ch. 750), signed May 26, 2026, create transfer-on-death deeds for real property at Md. Code, Real Property Art., Title 14, Subtitle 10. The Act is not operative until October 1, 2026. Maryland historically did not permit TOD deeds for realty, so this is a genuinely new planning tool, not a restatement.
Start mapping which existing client plans — especially modest estates leaning on joint tenancy or pour-over wills to keep the home out of probate — could be simplified with a recordable TOD deed once it goes live. But the deed does nothing for Maryland’s $5M estate-tax / 10% inheritance-tax exposure and must be coordinated with estate-recovery planning under Health-General § 15-121.
Md. Code, Real Property Art., Title 14, Subtitle 10 · SB 651 (Ch. 750) · mgaleg.maryland.gov · SB651 · effective Oct. 1, 2026
The federal estate-tax exemption rose to $15M on January 1, 2026 while Maryland’s estate-tax exemption stays fixed at $5M (16% top rate) and the separate 10% inheritance tax on non-exempt beneficiaries persists. That leaves Maryland-only estate-tax exposure on estates between $5M and $15M that owe nothing federally.
Maryland is one of the few states that layers a state estate tax and an inheritance tax on top of the federal regime, so the planning problem here is a tax problem most states don’t have. Estates that drifted past $5M from ordinary appreciation now face Maryland tax even as the federal floor rises — revisit credit-shelter and inheritance-tax-exempt-beneficiary structuring this cycle.
Md. Register of Wills — Estate & Inheritance Tax · registers.maryland.gov/main/taxes.html
In Mezu v. Mezu (2025), the Appellate Court of Maryland addressed AI-hallucinated citations as a matter of existing Maryland attorney obligations (including Md. Rule 1-311(b)) rather than a new AI-specific rule, and the MSBA stood up an AI Insights & Resources Hub for Maryland practitioners. There is no standalone Maryland Supreme Court ethics opinion squarely on generative AI.
If you use AI for drafting or research, the operative guidance in Maryland is your existing duties — competence, candor to the tribunal, and the signature/verification obligation under Rule 1-311(b) — not a permissive AI carve-out. Verify every machine-produced citation against the primary source before it reaches a filing; the court will treat a fabricated cite as your responsibility.
Mezu v. Mezu (Md. App. 2025) · mdcourts.gov · opinion
Decisions from the courts that bind a Maryland practitioner — the Supreme Court of Maryland and the Appellate Court of Maryland, the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, and the Fourth Circuit — read for what actually changes how you draft, advise, and plan. Trusts and estates broadly, not Medicaid alone: wills and capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, trust construction, and estate recovery. One read, the holding, and the official cite.
Across the Maryland Supreme Court, the Appellate Court of Maryland, the U.S. district court(s) covering Maryland, and the relevant federal circuit, no qualifying trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision has been identified for publication this period. Per the lane’s no-invent rule, this row says so plainly rather than inflating a holding.
Nothing to re-paper from the bench this period; controlling authority is unchanged.
Awaiting verified weekly signal — CourtListener used for discovery only, never cited as authority.
This slot holds the next significant trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision from Maryland’s appellate courts or the federal courts covering Maryland. The lane reads each opinion before it lands here, and reads-and-discards Medicaid program/provider litigation as not T&E. When the trailing window has no new ruling, this row says so plainly rather than inventing one.
Nothing to re-paper from the bench this period; controlling authority unchanged.
Awaiting verified weekly signal — CourtListener used for discovery only, never cited as authority.
This week in Maryland for the T&E solo with Maryland Medical Assistance clients: the developments from the Maryland State Bar Association (Estate & Trust Law Section) and the Maryland Department of Health (Medicaid) that actually moved your practice this period — each one primary-source verified.
Bar and Medicaid changes land on different schedules and aren't indexed by practice focus. Every item here was checked against its primary source, with the link, so you can verify before relying on it.