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Quick Answer
No, not really. An executor’s job in Maryland is to carry out what the will says or, if there’s no will, what state law already dictates. They don’t get to play favorites, rewrite anyone’s share, or hand out grandma’s jewelry based on who they liked best. There’s some wiggle room in a handful of gray areas, but “deciding who gets what” isn’t one of the powers that comes with the job.
If you’ve ever watched a family come apart over who was supposed to get the house, the car, or a box of old photographs, you already know why this question comes up so often. Somebody assumes the executor has the final say. Somebody else assumes the opposite. Usually, both of them are a little bit right and a little bit wrong.
I’ve sat across the table from more than a few families sorting through exactly this kind of tension, often because the house is the one asset nobody can agree on. So let’s clear up what an executor can and can’t decide under Maryland law, and where the real gray areas actually are.
Does an Executor Have the Power to Decide Who Gets What?
Short version: no. The person named executor, Maryland calls them the “personal representative” is legally bound to follow the will as written. If Aunt Carol left her wedding ring to her niece by name, that ring goes to the niece. The executor doesn’t get a vote on whether someone else “deserves it more.”
Maryland law is pretty blunt about this. Under the Estates and Trusts Article, a personal representative is a fiduciary with a “general duty to settle and distribute the estate… in accordance with the terms of the will.” That’s not optional language. It’s the whole job description.
So where does the confusion come from? Probably from the fact that executors do have real authority, just not over who gets what. They can sell property, manage investments, pay off debts, and handle a long list of administrative tasks. It’s easy to see all that power and assume it stretches into picking winners. It doesn’t.
What Happens When There’s No Will?
If someone dies without a will, the executor, technically called an “administrator” in this situation, still doesn’t get to decide anything. Maryland’s intestacy laws step in and spell out exactly who inherits and how much, based on who survives: a spouse, children, parents, or more distant relatives, in a specific legal order.
We’ve already broken down those exact percentages; spouse and children splits, what happens with no spouse, and so on in our guide on what to do when you inherit a house in Maryland. Worth a look if you’re dealing with an estate that has no will at all.
Where Executors Actually Have Some Discretion
This is the part people usually skip over, and it’s where most of the real confusion lives.
Selling property to pay debts. An executor can sell estate assets, sometimes including a house, even if that asset would otherwise go to a specific person, as long as it’s genuinely needed to cover debts, taxes, or administration costs. Maryland law gives personal representatives a wide set of powers here: selling, leasing, mortgaging, investing, even settling disputes on the estate’s behalf. None of that is “deciding who gets what.” It’s keeping the estate solvent so distributions can actually happen.
Timing. Nobody’s entitled to be paid the day after the funeral. An executor has real discretion over when distributions go out, as long as they’re moving the estate forward at a reasonable pace. (We covered Maryland’s actual timeline expectations for this in our companion piece on how long an executor has to pay beneficiaries.)
Vague instructions. Some wills are specific down to the last teaspoon. Others say something like “divide my personal belongings among my children as they see fit.” That phrase hands the executor genuine discretion but even then, they’re expected to act fairly and in good faith, not just hand the good stuff to whoever they’re closest to. And if a will is genuinely unclear rather than just informal, the safer move is often asking the Orphans’ Court for guidance rather than guessing.
What Executors Are Never Allowed to Do
A few things are consistently off-limits, no matter how reasonable the executor’s intentions might seem:
- Rewriting the plan. They can’t add a beneficiary, remove one, or change how much someone gets because they personally think the split feels unfair.
- Self-dealing. Selling estate property to themselves, or to a friend, at a discount is a fast way to end up in front of a judge.
- Favoritism. Slow-walking one sibling’s inheritance while fast-tracking another’s, without a legitimate reason, breaks the fiduciary duty that comes with the role.
- Silence. Executors are supposed to keep beneficiaries reasonably informed, not go dark for months at a time.
If any of that sounds familiar, like you’re watching it happen in real time, there are real remedies available. We walk through the process for petitioning the court, requesting an accounting, or even removing an executor in our guide on what to do when you inherit a house in Maryland.
A Maryland Quirk Worth Knowing: The Release Requirement
Here’s something that catches a lot of beneficiaries off guard. Before a Maryland personal representative distributes estate funds, they’re allowed to ask you to sign a release, basically a document confirming you won’t later sue them over how they handled things. This comes straight from Section 9-111 of the Estates and Trusts Article, and Maryland courts have upheld it.
It can feel like a strange hoop to jump through right when you’re expecting a check, but it’s a normal, legal part of the process, not a sign that something shady is happening.
When the House Is the Sticking Point
More often than not, the asset everyone’s arguing about isn’t the jewelry or the furniture. It’s the house.
If a will names one beneficiary for the property, that’s usually straightforward. But when multiple heirs inherit the same house together and one wants to keep it while another wants to sell, that’s a different situation entirely, and it’s not really about the executor’s discretion anymore. We cover exactly how that plays out in Maryland, including what happens when siblings can’t agree, in our guide on whether siblings can force the sale of an inherited house.
And if the executor does have authority to sell; say, the will directs it, or it’s needed to settle debts, moving quickly can matter. A property that sits vacant during a long dispute just racks up taxes, insurance, and upkeep costs that eat into what everyone eventually receives. If speed is the priority, our guide on the fastest way to sell a house in probate walks through how that process works.
Executor Deciding Who Gets What - FAQ's
Can an executor favor one beneficiary over another?
No. Favoritism, whether it’s paying one heir faster, giving someone a better deal on an asset, or simply communicating more with one beneficiary than another, violates the fiduciary duty every Maryland executor owes to the estate as a whole.
Can an executor decide not to sell the house?
It depends entirely on what the will says. If the will directs a sale, the executor generally has to follow through. If it’s silent and multiple people inherited the property jointly, the decision usually comes down to the heirs themselves, not the executor alone.
Why do I have to sign a release before getting my inheritance in Maryland?
Maryland law allows personal representatives to request a signed release from beneficiaries before final distribution, protecting the executor from future claims about how the estate was handled. It’s a standard part of closing out many Maryland estates, not a red flag on its own.
What happens if the will doesn’t specify who gets certain items?
The executor typically has some discretion to divide unlisted personal items fairly, but they’re still expected to act in good faith and avoid obvious favoritism. If the ambiguity is significant, asking the Orphans’ Court for direction is often the safer path.
Can an executor also be a beneficiary?
Yes, and it’s actually common; a surviving spouse or adult child often serves as both. It doesn’t create a conflict by itself, but that person still has to treat every beneficiary fairly, including themselves, rather than using the role to their own advantage.
Final Thoughts
An executor’s job is bigger than most people expect, but narrower than a lot of people fear. They manage, they administer, they keep things moving — but they don’t get to reshuffle who inherits what. The will (or Maryland’s intestacy law, if there isn’t one) already answered that question. The executor’s job is just to carry it out.
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Sources
- Maryland Estates and Trusts Code § 7-101 — Duties of Personal Representative Generally
- Maryland Estates and Trusts Code § 7-401 — Powers of Personal Representative
- Maryland Court of Appeals — Allen v. Ritter, No. 16, September Term 2011 (Section 9-111 release requirement)
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as legal or financial advice. Please consult with professionals for advice specific to your situation.
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