Annual Trust Accounting Requirements in Maryland
At a glance
| Governing law and accounting type | Maryland Trust Act, Md. Code, Est. & Trusts §§ 14.5-813, -904, -907: request-based annual/termination trustee's report; separate optional five-year release report after termination, removal, or resignation |
|---|---|
| Covered trusts, periods, and effective date | Ordinary Trust Act trusts. While revocable, beneficiary rights are settlor-controlled and duties run exclusively to the settlor, except an incapacitated settlor's lifetime distributee may enforce as if irrevocable (§ 14.5-603). The pre-2015 carveout in § 14.5-813(e) applies only to initial notices, not subsection (c) reports |
| Recipients and information rights | § 813 reports go to requesting qualified beneficiaries: current, next-tier, or termination distributees, subject to power-of-appointment exclusions (§ 14.5-103(u)). Administration information and the instrument are also requestable. § 907 release reports go to each interested party from whom release is sought |
| Annual, final, vacancy, and demand triggers | Annual and termination reports begin only on a qualified beneficiary's request. Vacancy report: requesting qualified beneficiaries if no cotrustee remains. Optional § 907 release route: trust termination or trustee removal/resignation |
| Required contents, values, and allocations | § 813: property, liabilities, receipts, disbursements, trustee-compensation source/amount, asset list, and feasible market values. § 907: immediately preceding 5 years of accounting/account statements, anticipated unreceived or undisbursed property/interests, remaining fees, event notice, 120-day warning, and no-known-undisclosed-claim statement |
| Delivery, service, and court filing | § 813 document: method reasonably suitable and likely to result in receipt; first-class mail, personal delivery, or delivery address are permissible (§ 14.5-109). No routine court filing. § 907 requires both first-class and certified mail, return receipt requested; a timely objection may be submitted to court |
| Waiver, trust modification, and exceptions | Qualified beneficiary may waive reports/information and withdraw prospectively; § 109 requires document waiver in writing. Trust terms generally prevail, but § 813(a), (c) information and report duties are mandatory (§ 14.5-105). A trustee-beneficiary need not report to self |
| Objection, limitation, settlement, and discharge | Adequate-disclosure report plus a one-year warning starts § 904's claim period, except bad-faith or reckless-indifference breach. Under optional § 907, no objection or written no-objection within 120 days creates deemed release/consent/ratification; timely objection may go to court or agreement. Ordinary § 813 receipt alone is not discharge |
| Enforcement, costs, and noncompliance | Failure to perform a beneficiary duty is a breach. Court may compel performance or an account, enjoin/redress breach, appoint a special fiduciary, suspend/remove trustee, reduce/deny compensation, trace property, or grant other appropriate relief (§ 14.5-901); no accounting-specific automatic penalty or fee award stated |
Requirements one by one
The ordinary report starts with a beneficiary request
Maryland Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-813(c) does not create an automatic annual report for every trust beneficiary. A qualified beneficiary must request the report. The trustee must then send that beneficiary reports annually and at trust termination. If a trusteeship becomes vacant and no cotrustee remains, the former trustee reports only to qualified beneficiaries who request it; a personal representative, guardian, or attorney-in-fact may report for the former trustee.
Section 14.5-103(u) defines the qualified-beneficiary class by three horizons: current distributees or permissible distributees, those who would take if their interests ended without terminating the trust, and those who would take if the trust terminated. It excludes an appointee under a living person's will and the object of an unexercised lifetime power of appointment.
The statute prescribes a compact financial report
The § 14.5-813(c) report covers trust property, liabilities, receipts, and disbursements. It must identify the source and amount of trustee compensation, list the trust assets, and give each asset's market value when feasible. The section does not prescribe carrying-value schedules, principal-and-income allocation tables, professional-fee schedules, a reconciliation, a signature, an oath, or notarization.
Section 14.5-813(a) separately requires a prompt response, unless unreasonable under the circumstances, to a qualified beneficiary's request for administration information, including the trust instrument.
Revocability, trust terms, and waiver change who can insist
While a trust is revocable, § 14.5-603(a) makes beneficiary rights subject to the settlor's control and makes the trustee's duties exclusive to the settlor. If the settlor lacks capacity, a beneficiary eligible for lifetime distributions may enforce the trust as if it were irrevocable under § 14.5-603(b).
Although trust terms generally prevail, § 14.5-105(10)-(11) preserves the stated information and report duties as mandatory provisions. A qualified beneficiary may waive reports or information and withdraw the waiver for future reports under § 14.5-813(d); § 14.5-109(c) requires a waiver of a required document to be in writing. A trustee who is also a qualified beneficiary need not send the report or information to himself or herself.
The January 1, 2015 carveout in § 14.5-813(e) is narrow. It says that subsection (b), which contains initial trusteeship and irrevocability notices, does not apply to specified earlier events. It does not exempt the subsection (c) reporting duty.
Delivery and legal effect are separate questions
For the ordinary report, § 14.5-109(a) requires a method reasonably suitable under the circumstances and likely to result in receipt. First-class mail, personal delivery, and delivery to the person's delivery address are permissible. Neither § 14.5-109 nor § 14.5-813 requires routine court filing of that report.
An ordinary report does not automatically release the trustee. Under § 14.5-904, a report starts a one-year period only if it adequately discloses a potential breach-of-trust claim and tells the beneficiary or representative how long there is to sue. The report adequately discloses only when its information means the recipient knows of the potential claim or should have inquired into it. The section does not limit claims involving bad faith or reckless indifference.
The optional release report has a five-year lookback and 120-day window
After trust termination or the trustee's removal or resignation, § 14.5-907(c) allows—but does not require—the trustee to seek a statutory release from an interested party. That class includes a beneficiary or representative, cotrustee, successor trustee, and anyone else with an interest in or authority over the trust.
The trustee must use both first-class and certified mail, return receipt requested. The report states the triggering event; provides accounting or account statements for the immediately preceding five years, estimates anticipated property or interests not yet received or disbursed, and lists remaining fees; gives the 120-day objection/no-objection warning; and states that the trustee knows of no undisclosed information that could support a claim.
No written objection within 120 days after mailing—or a written statement of no objection—deems the recipient to have released the trustee and consented to and ratified all trustee actions. With no timely objections, distribution follows within a reasonable period. If every recipient gives a written no-objection, distribution may occur within the 120 days. A timely objection may be submitted to court with notice to the report recipients or resolved by agreement of all recipients and the trustee under § 14.5-907(f). Section 14.5-907(b) separately withholds protection for consent, release, or ratification induced by trustee misconduct or given without knowledge of the beneficiary's rights or material breach facts.
A court can compel an account and other relief
Failure to perform a duty owed to a beneficiary can be a breach under § 14.5-901(a). Section 14.5-901(b) permits a court to compel performance or an account, enjoin or redress breach, appoint a special fiduciary, suspend or remove the trustee, reduce or deny compensation, trace property, or grant other appropriate relief. These provisions do not state an automatic monetary penalty or an accounting-specific attorney-fee award merely because a report was late or omitted.
What trips people up
The annual report and the optional release report are not interchangeable. The ordinary § 14.5-813 report is triggered by a qualified beneficiary's request and does not create discharge by receipt alone. The § 14.5-907 report arises only after termination, removal, or resignation and gains its release effect from the special contents, dual mailing, and 120-day process.
Common questions
Does every beneficiary receive the same report automatically?
No. Section 14.5-813(c) uses the narrower qualified-beneficiary class and requires a request. The trustee sends the annual and termination reports to the qualified beneficiary who made that request.
Must the trustee obtain appraisals for every asset?
The statute requires the respective market values only “if feasible.” It does not prescribe a particular appraisal method in the reporting section.
Does silence always release the trustee after 120 days?
No. The deemed-release rule depends on the trustee electing and complying with the separate § 14.5-907 procedure after a listed event. Silence after an ordinary annual report is not the same process.
Statutes and sources
- Md. Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-103(u), official Maryland General Assembly text, accessed 2026-08-10: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=14.5-103
- Md. Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-105(10)-(11), official Maryland General Assembly text, accessed 2026-08-10: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=14.5-105
- Md. Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-109(a), (c)-(d), official Maryland General Assembly text, accessed 2026-08-10: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=14.5-109
- Md. Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-603, official Maryland General Assembly text, accessed 2026-08-10: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=14.5-603
- Md. Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-813(a), (c)-(e), official Maryland General Assembly text, accessed 2026-08-10: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=14.5-813
- Md. Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-901(a)-(b), official Maryland General Assembly text, accessed 2026-08-10: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=14.5-901
- Md. Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-904, official Maryland General Assembly text, accessed 2026-08-10: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=14.5-904
- Md. Code, Estates and Trusts § 14.5-907(a)-(f), official Maryland General Assembly text, accessed 2026-08-10: https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=get§ion=14.5-907
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
What does Maryland law mean for your facts?
You just read the general rule. Ask your own question and see which parts of current Maryland law apply to your situation, with citations you can check.
Opens in Ezel Pro.
- Starts from the statutes this survey is built on
- Cites every source it relies on, so you can verify it
- Chat, drafting and research in one workspace