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Maryland: Annual Trust Accounting Requirements

verified against the statute 2026-08-10 8 statute sources

The short answer

Maryland does not require every trustee to send an annual report automatically. Once a qualified beneficiary requests one, the trustee must send that beneficiary annual and termination reports covering property, liabilities, receipts, disbursements, trustee compensation, assets, and feasible market values; a former trustee must also report after a vacancy if no cotrustee remains and a qualified beneficiary requests it. A separate optional procedure after termination, removal, or resignation uses a five-year report and 120-day objection notice to seek a release.

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This is the general rule in Maryland. Ask about your specific facts and see which parts of current Maryland law apply, with citations to the statutes.

Governing law and accounting typeMaryland 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 dateOrdinary 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 triggersAnnual 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 exceptionsQualified 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 dischargeAdequate-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 noncomplianceFailure 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

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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

Source links

Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.

Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 14.5-103(u) · accessed 2026-08-10
Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 14.5-105(10)-(11) · accessed 2026-08-10
Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 14.5-109(a), (c)-(d) · accessed 2026-08-10
Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 14.5-603 · accessed 2026-08-10
Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 14.5-813(a), (c)-(e) · accessed 2026-08-10
Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 14.5-901(a)-(b) · accessed 2026-08-10
Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 14.5-904 · accessed 2026-08-10
Md. Code, Est. & Trusts § 14.5-907(a)-(f) · accessed 2026-08-10
This page is general legal information about state-law financial reports and accountings by trustees of private trusts, not legal advice about a particular trust, trustee, beneficiary, accounting period, asset value, allocation, distribution, waiver, objection, limitation period, settlement, discharge, claim, tax result, probate matter, or lawsuit. Trust terms, beneficiary status, representation rules, dates, delivery facts, adequate disclosure, and later amendments can change who must receive a report, what it must contain, and what legal effect it has. A beneficiary report is not necessarily a court-approved accounting or a tax return. Verified against the cited official statutes on the date shown; confirm current law and obtain advice from a licensed trusts-and-estates lawyer before preparing, sending, waiving, objecting to, or relying on an accounting.

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