In Maryland probate, the Information Report (Register of Wills Form RW1124) is the sworn filing that tells the Register about many non-probate transfers and interests tied to the decedent. It is not the Inventory of probate assets, and it is not Letters of Administration. Personal representatives usually must file it within three months after appointment under Tax-General § 7-224 and Register guidance. This page explains what the form is for when a house sale is also on the table. It is not a substitute for the Register booklet or an estate attorney. For probate paperwork in Towson, see selling a house in Towson.
I buy estate houses after the right authority exists. For Letters basics see Letters of Administration and statewide materials at registers.maryland.gov.
Why the Register asks for non-probate detail
Probate administers assets that pass under the will or intestacy through the personal representative. Many valuable rights never enter that pot: joint property with right of survivorship, payable-on-death accounts, some beneficiary pensions, life estates, and certain trusts. Maryland still wants those interests reported so inheritance-tax questions and appraisal duties can be handled correctly when exemptions do not apply.
Tax-General § 7-224 requires a written, sworn report within three months after Letters are granted listing covered property that passes from the decedent, or a statement that the personal representative knows of none. If something is discovered later, the personal representative must report the omission promptly.
What RW1124 commonly covers
Register administration pages and the Administration of Estates booklet describe reportable categories that include:
- Jointly held assets (with important exemption patterns when the surviving joint owner is in a close family class protected by Tax-General § 7-203).
- Material lifetime transfers within two years before death that look like final dispositions, including some transfers into joint ownership (again subject to exemption classes).
- Interests less than absolute where the decedent kept dominion while alive, including many POD arrangements.
- POD or TOD accounts.
- Interests in annuities or employee pension or benefit plans.
- Life estates or term-of-years interests.
- Other less-than-absolute interests in trust or otherwise.
- Out-of-state real or leasehold property held solely or as tenants in common, often listed for information even when Maryland inheritance tax does not apply the same way.
Values and appraisals on Information Report items follow the same seriousness as Inventory appraisals in a regular estate. The Register booklet is explicit on that point. Form RW1125 (Application to Fix Tax on Non-Probate Assets) is a related tool when there is no formal administration and non-probate tax still needs fixing within about ninety days after death.
How this touches a Maryland house sale
A house titled only to the decedent usually sits on the probate Inventory and conveys with Letters (or under a qualifying small-estate path). A house held as tenants by the entirety with a surviving spouse often passes outside probate to the survivor and may show up in Information Report analysis depending on the facts and exemptions. A house in a funded revocable trust may be a trustee sale instead of a PR sale. Mixing those paths is how families list the wrong seller on the MLS.
Before you accept an offer, map which track you are on: personal representative deed, surviving joint owner deed, or trustee deed. Title will ask for Letters, a death certificate, the deed, and, when relevant, trust certifications. The Information Report does not replace Letters, and filing RW1124 early does not by itself authorize a sale.
If an estate mortgage is delinquent while paperwork crawls, involve HUD-approved counseling and Maryland HOPE at 1-877-462-7555 while counsel and the Register process continue.
Filing rhythm that keeps sales from stalling
Open the estate in the Register office for the decedent’s domicile county. Diary the three-month Information Report deadline the day Letters issue. Gather bank TOD papers, deed copies for jointly titled real estate, pension beneficiary letters, and trust one-liners from counsel. If you truly know of no reportable non-probate property, the statute still expects a sworn statement to that effect rather than silence.
Heirs who are not the personal representative do not file RW1124 in place of the PR. Interested persons still belong on the List of Interested Persons (RW1104) with honest address diligence.
Mistakes that create Register and title headaches
- Treating the Information Report as optional because “the house is going through probate anyway.”
- Omitting a TOD brokerage account that later triggers inheritance-tax correspondence.
- Listing a jointly owned house as if the PR alone could deed it without looking at survivorship.
- Missing the three-month clock and scrambling during a ratified contract.
- Paying a deed-rescue company while Letters and RW1124 are unfinished.
Example: joint bank accounts and a solely owned house
A Prince George’s County PR inventoried a solely owned rancher for sale and filed RW1124 listing large joint bank accounts with a sibling. The house closed with Letters attached. The Information Report did not change who signed the deed; it kept the non-probate cash on the Register’s radar.
Example: trust house mislabeled as probate
A family tried to sell a Frederick house titled to a living trust using “estate sale” marketing. Title asked for trustee authority, not only Letters. An Information Report in a related probate for personal property did not cure the deed. Correcting the seller identity delayed funding by weeks.
Is the Information Report the same as the Inventory?
No. The Inventory lists probate assets under administration. The Information Report focuses on many non-probate interests and transfers described in Register materials and § 7-224.
Does filing RW1124 let me sell the house tomorrow?
No. Sale authority follows Letters, small-estate procedure, trust documents, or survivorship title. The report is a filing duty running on its own clock.
What if I find another POD account after I file?
Report the omission to the Register promptly, as § 7-224(b) requires.
Where do I get the form?
Register of Wills Form RW1124 is published with other estate forms on registers.maryland.gov; your county Register can confirm local filing mechanics.
Small-estate versus regular administration still matters
Small-estate openings can change which papers you carry to a house closing, but they do not erase Tax-General reporting concepts for non-probate property when those rules apply. Regular administration with Letters is the common path for a solely owned house that must be deeded by a personal representative. Confirm dollar gates and forms for the year of death with the Register before you promise a buyer a contract date.
Talk through your situation
Call or text Evan Weissman at (410) 498-7473 when a Maryland estate house sale needs to stay aligned with Register filings like the Information Report. /contact-us/.