IN THE NEWS
A Key Bridge widow wants to help others avoid a legal obstacle she faced (3/6/2025)
See excerpts of article below:
Like many states, Maryland places a few restrictions on who can manage an estate. Personal representatives must be older than 18, mentally competent, and cannot have been convicted of a serious crime that reflects poorly on their trustworthiness, like fraud. Those rules are common.
But Maryland is alone among neighboring states in preventing noncitizens from serving as personal representatives, said Byron E. Macfarlane, the register of wills for Howard County. He testified in favor of the legislation.
The restriction comes up consistently, he said, and can push surviving relatives to hire an attorney to serve as personal representative for an estate. That’s cost-prohibitive for some families, Macfarlane said.
“I worry that this barrier to access to our system may force people to dispose of those assets outside of the normal process,” he told lawmakers.
Macfarlane told lawmakers that registers of wills use a variety of tools to ensure they’re dealing with the right people and root out attempted fraud, including notarized affidavits and shared financial documents.
Fearing rights rollback, LGBTQIA+ community takes precautions ahead of Trump presidency (1/2/2025)
Orphans court ugliness is a sign that Maryland needs to abolish it (7/26/2024)
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Byron E. Macfarlane, register of wills for Howard County, who is also gay, said there is a general sense of relief for many in the community from living in liberal-leaning Maryland. But there’s also a sense of urgency to look into what additional protections are still needed, he said.
”We can’t rest on our laurels,” Macfarlane said. “Even in a relatively safe state, the mood is ‘shields up, red alert,’ and I’m confident we’ll take meaningful action in coming months.”
Macfarlane said he encourages any LGBTQIA+ couples who aren’t ready to marry, but are partnered, to consider registering with their local register of wills.
“It affords couples some basic protections in case one of them passes away, including an exemption from the state’s 10% inheritance tax,” he said.
See excerpts of article below:
Two year ago, Howard County voted to abolish its orphans’ court.
There were problems with the way it decided wills and estates, sometimes taking weeks to simply sign off on a personal representative or settlement. The three-judge panel’s decisions were regularly appealed.
People were leaving the court in tears, not because the judges were horrible to them — that happened, too — but because the judges were horrible to each other.
“People would come out of the courtroom angry, crying, upset, looking at the register and the register’s office and asking, what was that?” said Byron Macfarlane, register of wills in Howard County. “I know this is happening in Anne Arundel, as well.”
“If you can find me one human being in Howard County who says we should go back to the old court, who wasn’t a judge themselves or related to a judge, I would be surprised.”
Why the LGBTQIA+ community needs straight allies (7/5/2024)
One of the best ways allies can move the needle is when they’re with family, friends, or at work, and conversation is either hostile or not inclusive of the LGBTQIA+ community, said Byron E. Macfarlane, register of wills for Howard County, who is also gay.
“Those are places where we may feel our professional or our familial standing is at risk if we challenge a prejudicial policy or viewpoint,” Macfarlane said.
“Will I be demoted or fired or will I be exiled or disinherited if I stand up and say something? An ally actually may be a more effective advocate for an LGBTQIA+ colleague or family member because they’re not fighting for themselves, but for selflessly for others.”
register scores third consecutive perfect audit from the office of legislative audits (4/29/2024)
In a letter released today by the Office of Legislative Audits, which audits all state agencies every three to four years, it stated:
“We have conducted a fiscal compliance audit of the Office of the Register of Wills for Howard County, Maryland for the period beginning February 24, 2020 and ending November 15, 2023.
Our audit did not disclose any findings.
We wish to acknowledge the cooperation extended to us during the audit by the Office.”
Register Macfarlane is proud of his record of sound fiscal stewardship and notes similar results from audits conducted in 2020 and 2016.
LGBTQ community members voice concern about state Supreme Court ruling on employer benefits (8/18/2023)
“Even in a place like Maryland, we’re still fighting for even our most basic human rights,” said Byron E. Macfarlane, register of wills for Howard County.
Macfarlane, a 40-year-old Columbia resident who identifies as a gay man, said he hoped that the court’s decision would be reversed.
“The legislature should, and I trust will, resolve these issues next session, and I hope our state will eliminate these so-called ‘religious entity exemptions’ that enable this kind of appalling discrimination,” he said.
Columbia residents condemn country singer Jason Aldean’s Merriweather concert Thursday, but no protests are expected (7/27/2023)
Byron Macfarlane, register of wills for Howard County, however, understands the reluctance to stay away from the concert, regardless of the revulsion people may feel towards the performer and his views.
“People have a genuine concern for their safety,” Macfarlane told Baltimore Fishbowl. “Jason Aldean is not an artist. He is a fearmonger who spews dangerous rhetoric.”
“People in Columbia are mortified,” Macfarlane said of Merriweather’s choice to book Aldean, who he said “peddles racism and vigilante justice. He serves up fear and anxiety at a time when political discourse is at a boiling point.”
Political notes: Sneed considering comeback; court chides Cox; Alsobrooks endorsements (7/1/2023)
Alsobrooks added 21 more current and former elected officials to her massive list of endorsers. This round included several politicians from the Baltimore area, including state Dels. Regina T. Boyce and Robbyn Lewis and Sen. Mary Washington from Baltimore; Del. Andrew Pruski, Sen. Pamela Beidle and Council Vice Chair Allison Pickard from Anne Arundel County; and Register of Wills Byron Macfarlane from Howard County.
People of Pride: A look at Maryland’s LGBTQ community (6/5/2023)
“For LGBTQ+ Marylanders, we’re in one of the safest and most welcoming places to live in America. However, things here aren’t perfect, and in some parts of our country, these are dark times. Our most pressing challenges are the war against reproductive freedom, the assault on transgender Americans, particularly minors, and a right-wing theocratic takeover of our public schools. We have to remain vigilant. We can organize, we can contribute to organizations fighting for us, and we can elect more allies and more of ourselves to public office, especially at the local level to our school boards.”
Bill will grant probate protections for domestic partners, eliminate inheritance taxes (5/11/2023)
“It is the people who have the smallest estates who are more likely to not have a will,” said Macfarlane, who was part of a work group with other county registers of wills and attorneys specializing in estate issues that studied how best to update Maryland’s law.
Maryland’s LGBTQ communities cautiously optimistic as Congress passes same-sex marriage act (12/8/2022)
“We know we can’t count on the Supreme Court anymore,” Macfarlane said. “In fact, we know it’s open season on civil rights after the court reversed Roe. It’s great to see Congress taking proactive steps to protect same-sex and interracial marriage in case our worst fears come true with our right-wing court. I hope this is the first of many steps we take to enshrine our rights in law.”
Maryland question 5 election results: streamline circuit and orphans’ courts in howard county (12/8/2022)
“This is a victory for common sense and for justice for grieving families. We’ve successfully reformed a court that doesn’t even require its judges to be lawyers, and is so ancient it actually dates back to the 13th century, the Middle Ages, in England. Going forward, families will have the confidence of knowing that an experienced judge of the Circuit Court will handle their loved ones’ estates. People deserve a better system and now help is on the way.”
Same-sex couples seek new legal protections after Clarence Thomas’ opinion in abortion case (7/6/2022)
Macfarlane said he has spoken with several colleagues from around the state — gay planning attorneys — who report being “inundated” with questions from same-sex couples in response to Thomas’ opinion. “There has definitely been an impact in the community,” he said. “There is a sense that you could be next.”