As Register, Byron has been a tireless advocate for reform. He’s spent his entire tenure working with members of the local and state Bar Associations, his colleagues, staff, and stakeholders in the community to identify everything from internal office procedures to state laws that don’t adequately or fairly serve the public. These efforts have led to numerous meaningful reforms that have had a direct positive impact on Maryland families. Here’s a list of some - but not nearly all - of the many reforms he’s either spearheaded or contributed to during his time in office:

• Successfully lobbied the General Assembly to permit e-filing in probate in Maryland, which will save everyone involved time and money, and reduce paper waste.

• Led the effort to legislate reform in the General Assembly for the Orphans’ Court in Howard County, replacing an antiquated part-time court of partisan elected non-lawyer judges with experienced Judges of the Circuit Court. This has already led to reduced waiting time for orders to be issued and fewer, shorter, and more compassionate court hearings.

• Worked for two years to successfully lobby the General Assembly to overhaul probate fees in Maryland. By replacing a regressive fee structure where those with the least were paying the highest fee proportionally with one that makes everyone pay their fair share, we were able to completely eliminate fees on small estates, saving families at the lower end of the economic ladder over $1 million per year.

• Spearheaded an initiative with the Supreme Court of Maryland that reduced paper records by nearly 90%, saving taxpayer dollars on expensive and tedious record management.

• Launched an effort to allow members and citizens  to obtain copies of probate records online with the click of a button.

• Led an initiative with the Supreme Court of Maryland to scrap an old rule that required sending some notices by certified mail which has saved Marylanders millions of dollars just in postage costs. 

• Advocated to make more estates eligible to proceed as small estates, which allows estates to close more quickly with a less rigorous accounting process.

• Led an effort to permit more estates to continue under a process called Modified Administration, which prevents onerous accounting requirements and interference by a court.

• Supported a measure in the General Assembly to codify in Maryland law the “slayer’s rule,” preventing people from inheriting from someone they have killed.

• Worked with other Registers to allow payments by credit card in person and online.

• Provided all legal notices typically printed in newspapers online at no cost.

• Advocated to increase funeral and family allowances in all estates.

• Continuously works with other Registers to adopt statewide uniform policies and procedures.

Whenever someone passes away and an estate needs to be opened, the office of the Register of Wills is required to charge a fee based on the value of the estate. For several years, Byron studied our fee structure - which is set by the Maryland General Assembly - and its impact on Maryland families. These fees were deeply regressive socioeconomically and also prejudicial to families of color, therefore in dire need for reform. This meant that the smaller the estate, the higher the fee was as a proportion of the value of the estate. It also meant that families of color were more likely to have smaller estates and, therefore, more likely than white families to pay these regressive fees.

Byron worked with members of the General Assembly to eliminate all fees on small estates - those under $50,000 - and restructure our fees on larger estates to make them fair regardless of the wealth of the person who passed away. This reform was critical to make our fee structure equitable, and he is pleased to say that years of hard work and negotiation led to a near, fair fee structure that went into effect on October 1, 2022.

Thousands of families have benefited from this reform and Byron is grateful to everyone who came to the table to work with him so he could make this happen.

In 2022, over 61% of Howard County voters and 66% of voters statewide voted for Ballot Question 5, a constitutional amendment that abolished the orphans’ court for Howard County and transferred its duties to the Circuit Court. This amendment went into effect in December of 2022. After months of research, planning, and collaboration by the Circuit Court and Register of Wills, the transition went even more smoothly than anticipated.

A year later, the facts speak for themselves. Compared to the former orphans’ court, the Circuit Court issues orders in half the time and hearings are 43% shorter, saving families stress, time, and legal fees. Under the former court, family members and attorneys were routinely confused by convoluted court orders, insulted and harassed by judges in open court, and expressed their frustration to Byron and his staff on an almost daily basis. Now, with an experienced lawyer judge, orders are written clearly and in compliance with Maryland law, both family members and attorneys are treated with dignity and respect - leaving the courtroom feeling heard, seen, and satisfied, even when they aren’t happy with the outcome - and Byron and his staff are no longer bombarded with complaints. Quite the opposite is true, with the public expressing an extremely high degree of satisfaction with the new system.

This reform has been a huge success. By every measure, the difference has been night and day for grieving families.

In 2009, the Maryland General Assembly took an important step toward honoring and respecting couples in committed, loving relationships who are partnered but not married. This includes Marylanders who choose not to marry, suffer the loss of one partner suddenly or before being able to marry, and those who did not yet have the legal right to marry, in the case of gay and lesbian couples. These couples were subject to Maryland’s 10% inheritance tax, which exempted spouses, but not domestic partners.

To alleviate the burden of this tax on cohabitating partners who owned their primary residence together, a limited exemption was carved out for that specific asset for these couples. This has saved many Marylanders from having to find the cash to pay the tax on the one-half interest in the house they inherit. But the narrow constraints of this exemption, the fact it has not always been evenly granted, and the tax on all other assets a partner may inherit, all point to the need for us to do more.

Byron tackled this issue head on in 2023. Believing that domestic partners should be treated much like spouses when it comes to being fully exempt from the inheritance tax and when it comes to a partner having the right to inherit from their deceased partner, Byron pushed for the establishment of an official Domestic Partnership Registry in Maryland. He successfully passed legislation that achieved these very goals. 

Today, over 4,500 Marylanders have registered as domestic partners with their local Register of Wills. Not only does this grant those partners substantial and meaningful protections when one of them passes away, many private companies will recognize the Registers’ Certificates of Domestic Partnership as proof of partnership for the purposes of benefits during the partners’ lifetime. 

As public awareness of this forward-looking, progressive reform grows, Byron looks forward to more Marylanders in loving partnerships taking advantage of this service, giving them the respect and peace of mind they deserve.

The basic framework of Maryland’s “"intestacy”" law, - which determines who inherits if someone dies without a will,  - was written in the 1950’s. Cultural norms, the makeup of families, and gender norms have evolved enormously since then. A thorough review of these antiquated and arcane laws was long overdue. 

Here’s just one example of an old Maryland law that might not make much sense: Until recently, if someone died in Maryland without a will, was married, had no children, but had surviving parents, their spouse didn’t inherit everything from them unless they’d been married at least five years. Few parents would expect to inherit from an adult child who was married, and if you’re wondering where the five-year requirement came from, the answer is that the General Assembly pulled that number out of thin air.

It’s nonsensical law like this that Byron sought to remedy. That’s why, in 2024, Byron chaired a workgroup to look at Maryland’s long-dormant laws, what other states have on their books, and what the average Marylander would expect to happen if they die without a will to determine the best path forward. By working with colleagues, attorneys, and non-profit partners, Byron wrote legislation and led the charge to bring Maryland intestacy law into the 21st century. 

The result of this historic reform is that our law now more closely reflects the expectations of the average citizen, and more closely reflects our state’s values. Probate is easier and makes more sense today thanks to these significant efforts.

In the past two years, the Registers of Wills have implemented a complete overhaul of their internal case management and fiscal accounting system. As a continuation of this endeavor, the Registers will move to join with the rest of the Maryland Judiciary in allowing for e-filing.

This has been a top priority for Byron for a long time. While designing, building, testing, and implementing a system like this is no small undertaking, and the he’s been working carefully and thoughtfully, along with colleagues and an outstanding team of IT experts to design a system that will allow attorneys and members of the public to conduct business with our offices without having to use the mail or visit the courthouse.

Byron will continue to lead the implementation of this new system and he’s excited to be a part of making this long-awaited advancement to become a reality.

The United States faces an ongoing epidemic of gun violence. In much of the country, it’s easier than ever to obtain guns, and even common-sense restrictions have been steadily chipped away at over time. While Maryland has moved in the opposite direction in recent years, Byron acted in the belief that there’s more that can be done.

Until recently, Maryland probate law treated firearms and other destructive devices the same as any other tangible personal property. The process for reporting these items as assets in an estate was no different than the process for reporting baseball cards, coins, jewelry, or furniture, assets that are completely unregulated. Given that these kinds of possessions are unique in that they can be used to harm or kill another person and that they are heavily regulated at the federal, state and even local level, Byron sought to increase scrutiny over potentially deadly weapons in probate.

Byron convened and chaired a workgroup that closely examined this issue. After many hours of research, drafting, and meetings, Byron presented and convinced the Maryland Supreme Court to adopt a new rule governing these kinds of possessions. Now, in every estate that includes firearms or destructive devices, the personal representative, or executor, must consult with regulatory bodies and swear under the penalties of perjury that they are complying with every law that pertains to owning and transferring them. This means more personal representatives and attorneys will conduct more robust due diligence and will be more careful about handling these assets than ever before. And if they fail to abide by relevant law, they will be held accountable.

Byron successfully lobbied the Maryland Supreme Court to repeal the requirement that all estate notices be sent by certified mail. Now, notices are sent by first-class mail at a fraction of the cost, and there have been no problems with people getting the notices they’re entitled to. Marylanders have saved millions of dollars from their loved ones’ estates because of this common-sense reform.

Several years ago, Byron led the effort to reform Maryland’s regressive probate fee schedule. Up until then, the smaller your estate, the disproportionately high the fee. Conversely, the larger your estate, the smaller the fee. By simply making estates worth millions pay their fair share, Byron was able to eliminate the Registers’ “small estate fee” entirely. These fees disproportionately impacted Marylanders with more modest estates, and families of color. Since this change went into effect, over 50,000 families have gone through probate for free.

By working with his colleagues across Maryland and negotiating lower rates for newspaper notices with the industry, Marylanders are saving over $300,000 per year to pay for legally required estate notices in print newspapers. Since this effort began in 2024, these savings amount to over half a million dollars back in the pockets of Maryland families.

For decades, the Registers of Wills have scanned and taken high-resolution images of all papers filed in probate. This means that if the physical records are destroyed, those images will be stored securely forever. Byron led the effort to allow the Registers to verify those images are accurate then dispose of the paper files - except original wills - thereby reducing by over 85% the records that must be permanently warehoused by the Maryland State Archives. To date, that is over 42 tons of records that marylanders don’t have to pay to store.