Since taking office, Byron has worked with his team to digitize as much the internal communications and data management within his office, and make it easier for the public to access estate records. It was Byron’s leadership that led to the creation of the Registers’ online copy system, allowing anyone to obtain copies of records with the click of a button.

Byron was instrumental in developing a modern case management system for estates in Maryland to serve as a foundational framework for all future office automations. The previous case management system created barriers that Byron and his IT team successfully overcame, marking a critical step in modernizing probate in Maryland. This system was deployed first in Howard County on July 26, 2023, and completed deployment statewide on September 16, 2024.

But the most ambitious and consequential digital endeavor lies ahead - the development of an e-filing system for probate - an enhancement to the case management system deployed in 2023. Unfortunately, Maryland law doesn’t allow lawyers or members of the public to file documents with the Registers electronically. However, Byron led the effort to pass enabling legislation for an e-filing system in 2023. Using this legislation as a framework, and working closely with his IT team and specialists, the final bureaucratic hurdles are being overcome and he looks forward to launching this system in the near future.

When someone opens an estate in Maryland, they’re applying to become a personal representative, the person responsible for administering the estate. The law requires this person to obtain a bond to protect the beneficiaries of the estate in case of financial mismanagement.

In most estates, the Last Will and Testament excuses this requirement or the heirs of someone who dies without a will all consent to waive it, or the value of the estate is low enough that a bond is not necessary. Regardless, Maryland law requires that many personal representatives obtain what’s called a “nominal bond” to cover debts of the decedent and probate fees to the Register of Wills. But these bonds are almost never needed to cover those expenses, resulting in a lot of time and money wasted obtaining them. Statewide, these bonds cost Maryland families over $1 million per year.

To respect the wishes of those who’ve passed away, to respect the wishes of their heirs, and to save tens of thousands of Marylanders the time and expense of these bonds, Byron will work with stakeholders to advocate for eliminating this costly and pointless requirement.

In the 1990’s, Maryland created a streamlined process for probate called “Modified Administration.” For qualifying estates, this allows a family to account for estate funds, but without the sometimes burdensome, intense level of detail that the normal process requires. The estate can be resolved in a lower-stress environment working exclusively administratively with the professionals in the Register’s office. This helps avoid the stress, time, expense, uncertainty, and legal errors that can come from having to stand before one of Maryland’s antiquated Orphans’ Courts. 

Byron recognized the importance of educating the public on using this form of estate administration, and as a proof of concept, his office leads the State in estates administered under Modified Administration. The feedback and results are overwhelmingly positive. However, despite its substantial benefits and the clear success of this less onerous process, since its inception, no one has taken a deep dive into the overall structure of this system to see whether it can be updated to allow even more Marylanders to take advantage of it. With over 1,600 estates per year, thousands of people, benefiting from Modified Administration, the time for review and reform has come.

Byron is committed to leading his colleagues and stakeholders in a healthy dialogue about how the state can build on the successes of current law, expand access to Modified Administration, and relieve more grieving Maryland families from avoidable bureaucratic hurdles and stresses.

Technological advances in society and emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic have shown it’s both possible and necessary for Maryland to join a growing number of states that permit the use of electronic wills or “e-wills”. Marylanders conduct so much of their personal affairs electronically that drafting, executing, and storing a will should be no different. Allowing e-wills will make it easier for more people to create them - particularly those of modest means - to do it entirely remotely with electronic witnessing and signatures, and ensure that in the case of an emergency someone can make their last wishes known and enforceable.

Byron will be working with other Registers and stakeholders to expand access to estate planning tools for those who wish to memorialize their final wishes electronically. And he’ll also explore how e-wills can be filed and stored securely by the Registers of Wills, just as paper wills are today. He envisions a probate system where decedents’ wills could be ready for probate at the click of a button, while maintaining strict confidentiality, sparing them from the logistical issues surrounding finding, presenting, and authenticating their paper will.