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Lady Bird Deeds in Maryland

Short answer: yes, under another name. Maryland's courts have long recognized the life estate deed with powers, which works like a lady bird deed. Deedly does not prepare one yet. Here is what the law says and what we prepare instead.

Reviewed September 1, 2026
Create my Maryland transfer-on-death deed

Maryland recognizes this deed as the life estate deed with powers

Maryland does not use the name "lady bird deed", but its law has long recognized the same idea under another name. Deedly does not prepare a life estate deed with powers yet. The deed below is the one we do prepare for the same goal.

How Maryland law treats the life estate deed with powers

Maryland's courts have long recognized deeds in which an owner keeps a life estate together with the power to sell, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of the whole property, including the interest of the people named to receive it afterwards. The owner keeps control for life, and at death the property passes to the named remaindermen without probate. Maryland's conveyancing statute allows an owner to grant property to themselves "in life tenancy, with or without powers" (Real Prop. § 4-108(a)), and the 2026 Transfer-on-Death Deed Act tells courts to read the new Act in line with "existing law governing life estates with powers of alienation." If the owner is married, the surviving spouse can still reach the property: Knell v. Price, 318 Md. 501 (1990), set aside such a deed as a fraud on the widow's marital rights, and Maryland's elective share now counts property over which the owner kept a power of disposition (Est. & Trusts §§ 3-401(j), 3-404(a)).

The leading decisions: Md. Real Prop. Code § 4-108(a); Reeside v. Annex Building Ass'n, 165 Md. 200 (1933); Willoughby v. Trevisonno, 202 Md. 442 (1953); Robb v. Berryman, 215 Md. 161 (1957); Grimes v. Gouldmann, 232 Md. App. 230 (2017).

Why the exact wording matters

In Maryland the deed's exact words decide what the owner can do. In Grimes v. Gouldmann (2017), a deed that let the owner "sell, mortgage, lease or otherwise encumber" the property did not let her give it away, so her later gift deed was void. The court read the deed in Burke v. Burke, 204 Md. 637 (1954), which used practically the same words, the same narrow way. Deeds the courts have read broadly use language such as "sell, lease, mortgage, convey or otherwise dispose" of the whole estate (Willoughby v. Trevisonno, 202 Md. 442 (1953)).

What Deedly prepares in Maryland instead

Create my Maryland transfer-on-death deed

$49, one time. The probate-avoidance deed Maryland does recognize, with the state's witness rules, margins, and recording instructions already applied. You read the finished document before you pay.

Common questions

Yes, as a life estate deed with powers. Maryland's courts have long recognized deeds in which an owner keeps a life estate together with the power to sell, mortgage, or otherwise dispose of the whole property, including the interest of the people named to receive it afterwards. The owner keeps control for life, and at death the property passes to the named remaindermen without probate. Maryland's conveyancing statute allows an owner to grant property to themselves "in life tenancy, with or without powers" (Real Prop. § 4-108(a)), and the 2026 Transfer-on-Death Deed Act tells courts to read the new Act in line with "existing law governing life estates with powers of alienation." If the owner is married, the surviving spouse can still reach the property: Knell v. Price, 318 Md. 501 (1990), set aside such a deed as a fraud on the widow's marital rights, and Maryland's elective share now counts property over which the owner kept a power of disposition (Est. & Trusts §§ 3-401(j), 3-404(a)).

Deedly only prepares an instrument after checking its wording, filing steps, and tax treatment against that state's law. That review is not finished for Maryland's life estate deed with powers. No statute prescribes its wording, and the courts hold the owner to the exact words used, so the wording decides what powers you keep. It is worth getting right. In the meantime, the Maryland transfer-on-death deed does the same job and Deedly prepares it.

Florida, Michigan, Rhode Island, Texas, Vermont, and West Virginia have them by statute or settled practice. Maryland's courts also recognize a similar instrument, the life estate deed with powers. Missouri's courts also recognize a similar instrument, the life estate deed with powers. Virginia law also recognizes a similar instrument, the life estate deed with powers.

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Deedly is not a law firm

Its software and documents are not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. We provide self-help software and state-specific deed forms; you make your own decisions about your property. Using Deedly does not create an attorney-client relationship, and nothing here is legal advice. If your situation is complex or contested, talk to a licensed attorney in your state.