Queen Anne's County

Honorable Winsie A. Cannon
Liberty Building
107 North Liberty Street - Suite 220
Centreville, Maryland 21617
(410) 758-0585
(888) 758-0010
Fax (410) 758-4408

Register of Wills

The Register of Wills is responsible for appointing personal representatives to administer decedents’ estates and for overseeing the proper and timely administration of these proceedings. We also perform the following duties: assist and advise the public in the preparation of all required forms; maintain and preserve the permanent record of all proceedings; serve as the Clerk to the Orphans’ Court; track estates and refer delinquent matters to the Court; determine and collect inheritance taxes and probate fees/court costs; audit accounts of personal representatives and guardians; mail various notices and court orders to interested persons; and, verify compliance with court orders. As a service we provide safekeeping for wills of living persons who reside in Queen Anne's County.

The Importance of Wills and Estate Planning

• Appointment of trusted fiduciaries (personal representatives, trustees and guardians)
• Achieve maximum savings of administrative costs and death taxes
• Dispose of your estate according to your wishes
• Avoid possible family disputes

A Brief History Of Queen Anne's County

Queen Anne's County was created in 1706 (Chapter 3, Acts of 1706) and was formed from Dorchester, Talbot, and Kent counties. The County was named for Queen Anne I (1665-1714), who ruled Great Britain and Ireland from 1702 until 1714.

Located on Maryland's Eastern Shore, Queen Anne's County extends from Delaware in the east to the Chesapeake Bay in the west. Centreville, the county seat, is a well kept, quiet town typical of the Eastern Shore. The courthouse was completed in 1792 and the town was laid out in 1794. Fire has destroyed most of the older houses, but the courthouse itself remains, one of only two eighteenth-century courthouses left standing in Maryland and the oldest one in continuous use.