Byron Macfarlane

In 2013, I spoke in favor of a measure before the Maryland General Assembly that made clear that when someone is held criminally or civilly liable for someone's death, they cannot benefit from it.

Until this commonsense proposal became law, Maryland relied on old common law which was problematic in two ways: first, it allowed a murderer to benefit from assets they inherited outside of probate - like joint bank account or jointly owned property - and second, it followed the very outdated cultural idea that the children of a parent who commit a crime suffer from a "corruption of the blood," and suffer consequences for actions that were not their own.

This legislation went through many iterations over several legislative sessions, but one sad case led to this bill finally becoming law: In a heartbreaking and cruel series of events in Frederick County, a husband murdered his wife, and used the value of their home to finance his unsuccessful criminal defense. This effectively used his victim's own money to attempt to evade responsibility for her death. This simply could not be right, by any moral standard. The family of the victim spoke out and used their personal tragedy as a compelling case for change.

Now, Maryland has a thoughtfully and carefully crafted statutory scheme to prevent a murderer to benefit from their victim's death, and the kind of ill-gotten gains we've seen in the past won't be repeated.

🗳 𝗜𝗠𝗣𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗔𝗡𝗧 𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗨𝗣𝗗𝗔𝗧𝗘 🗳

The initial batch of roughly 400,000 ballots mailed to voters in Maryland before May 14 will be re-issued by the state's vendor after errors were discovered - specifically, some voters received the ballot for a political party other than their registered party. A few things:

1. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽, 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝘀𝗼𝗼𝗻 and you can check on your voter information at the State Board of Elections website:

https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/votersearch

2. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽, 𝗢𝗡𝗟𝗬 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗱, so you should destroy the original ballot you received and only use the replacement.

3. 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘁 during Early Voting and on Election Day, if you have any doubts about your mail-in ballot.

4. Lastly, below are from FAQs from the State's mail-in ballot vendor:

𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗔𝘀𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀

𝗜𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗱𝘂𝗽𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿? No. There is no risk of duplicate voting as a result of this issue. Election officials have safeguards in place to ensure that only the corrected ballots included in the replacement mailing will be accepted and counted.

𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗲𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘁? Replacement ballots are currently being prepared and mailed. All ballots will be remailed by 5/29/2026. Additional updates will be communicated by election officials as they become available.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗜 𝗱𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗺𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗯𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘁? Voters should securely discard or destroy the original ballot materials they received and use only the replacement ballot sent in the new mailing.

𝗪𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗺𝘆 𝘃𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁? Yes. Eligible voters who complete and return their replacement ballot in accordance with election instructions will have their vote counted.

Yesterday, I had the chance to visit Montgomery College in Rockville to sit as a panelist at an Estate Planning Forum held by the Estate Planning & Education Alliance. I'm grateful to the Law Office of Robert P Newman, PC. and the McDonald Law Firm, LLC for their kind invitation, and the opportunity to speak with Maryland and D.C. estate planning attorneys about probate in our state.

I was delighted to join Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Catherine McQueen, my friend and colleague, Montgomery County Register of Wills Paul Dollahite, and the Register for the District of Columbia, Nicole Stevens. We discussed best practices like filing wills with the Registers for safekeeping, developing relationships with each Register's office, and I emphasized how imperative it is to avoid Maryland's antiquated Orphans' Courts - fortunately not a problem in Harford, Howard, or Montgomery Counties. I gave an update on the Register's e-filing project, legislative initiatives, and plans for the future.

I shared something I always say to lawyers - their clients are our constituents, so we should work together in partnership to serve them and help them through the hardest time of their lives. I appreciated this opportunity and look forward to continued collaboration with our local and state Bar Associations in the years ahead.

❓When you write your Last Will and Testament, do you expect your final wishes to be followed after you pass away?

❓If you pass without a will, don't you want your family to all get along, if possible?

❓Do you want judges - most of whom aren't even lawyers - substituting their own opinions, prejudices, and whims for your express wishes or those of your family?

Most people will answer Yes, Yes, and No - because our final wishes and the harmony of our families are so important to us.

But in Maryland, our antiquated Orphans' Courts do the following:

❌ Create controversy even when families are getting along.
❌ Throw out or misinterpret wills because they don't know the law and don't respect your final wishes.
❌ Haul families in for unnecessary hearings, causing undue stress and expense for Marylanders going through grief.
❌ Micromanage executors because they think they know better.
❌ Exceed their limited powers to meddle in your families' affairs.
❌ Fail to act promptly or diligently, holding up estates for weeks, months, or even years.
❌ Misapply and ignore the law, and substitute their own wishes because they think everyday Marylanders aren't smart enough (these are their own words, not mine) to take care of themselves.

For all of these reasons and more, in 2022 I led the fight with members of our legislative delegation to abolish Howard County's antiquated Orphans' Court.

Now a vetted, experienced Judge of the Circuit Court hears probate matters. All those problems? They went away with the dissolution of a failed institution. Probate here is now faster and fairer, families are treated with dignity and kindness, they have the law properly and evenly applied, and their wishes - and those of their deceased loved ones - are valued and respected.

I'm running for re-election because the people of Howard County deserve a reformer as Register, who doesn't just sit idly by while people suffer. Rather, a Register who sees injustice, sees room for improvement, and not just acts but delivers. In the term ahead, I'll continue to challenge the status quo and make change that has a real impact on people's lives.