Terms Used In Maryland Code, COURTS AND JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS 10-1104

  • Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
  • Decedent: A deceased person.
  • Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
  • Personal representative: includes an administrator and an executor. See
  • state: means :

    (1) a state, possession, territory, or commonwealth of the United States; or

    (2) the District of Columbia. See
  • Tort: A civil wrong or breach of a duty to another person, as outlined by law. A very common tort is negligent operation of a motor vehicle that results in property damage and personal injury in an automobile accident.
(a) This section applies to a claim by the estate of a decedent who died as a result of an alleged tort or a beneficiary of the decedent.

(b) A claimant may obtain the documentation described in § 10-1102 of this subtitle if the claimant provides in writing to the insurer:

(1) The date of the alleged tort;

(2) The name and last known address of the alleged tortfeasor;

(3) A copy of any vehicle accident report, police report, or other official report concerning the alleged tort, if available;

(4) The insurer’s claim number, if available;

(5) A copy of the decedent’s death certificate issued in the State or another jurisdiction;

(6) A copy of the letters of administration issued to appoint the personal representative of the decedent’s estate in the State or a substantially similar document issued by another jurisdiction;

(7) The name of each beneficiary of the decedent, if known;

(8) The relationship to the decedent of each known beneficiary of the decedent; and

(9) A letter from an attorney admitted to practice law in the State certifying that:

(i) The attorney has made reasonable efforts to investigate the underlying facts of the claim; and

(ii) Based on the attorney’s investigation, the attorney reasonably believes that the claim is not frivolous.