Rule 17-602 - [Effective 7/1/2025] Authority to Order ADR(a)Generally. After the filing of a petition, exception, or other objection seeking the resolution of a matter by an orphans' court, the court may order parties to participate in alternative dispute resolution only in accordance with this Rule. Committee note: Examples of the kinds of disputes that may be referred by the court to ADR are those relating to the validity of a will, the appointment or removal of a personal representative, exceptions to an inventory or account, attorneys' fees, personal representative's commissions, claims against the estate, or the distribution of estate property. It is not the intent of these Rules to have orphans' court judges referring to ADR matters arising in the course of administrative probate that are within the jurisdiction of registers of wills or to preclude parties from engaging in ADR or reaching agreements on their own without intervention of the court.
(b)Non-Fee-for-service. An orphans' court may order the parties in a matter pending before the court to participate in a non-fee-for-service mediation or settlement conference proceeding. Unless agreed to by the parties, the order may not require participation in more than two sessions or in sessions exceeding in the aggregate four hours in length.(c)Fee-for-service. An orphans' court may order the parties in a matter pending before the court to participate in a fee-for-service mediation or settlement conference proceeding, but any party may choose not to participate. The order (1) shall specify the maximum fee or hourly rate that may be charged (2) unless the parties agree otherwise, may not require participation in more than two sessions or in sessions exceeding in the aggregate four hours in length, (3) be accompanied by a form notice of non-participation, (4) state that any party may choose not to participate by signing the notice of non-participation and returning it to the court within ten days after service of the order, and (5) state that, if any party timely returns a notice of non-participation, the order will be rescinded and the ADR proceeding will be cancelled.(d)Exception. An orphans' court may not order parties to participate in a mediation or settlement conference if a "no contact order has been issued pursuant to Code, Family Law Article, Title 4, Subtitle 5, Code (domestic violence), Courts and Judicial Proceedings Article, Title 3, Subtitle 15 (peace order), or any other law, in favor of one of the parties and against another party. Committee note: A "no contact order also may be issued in proceedings other than those mentioned in section (c), such as a criminal or juvenile delinquency case as a condition of pretrial release, probation, or parole.
(e)Requiring Record of Agreement.(1)Generally. An order referring a matter to mediation or settlement conference shall require that any agreement be in writing and signed by the parties.(2)Agreements Relating to Distribution of Assets or Allocation of Liabilities. An order referring a matter to mediation or settlement conference shall require that any agreement that may cause the distribution of an estate asset or allocation of a liability to be made in a manner inconsistent with a will or law otherwise applicable to the distribution or allocation be in writing, signed by the parties, filed with the court, and referenced in each account that includes the distribution or allocation. Cross reference: See Brewer v. Brewer, 386 Md. 183, 195-96 (2005) ("If the account shows a distribution inconsistent with the Will and there is no adequate documentation attached to it to explain the inconsistency, the Register [of Wills] cannot complete a proper audit and the court cannot properly approve the account.)
(f)Designation of ADR Practitioner.(1)Generally. The order shall designate an individual to conduct the mediation or settlement conference (A) agreed to by the parties, or (B) in the absence of such an agreement, from a list of qualified individuals maintained by the court pursuant to Rule 17-604.(2)Discretion in Designation. In designating an individual under subsection (e)(1)(B) of this Rule, the court is not required to choose at random or in any particular order from among the qualified individuals on its lists. The court should endeavor to use the services of as diverse a range of qualified individuals as practicable, but the court may consider, in light of the issues and circumstances presented by the action or the parties, any special training, background, experience, expertise, or temperament of the available prospective designees.Adopted April 9, 2018, eff. 7/1/2018; amended Nov. 13, 2024, eff. 7/1/2025.Committee note: Courts are encouraged to use a broad range of practitioners that reflect the diversity of the parties who appear before the courts.
Nothing in these Rules is intended to preclude the parties from participating in a collaborative law process as long as all parties agree to it.