Is Your Name on the Deed?

In order to look at your deed, it will take a little bit of work. 

First, go to SDAT and search for your property. 

Under "Owner Name," it will tell you who is on file as the owner. If this is all the information you need, then stop here.

If you need more information than that, then write down the two "Deed Reference" numbers and proceed to step 2.

Second, go to Maryland Land Records. You will need to create a free account. It may take some time for them to activate your account.

Once your account is activated, login and select the correct county/city from the drop down menu in the top left corner of the screen. Then input the first Deed Reference Number from Step 1 in the "Book" box and the second in the "Page" box. Then, hit "Go!" and you should see the first page of the deed.

The relevant information are (1) what names are listed as the grantees (these are the owners now) and (2) what is the type of ownership which is listed later in the deed.

There are three basic types of ownership:

"Tenants in common" is where multiple people own the property together and when one dies, their share is passed to their heirs not the other co-owners. 

By contrast, if the type of ownership is "tenants by the entireties" or "joint tenants with the right of survivorship" then when one co-owner dies, then their share gets transferred to the surviving co-owners not their heirs.