Life insurance in Maryland

How your policy is protected if an insurer fails

Maryland's safety net is the Maryland Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Corporation (most states call theirs an "association"). It generally steps in when a member insurer has been ordered liquidated by the courts of its home state, and then protects Maryland residents who hold that company's life, health and annuity policies, usually by moving the policies to a healthy insurer or by continuing them itself. Keep paying premiums so your coverage stays in force.

Limits are as of October 4, 2026, from the corporation's FAQ and Md. Code, Insurance §9-407. Each payee of a structured settlement annuity is protected up to $250,000 in present value. If your benefits exceed the limits, the excess becomes a claim against the failed insurer's estate, which may pay part of it years later.

The Guaranty Corporation is a private entity whose members are the life and health insurers licensed in Maryland; it was created by the legislature but is not a state agency. Think of it as a backstop, not a reason to buy from a financially weak company, and be wary of any agent who uses it as a selling point (most states prohibit that). See state life and health guaranty associations and what happens if your life insurance company fails.

Who regulates life insurance in Maryland

The Maryland Insurance Administration (MIA) licenses insurers and producers, reviews policy forms, monitors solvency and investigates complaints. Its toll-free number is 800-492-6116; life and health complaints can also go to 410-468-2244. The MIA's consumer pages include a guide to life insurance and a link to the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator.

Free look, grace periods and policy rules

• Free look: every life policy and annuity must carry a notice that for 10 days after delivery you can cancel it by written notice, and the insurer must refund premium for the unexpired term (Md. Code, Insurance §16-105). When a new policy replaces existing coverage, Maryland's replacement regulation gives you 30 days after delivery to return it for a refund (COMAR 31.09.05.06). See the free-look period: returning a policy for a refund.
• Grace period: you have 30 days, or one month of at least 30 days, to pay any premium after the first while the policy stays in force; if the insured dies in that window, the unpaid premium can be deducted from the benefit (§16-202).
• Universal and variable life warnings: if your universal or variable life policy lets you reduce the face amount to keep it in force, the insurer must tell you so, along with the amount needed to prevent a lapse, at the start of the grace period and at least 30 days before coverage ends (§16-219).
• Interest on claims: interest accrues from the date of death until the benefit is paid, unless the insurer pays within 30 days of death. If proof of death arrives more than 180 days after the death, interest runs from the date proof is submitted. The rate can't be lower than what the insurer pays on proceeds left on deposit (§16-109).

Taxes, estates and community property

Maryland is unusual in levying both an estate tax and an inheritance tax. The estate tax exclusion is $5,000,000 for deaths on or after January 1, 2019, and the statute has not raised it since, so it is $5,000,000 in 2026, plus any unused exclusion carried over from a spouse who died first. The tax on amounts above the exclusion can reach 16% (Md. Code, Tax-General §7-309). Life insurance you own generally counts toward the taxable estate.

The inheritance tax is 10% of property passing to people outside the exempt group: grandparents, parents, spouses, children and their descendants, their spouses, and brothers and sisters (§§7-203 and 7-204). Life insurance proceeds payable to any beneficiary other than the insured's estate are exempt, which is another reason to name a person or trust rather than your estate. See state estate and inheritance taxes and life insurance.

Maryland is not a community property state.

Finding a lost policy or unclaimed benefits

Maryland law requires insurers to compare their in-force life policies, annuities and retained asset accounts against the Social Security Death Master File or an equivalent database and to begin following up within 90 days of a match (§16-118). Families can also use the NAIC Life Insurance Policy Locator through the MIA's website. Benefits that are never claimed are turned over to the Comptroller of Maryland, which runs a free unclaimed property search. If the insured lived or worked in Virginia, Pennsylvania or District of Columbia, search there too. See how to find a lost life insurance policy and unclaimed life insurance money and state unclaimed property.

Where to get help

• Maryland Insurance Administration: 800-492-6116, insurance.maryland.gov, 200 St. Paul Place, Baltimore, MD 21202. File a complaint through its complaint page with your policy number, the company's name and copies of correspondence. Our how to file a complaint against a life insurer guide explains the process.
• Maryland Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Corporation: 410-248-0407, mdlifega.org, 6210 Guardian Gateway, Suite 195 APG, Aberdeen, MD 21005.
• Unclaimed property: the Comptroller of Maryland's search site.