142                              Laws of Maryland                       [Ch. 104

Law", sub-title "Settlement of Small Estates", be and they are here-
by repealed and re-enacted, with amendments, to read as follows:

Settlement of Small Estates

156. (Settlement of Small Estates.) (A) When anyone dies in-
testate, leaving a small estate consisting only of personal property, if
the person who would be entitled to be appointed administrator files
in the Orphans' Court having jurisdiction a Petition, under oath,
declaring:

1.    The time and place of decedent's death;

2.    The known heirs;

3.    The known creditors, together with the amount of each claim,
including contingent and disputed claims;

4.    The known assets;

5.    That Petitioner has made a diligent search to discover all as-
sets and debts of the decedent;

6.    That said assets do not exceed [$500] $1,000 in value; and

7.    That there are no known legal proceedings pending in which
the decedent is a party;

the Orphans' Court, if satisfied that the allegations in said Petition
are true, may pass a Preliminary Order declaring that no formal
administration is necessary and instructing the Petitioner to pub-
lish once in substantially the usual form, notice to creditors to ex-
hibit their claims, duly authenticated, within thirty (30) days after
such notice, said notice to creditors shall be inserted in whatever
newspapers the Orphans' Court or the Register of Wills shall direct.

156. (F) The discovery of any additional property of the de-
cedent after the filing of the Petition shall be reported by the Peti-
tioner to the Orphans' Court as soon as discovered by him. The ex-
istence of said additional property shall not invalidate any proceed-
ings hereunder except when the additional property is discovered
before the passage of the Final Order hereunder and either (1) is
real estate or (2) increases the total value of the estate to more than
[$500] $1,000, in which case no Final Order shall be passed under
this section and the Court shall require regular administration.
Where additional property is discovered after passage of the Final
Order, if said property is entirely personal property and does not
increase the value of the total estate to more than [$500] $1,000,
then such additional property may be distributed pursuant to a new
Petition under this section; in all other cases such additional proper-
ty may not be distributed under this section.

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted. That this Act shall take effect
June 1, 1957.

Approved March 1, 1957.