Article in Streetcar Suburbs: Register of wills election matters for bereaved families

Original article link: https://streetcarsuburbs.news/register-of-wills-election-matters-for-bereaved-families/

By JOE MURCHISON

May 14, 2026

Photo by Cytonn Photography on Pexels.com

Among the races to be decided in the Prince George’s County election primary June 23, the county register of wills election is one of the least noticed. Yet this year’s race does matter, according to two lawyers who regularly deal with that office.

Zachary Worshtil, who practices law in Upper Marlboro, said that in the past two years the office has been slow in processing wills of deceased county residents, creating unnecessary stress on grieving families and making the work of trust and estates lawyers more difficult. Worshtil co-chairs the Prince George’s County Bar Association’s Committee on Probate, Estates, Trusts and Elder Law.

Worshtil said the Register of Wills should be able to process a final report on an estate’s assets, allowing the final distribution of the property, within four to six weeks. But he has clients who are still waiting for action on final reports that he filed seven to nine months ago.

“It’s a train wreck,” said Tom Downs, an estate attorney in Laurel. “Cases are not being processed.”

He said the family of one client has been waiting more than a year for final-report approval. “It should have been done by June [2025].” Downs said he had written the current register of wills, Cereta Lee, asking for a meeting to discuss this issue. “No response, nothing,” he said.

Downs said he knew many of the office’s employees “are working their tails off; they’re just not being led.”

Lee, who has served as register of wills for 20 years after a career as a manager at Verizon, is not running for reelection. In response to Worshtil’s and Downs’ criticism, she said in an interview, “The probate process can take months, years, days; it depends on the case.”

She added that Prince George’s County generates more than 3,000 probate cases a year. “It’s a large county,” she said. There could be a backlog depending on the situation.” She said her office has 40 employees to handle the load.

As for Downs’ alleged unanswered request for a meeting, Lee said, “That doesn’t sound right. … I’m very approachable.”

Eleven people have entered the race to replace Lee. Since all of them are Democrats, the June 23 primary will determine Lee’s successor. Whoever assumes the office will receive a salary of up to $172,463 after the state General Assembly passed a pay raise in this year’s session.

Requirements to be a candidate do not include being an attorney or having any particular legal expertise, but Worshtil and Downs said they thought that could be helpful. They said that perhaps more important is that the office holder have experience leading a large organization.

The Laurel Independent sent two emails to all candidates, asking that they answer four questions. Six candidates responded.

One of them, Rosalyn Pugh, is an attorney and former Clerk of the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County. As clerk, “I hired and supervised over 160 employees and administered a state budget of millions of dollars,” she wrote. Pugh also noted that in her current private law practice, she has represented many estate-settlement clients in dealing with the register’s office.

“The register’s office could benefit from streamlining the probate process through the enforcement and/or establishment of internal processes and controls and checks and balances to ensure that matters do not fall through the cracks and advance in a timely fashion (time standards need to be established and enforced),” she wrote.

Another candidate, Kayla Bryant, wrote that she is in her last year of law school and formerly had served in the register of wills’ office in a deputy position. “I worked directly with families during some of the hardest moments of their lives, sitting with them one-on-one, walking them through probate paperwork, explaining the process,” she said.

Bryant said the office needs more staff training and a better document management system.

Belinda Queen Cunningham wrote that she had served on the Prince George’s County Board of Education from 2018 to 2022. “My responsibilities included oversight of a budget exceeding $1.2 billion, 208 schools, approximately 132,000 students and more than 20,000 employees,” she said.

Cunningham said the register’s office needs to improve its processing of documents “Residents would benefit from faster service timelines, clearer communication regardingcase status, and a more streamlined submission process,” she said.

Stephanie Overton Stanard wrote that she had served as assistant deputy secretary at the U.S. Department of Education and now has her own consultancy, SOS Human Capital Solutions, LLC. “I advise organizations on strategic growth and organizational transformation, proving my ability to manage both people and processes,” she said.

Stanard said she had experienced the probate process in Prince George’s personally and believed the office needs greater automation. “Currently, many processes remain manual, leading to unnecessary delays during an already stressful time for families,” she said.

Jocelyn Route wrote that she had served as a Senior Public Health Advisor in the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, overseeing millions of dollars in grant programs. She also has served on the Prince George’s County Board ofEducation and Bladensburg Town Council, she said.

Route said her former work as a social worker brought her into frequent contact with court systems. The register of wills office “should do more to simplify information, improve communication and ensure residents understand what documents are needed and what steps to expect,” she said.

Starsha Sewell, executive of her own cybersecurity company, Cyberdemics LLC, wrote that she had provided cybersecurity solutions to court systems, government agencies and the U.S. military’s Joint Chiefs of Staff. Formerly, she was a professor and academic dean at Strayer University, “where I oversaw digital learning systems across 49 campuses.”

On improving the register’s office, she said, “I am prepared with solutions on day one. Under my leadership, Prince George’s County residents will benefit from a people- centered approach grounded in cybersecurity governance.”

The other candidates are Antwan Brown, David Jack, Januari McKay, Desdemona Smith and Linda Thornton Thomas.  Early voting for the primary election will run from June 11 to 18.

Original article link: https://streetcarsuburbs.news/register-of-wills-election-matters-for-bereaved-families/