Probate in Michigan: What Your Family Goes Through Without a Will
Michigan funnels most estates through probate court when there isn’t a will. When a person dies without a will, this is known as intestate succession. An estate will go through probate in Michigan if there is no will, with a few exceptions.
- You have life insurance policies with a designated beneficiary.
- You have placed a beneficiary on retirement accounts.
- Your bank or brokerage accounts have a payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designation.
- Your property is transferred through a Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deed.
If none of these apply, an estate without a will does go through probate in Michigan. If the personal property is valued at roughly $53,000 or less (for 2026, adjusted annually) and doesn't include real estate, you can use a transfer-by-affidavit process 28 days after death instead of full probate.
Succession Laws Without a Will in Michigan
Before the lines of succession make sense, it helps to know how Michigan classifies property. Michigan is a common law property state, not a community property state, meaning you can name a new owner for account by putting their name on the title, deed, or account. Michigan follows the Uniform Probate Code.
If none of the exceptions above apply, the estate will go through probate and be distributed according to the following lines of succession.
- If you have no descendants and your parents are not still living, your spouse inherits everything.
- If your descendants include at least one shared with your spouse, your spouse inherits the first $301,000 of your estate, plus 1/2 of the balance. Your descendants inherit the rest.
- If none of your descendants are shared with your spouse, your spouse inherits the first $201,000 of your estate, plus 1/2 of the balance. Your descendants inherit the rest.
- If you have living parents but no descendants, your spouse inherits the first $301,000 of your estate, plus 3/4 of the balance. Your parents inherit the remainder of the estate.
- If you have children but no spouse, your children inherit everything, divided equally.
- If you have no spouse and no children, your parents inherit all of your assets.
Michigan Probate Process
Michigan probate runs through the probate court in the county where the deceased lived, and most estates take 5 to 12 months under Michigan's Estates and Protected Individuals Code. Michigan has no state estate or inheritance tax.
Avoiding Probate in Michigan
Here are the standard tools for keeping an estate out of probate court.
- Put your assets in a revocable living trust and identify who you want to manage your estate and distribute assets after your death.
- Name beneficiaries designations on financial and retirement accounts to identify who inherits from those when you pass.
- Identify a beneficiary for real estate with a Lady Bird deed, which lets you keep full control of the property while you're alive and passes it directly to a named beneficiary at death, without probate.
- Give your spouse or someone else ownership of real estate by establishing joint ownership with right of survivorship.
