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When someone dies, there are several ways to legally transfer their property to the people who will inherit it. If the estate is small, Michigan law allows you to use a simplified process to transfer property. This is faster and less expensive than full probate court proceedings. This article will explain what counts as a small estate and will help you decide which process to use in your situation.
What Is in an Estate?
When someone dies, they leave behind property that is passed to family members or other people who will inherit it. All this property together is called an "estate." In legal documents and court forms, the person who died is called a "decedent."
An estate can include many different types of property:
- Real property, like houses, other buildings, and land
- Personal property like furniture, cars, jewelry, and other belongings
- Financial accounts like bank accounts, stocks, and bonds
- Money owed to the person from loans they made or other debts
Not all property becomes part of the estate. Some property passes directly to other people outside of the estates process. Read the next section for details about the kinds of property not included in an estate.
What Property Is Not Included in an Estate?
Some property goes directly to other people without going through the estate process. You do not count this property when calculating the $51,000 small estate limit.
Life insurance policies go to whoever is named in the policy. Contact the insurance company to find out what documents they need. They may have a form to fill out, usually called a “proof of claim” form. They will also ask for the death certificate.
Real property owned jointly with rights of survivorship. Real property includes houses and land. If the deed says that the property is owned "jointly with rights of survivorship" or "jointly with full rights of survivorship," the property automatically transfers to the surviving owner after someone dies. The surviving owner needs to file a copy of the death certificate with the county recorder of deeds before selling or refinancing the property.
Vehicles can transfer outside of the estate process in two ways. Jointly owned vehicles with the title saying "Full Rights to Survivor" can be transferred at the Secretary of State by bringing the title, death certificate, and identification. Heirs can also transfer vehicles worth up to $100,000 using a Secretary of State form. The Do-It-Yourself Settling a Small Estate tool will fill out this form for you.
Bank accounts owned jointly with rights of survivorship automatically go to the surviving owner. A surviving owner automatically owns the bank account. Contact the bank to remove the deceased person's name. They will ask for a death certificate.
Retirement accounts, like 401(k)s and individual retirement accounts (IRAs) go to whoever is named as the beneficiary. Contact the bank or company that holds the account. They will ask for a death certificate and may have forms to fill out. Important: There may be tax deadlines for these accounts. Contact a tax advisor if you inherit retirement benefits. Read Getting Your Taxes Done for Free for information about free tax help.
Pensions are different from other retirement accounts. Some pay benefits to a spouse or family member, others do not. Contact the employer or pension administrator to find out what is available.
Trusts are written plans that say how to handle someone's property. If property is in a trust, it usually does not go through the estate process. The trust documents will say who gets the property.
Choosing the Right Process
There are two main paths for handling property when someone dies: the small estate process or full probate court. The small estate process is faster and cheaper, but it only works for estates worth $51,000 or less for someone who died in 2025.
Michigan offers two different small estate processes. Which one you use depends on whether the estate includes real estate (like houses or land). This section will help you decide if you can use a small estate process. A later section will explain the two small estate options in detail.
Is the Estate Small Enough?
For someone who died in 2025, the estate must be worth $51,000 or less to use the small estates process. The limits for the last several years are:
- February 21, 2024 through the end of 2024: $50,000
- January 1, 2024 through February 20, 2024: $28,000
- 2023: $27,000
- 2022: $25,000
What counts toward the $51,000 limit? Before you can calculate the total value, you need to know about all the property the person had. This includes bank accounts, personal belongings, and finding any real estate or vehicles. Include all property that goes through the estate process. Do not include property that passes directly to others, such as joint accounts, life insurance, or property in a trust. Read the section, What Property Is Not Included in an Estate?, for more information on things you should not include.
How do you calculate the small estates value? Add up the fair market value of all the property. Fair market value means what someone would pay for the property if you sold it today. For personal property, estimate what it would sell for in its current condition. For real property (houses and land), you can use the assessed value from tax records. If real property has a mortgage or lien, you can subtract up to $257,000 from the property value when calculating the estate total. The $51,000 estate limit and $257,000 deduction amounts apply to people who died in 2025. These amounts can change each year based on cost-of-living adjustments.
Michigan Legal Help's Do-It-Yourself Settling a Small Estate tool will help you make the calculations. If you are not sure about the math, you can use the DIY tool to find out if the estate is small enough for the small estates process before continuing to complete the forms. Using the DIY tool will not submit any paperwork to the court. You can safely use it to test calculations.
If the total value is more than $51,000, you need to use full probate instead of a small estate process. To learn more about starting a full probate case, visit the resource page on Distributing a Larger Estate or an Estate with a Will.
Other Reasons You May Need Full Probate
Even if the estate is small enough to qualify for the simplified small estate process, there are a few other reasons why you may need to file a full probate case in court.
Disputes about who should get property may mean that you need to file a case in court and get help from a judge. The small estates process relies on everyone involved agreeing about how the property is distributed.
If you want to follow a will, you will need to file a case in probate court. The small estates process does not follow the wishes in a will. Instead, it uses Michigan's legal rules about inheritance to decide who gets property. These rules give property to spouses and close family members in a specific order, which may be different from what the will says. Read the section "Who Will Inherit?" to learn more.
To learn more about starting a full probate case, visit the resource page on Distributing a Larger Estate or an Estate with a Will.
Who Can Start a Small Estates Case?
Any heir of the person who died is allowed to use a small estate process—this means that any family member who would inherit property from the person who died can fill out the forms. Someone who paid the funeral bill is also allowed to file an Assignment of Property case. If you're not sure if you are an heir, read the next section of this article.
Who Will Inherit?
The small estates process does not follow instructions in a will, even if the person who died left one. Instead, Michigan law says who inherits in what shares.
If there is a surviving spouse, that person inherits all of the property.
If there is no surviving spouse:
- The deceased person's children inherit everything in equal shares.
- If any child has already died, that child's children (the grandchildren of the person who died) split what their parent's share would have been.
Example: A person dies. They had three children, but one child died before them. That deceased child had two children of their own (the person’s grandchildren). The property is divided into three equal parts: one part goes to each living child, and the third part is split equally between the two grandchildren.
The 120-Hour Rule
To inherit, a person must survive for at least 120 hours (5 days) after the death. If someone dies within those first 5 days, the law treats them as if they died first. This means they do not inherit. There are some exceptions to this rule, such as when a will or trust gives different instructions.
Small Estate Options
Transfer by Affidavit (easiest - no court)
This process only works if the person did not own any real property (houses or land). You must wait 28 days after the person died to use this process. In this process, you do not file anything with the court. Instead, you fill out a form and sign it in front of a notary. Once you have the notarized form, you can access the person’s property by showing the death certificate and the affidavit. You can use our Do-It-Yourself Settling a Small Estate tool to fill out the form.
When to consider Assignment of Property instead: Even if you qualify for Transfer by Affidavit, some people choose Assignment of Property because it provides a court order, which some banks or other institutions may be more willing to accept. Assignment of Property also has a shorter deadline for creditors to collect debts. Read the section on Debts below for more information.
Assignment of Property (simple court process)
Assignment of property is the only small estate process available if the person who died owned real property (houses or land).
In this process, you must file a form with the probate court. You can use our Do-It-Yourself Settling a Small Estate tool to fill out the form. The judge reviews and signs the form, and you can use the form to get access to the person’s property.
Other Important Matters
Social Security
If the person who died was getting Social Security benefits, the funeral home will often report the person’s death to SSA so that SSA knows they should stop paying benefits.
You may still want to contact SSA on your own to confirm that they know about the death. Follow this link to SSA’s page about what to do when someone dies for their contact information. You must return any SSA benefit for the month of the person’s death (which would be paid the month after their death) and any other later SSA benefits. For example, if someone dies in July you will need to return benefits that are paid in August or later.
In some circumstances, family members may be eligible for survivor benefits from SSA. For information about how to apply for survivor benefits, follow this link to SSA's Survivor Benefits page.
Taxes
There are two different kinds of taxes that can apply when someone dies. Most people will only need to worry about the first type.
Income Tax (Final Tax Return)
If the person who died would have been required to file a tax return, someone will need to file their final tax return. This return covers all the income they earned from January 1 until the date of death. If you are not sure if the person would have needed a tax return, use the IRS’s Do I need to file a tax return? tool to find out. If you need to file a tax return, you can use the IRS’s How do I file a deceased person’s tax return? tool for instructions. To find a free in-person tax preparer near you, read Getting Your Taxes Done for Free.
Estate Tax (Only for Very Large Estates)
Estate tax is completely different from income tax. For someone who died in 2025, estate tax only applies if the estate is worth more than $13.99 million. If you think the estate might be large enough to owe estate tax, talk to a lawyer or tax professional who specializes in estate planning.
Debts
You do not become personally responsible for the debts of someone who died just because you inherit from them. However, if the person had debts, you may need to pay those debts out of the property you get from the estate, up to the value of what you received.
If you are the spouse or a minor child of the person who died, you will not have to pay their debts out of your inheritance. For others, the following rules apply.
How much you may have to pay:
You may have to pay debts up to the amount of money or the value of property you received from the estate.
For example, if you received $1,000 from the estate:
- If the person who died owed a creditor $500, the creditor could collect the $500 from you.
- If the person who died owed the creditor $1,500, you would not have to pay more than $1,000 to the creditor.
Time limits for creditors to collect:
If you used Assignment of Property, a creditor has 63 days after the judge signs the Order for Assignment to collect the debt.
If you used Transfer by Affidavit, unlike the assignment of property process, there is no specific short-term deadline for creditors to collect. However, creditors still have to follow the general statute of limitations rules that apply to the type of debt. This is typically 6 years in Michigan for most debts.
Finding a Lawyer
If you have low income, you may qualify for free legal services. Whether you have a low income or not, you can use the Guide to Legal Help to find lawyers in your area.
If you can’t get free legal services but can’t afford high legal fees, consider hiring a lawyer for part of your case instead of the whole thing. This is called limited scope representation. To learn more, read Limited Scope Representation (LSR): A More Affordable Way to Hire a Lawyer. To find a limited scope lawyer, follow this link to the State Bar of Michigan lawyer directory. This link lists lawyers who offer limited scope representation. You can narrow the results to lawyers in your area by typing in your county, city, or zip code at the top of the page. You can also narrow the results by topic by entering the kind of lawyer you need (divorce, estate, etc.) at the top of the page.