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Common Questions about Small Estates
Contents
These are common questions about small estates.
Questions about Small Estates
You will need to make sure the property gets distributed according to Michigan law. Read the article An Overview of Small Estate Processes or An Overview of Informal Probate to learn about your options.
There are different ways an estate can be administered. These include probate administration, assignment of property, transfer by affidavit, and other simple procedures. Depending on how much property the decedent had, the probate court may or may not be involved in the process. Read the articles An Overview of Informal Probate and An Overview of Small Estate Processes to learn more about your options.
Whether an estate is small depends on the value of the property in it. Michigan law raises the small estates cut-off amount every few years. For a person who died in 2023, an estate must be valued at $27,000 or less to be small.
The Do-It-Yourself Settling a Small Estate tool can help you determine if an estate qualifies.
The law spells out how a person’s property can and must be distributed when that person dies. In Michigan, the probate courts are in charge of making sure a decedent’s estate is distributed correctly. Sometimes this is done according to a will, but it can also be done without a will.
When a person dies, they are called a decedent.
The Michigan inheritance formula determines which heirs inherit property, and how much of the property each person will get. After funeral and burial expenses have been paid, the court will order any remaining property be divided among the heirs. If there is a surviving spouse, that person inherits all the property.
If there is no surviving spouse, any property will be given or paid to direct descendants of the decedent, starting with the decedent’s children. If all of the decedent’s children are still alive, they will split the property equally. If a child died before the decedent, that person’s children will split the share equally. If the decedent had a grandchild who should inherit, but they died before the decedent, the decedent's children will split the shares equally. If inheriting children or grandchildren die before the decedent with no living children of their own, the line of inheritance stops there. Their share will be divided between the remaining descendants.
If there are no living descendants of the decedent, the property will be split between the decedent’s parents equally. If only one parent is still living, that parent inherits all the property. If both parents died before the decedent, the property will go to their descendants, starting with the decedent’s siblings. The same rules of representation mentioned above apply.
If an inheriting sibling died before the decedent, that person’s children will split their share of the property equally. The same is true if an inheriting niece or nephew died before the decedent. If inheriting siblings, nieces, or nephews die before the decedent with no living children of their own, the line of inheritance stops there. Their share will be divided between the remaining heirs.
If no descendants of the decedent’s parents are living, the property is divided among the decedent’s grandparents. Half of the property will go to the decedent’s paternal grandparents, and the other half will go to the maternal grandparents. If only one maternal or paternal grandparent is living, they will take the full half of the property. If both grandparents on one side died before the decedent, their half of the property goes to their descendants, starting with the decedent’s aunts and uncles. The same rules of representation mentioned above apply.
If an inheriting aunt or uncle died before the decedent did, that person’s children will split the share of the property equally. The same is true if an inheriting cousin died before the decedent. If inheriting aunts, uncles, or cousins die before the decedent with no living children of their own, the line of inheritance stops there. Their share will be divided between the remaining heirs.
Next of kin means the decedent’s closest living relative(s).
In Michigan, a person must live more than 120 hours after a decedent dies for the survivorship rights to take effect. Generally, anyone who dies during the first 120 hours after a decedent’s death is considered to have predeceased (died before) the decedent. When that happens, they lose their interest in the decedent’s property. The 120–hour rule is not followed if:
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A will, deed, title, or trust addresses simultaneous deaths or deaths in a common disaster
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A will, deed, title, or trust states a person is not required to survive for a certain amount of time or it specifies a different survival period
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The rule would affect interests protected by Michigan law
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The rule would cause a failure or duplication in distributing property
If you get something you should not have received from an estate, you will be responsible for giving the property plus any income you earned from it to the person who should have it. If you do not have the property anymore, you will have to pay the person who should have received it any money you were paid for it plus any income or gain you earned from it.
Maybe. If you are the decedent’s spouse or minor child and you inherited the property using Assignment of Property or Transfer by Affidavit, you do not have to pay the decedent’s debts.
If you are not the decedent’s spouse or minor child and you got the property using Assignment of Property, you will have to pay the debt up to the amount of money or value of property you got from the estate. The creditor must try to collect the debt within the 63 days after the Petition and Order is signed by the judge.
If you are not the decedent’s spouse or minor child and you inherited the property using Transfer by Affidavit, you will have to pay the debt up to the amount of money or value of property you got from the estate. There is no time limit on when the creditor can collect the debt.
Questions about Property Included in an Estate
A decedent leaves property behind. That property needs to be passed on to those who will inherit it. This property could include:
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Real property (houses and other buildings, land and the things attached to it)
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Personal property (furniture, cars, and other things not attached to land)
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Bank accounts
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Stocks and bonds
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Debts owed to the person
Some of the decedent’s property is not part of the estate, and is not distributed through the probate court. The estate usually does not include:
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Jointly owned property
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Insurance policies
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Retirement accounts
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Trusts that are not established by a will
Jointly owned property is property owned by more than one person. It is generally not included in an estate. An example of jointly owned personal property is a car whose title lists two owners or a joint bank account. If you owned property jointly with the decedent, when they died you automatically became the sole owner of that property, so it is not part of the estate. You may want to take a copy of the decedent’s death certificate to the bank or Secretary of State to remove the decedent’s name from the account or car title.
However, sometimes joint ownership is more complex. If you own real property with the decedent, or if you own any type of property with the decedent and someone else, ownership can be hard to understand after a death. Read the article Jointly Owned Property to learn more about this, or use the Guide to Legal Help to look for lawyers and legal services in your area.
Yes. In Michigan, you can jointly own property in four ways:
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Tenants in common
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Joint tenants
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Joint tenants with full rights of survivorship
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Tenants by the entireties
All four forms of joint property leave the surviving owner with different rights. To learn more, read Jointly Owned Property.
Opening an estate means filing paperwork with the probate court to distribute the decedent’s property. An estate must be opened when:
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A person dies with certain property (such as a house) in their name only
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A person dies and owns an insurance policy, but has not made anyone a beneficiary or has made the money payable to the estate
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A person dies and owns retirement benefits, but has not made anyone a beneficiary or has made the money payable to the estate
Questions about Decedent's Will, Social Security, and Income Taxes
Yes. You can still use the Assignment of Property Petition if the decedent had a will. The will won't be followed. If you would like to follow the will instead, you will need to go through informal probate. Read the article An Overview of Informal Probate to learn more.
When a person dies, their estate becomes a new taxpayer for income tax purposes, separate from the person. The estate must get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS. You can learn more about how to get an EIN on the IRS’s website. The number that is assigned is used on any accounts in the name of the estate such as bank, credit union, and brokerage accounts.
The EIN is also used to file the decedent’s final income tax return. You can learn about what is needed to file the decedent's final tax return on the IRS's website.
If the decedent was getting Social Security benefits, you should notify the Social Security Administration (SSA) of the death as soon as possible. The funeral home director may file a form to tell the SSA about the death, or you may need to do this yourself.
If the decedent was paid benefits for the month after their death, the benefits will have to be paid back to the SSA. If the benefits are direct deposited and the account is still open, the SSA may withdraw the funds.
You can learn more from the SSA’s publication about stopping payments and applying for survivor benefits if you are eligible.
Questions about Assignment of Property
Assignment of property is the small estate process you must use if the decedent had real property. However, even if there was no real property, you may choose to use assignment of property if an estate is small. This is the only small estate process where a probate judge reviews and approves the division of property.
To use this process, you must know all the property and the heirs the decedent had, and have information about the funeral or burial expenses. You must also be an heir or the person who paid the funeral bill.
To start the assignment of property process, file a Petition and Order for Assignment with the probate court in the county where the decedent lived. If the decedent lived outside Michigan, file the Petition and Order for Assignment in the county where the decedent had real property. You can use our Do-It-Yourself Settling a Small Estate tool to create this Petition. Read the article Small Estates: How Does Assignment of Property Work? to learn about the process.
There is a $25 filing fee. There is also an inventory fee based on the value of property in the estate.
Questions about Transfer by Affidavit
If a small estate does not have any real property, the estate may be distributed using the transfer by affidavit process. This does not involve filing anything with the court. Instead the person who will inherit the decedent’s property can get it by presenting the death certificate and the Affidavit to whomever holds the property, such as a bank. You can use our Do-It-Yourself Settling a Small Estate tool to complete the affidavit.
To use this process, you must know all the property and the heirs the decedent had. You must wait 28 days after the decedent’s death to use the Affidavit to transfer property. You must also be an heir entitled to some or all of the property, and you must know the names and addresses of the other heirs who will inherit a share of the property.
The first step in the process is to complete the affidavit. You can use our Do-It-Yourself Settling a Small Estate tool to complete the affidavit. Read the article An Overview of Small Estate Processes to learn more.
Questions about Money Due from an Employer, Transferring a Vehicle, and Personal Property
If the decedent’s estate is being administered through assignment of property and an employer owed the decedent money or benefits, show the employer a certified copy of the Order Assigning Assets. The employer should then give you the money or fringe benefits owed to the decedent. If the decedent’s estate is being administered through transfer by affidavit, use the Affidavit to show what should be given to you.
Most vehicles can be transferred individually, without involving the court. There is a form you can use to transfer a vehicle’s title at the Secretary of State’s office. Read the article An Overview of Small Estate Processes to learn more about this process.
If you used Assignment of Property, take a certified copy of the Order Assigning Assets to show any holder of property that it should be given to you. If you used Transfer by Affidavit, use the Affidavit to show the property should be given to you.
If the decedent left only clothes and up to $500 cash, those items can be transferred to a decedent’s spouse, child, or parent without a court order. This request can only be made to a:
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Hospital
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Assisted living facility or nursing home
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Morgue
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Law enforcement agency
The spouse, parent, or child needs to show:
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Proof of their identity
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A sworn statement proving the relationship
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A sworn statement that there is not an estate proceeding and there won’t be one
A sworn statement is a written statement that is notarized by a notary public. Many banks and credit unions have a notary public. There may be a charge for getting the statement notarized.
Check with the issuing company. Most will redeem travelers’ checks if the owner has died. You will probably have to send the checks, a copy of the death certificate, and a copy of the affidavit or the Order Assigning Assets to the issuer.