Michigan route screening

Michigan small-estate limit: $53,000

This limit is set by the date of death, not by the current year.

$53,000 applies to a death in 2026. The screening tool below will not return a figure until a date of death is entered, because measuring an older estate against today’s ceiling would give a confident wrong answer. Basis: MCL 700.1210 annual cost-of-living adjustment certified by the Michigan Department of Treasury.

Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Latest primary-source re-fetch October 3, 2026.

1. Where and when

StateMichiganFixed to this page. Open the navigator to compare another state.Date of deathRequired. Without it no waiting period can be tested and the route stays undecided.

2. What they left

Asset 1

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real property

Asset 2

DescriptionValue$Not entered. A blank amount is not counted as zero.Enforceable liens or mortgage$Not entered. Enter 0 if there is no lien.OwnershipThis is real propertyWill it be sold during administration?Some court charges are assessed on sale proceeds and exclude real property that is kept, so this changes the amount.

Ownership determines whether an asset usually enters probate. Choose “Not sure” when title or beneficiary status has not been confirmed.

Private by design: entries stay in this browser.

Your working estimate

Michigan estate snapshot

Route check

More information is needed

Counted probate estate: not yet counted

A valid date of death is required before any waiting period can be tested.

Michigan also sets its ceiling by the date of death (MCL 700.1210 annual cost-of-living adjustment certified by the Michigan Department of Treasury), so no limit can be applied until that date is known.

Gross probate propertyNot yet counted

Court chargeMore information neededGeneral probate-court civil action or proceeding2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.More information neededMCL 700.3982 court-order assignment2 asset entries have no value entered. A blank amount is not treated as zero, so the charge cannot be computed.Court charges only, for the proceeding named beside each figure. That proceeding is not always the route screened above.

Scheduled executor compensationMore information needed2 asset entries have no value entered.Michigan uses reasonable compensation rather than a percentage schedule. A will provision may be renounced before qualifying when no compensation contract exists; a written compensation contract with the decedent binds the representative.

This route check is general information, not legal advice. It does not test every eligibility condition, creditor issue, will provision, local fee, or asset-title fact.

After 28 days, a successor may use a sworn statement (MCL 700.3983) or a court-order assignment (MCL 700.3982) where the estate has no real property, is within the annually adjusted net-of-liens ceiling, and no personal-representative application or appointment is pending or granted. The ceiling is $50,000 base (as amended by 2024 PA 1) adjusted annually for cost of living under MCL 700.1210; the operative figure is $53,000 for calendar-year 2026 deaths and $51,000 for calendar-year 2025 deaths (Michigan Department of Treasury certified notices, Table B).

Threshold evidence and currency

What the reviewed source establishes

Currency: This limit is date-dependent. The latest published band is $53,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026; earlier dates use the bands below. No later session-law supersession is identified in the reviewed record.

$51,000 for deaths from 2025-01-01 through 2025-12-31.
$53,000 for deaths from 2026-01-01 through 2026-12-31.

Controlling citation: Mich. Dep't of Treasury, EPIC Cost-of-Living Adjustments (MCL 700.1210), Table B, calendar year 2026 (certified Jan. 30, 2026) — January 30, 2026.

Verbatim threshold text from that source:

the 2023 cost-of-living adjustment factor for the 2026 calendar year is 1.057

Which Michigan limit applies to which date of death

The Michigan ceiling is not one timeless number. It is republished on a schedule, and the figure that governs an estate is the one in force on the day the person died — not the one in force today. Measuring an older estate against the current ceiling can report that it qualifies when the operative limit was lower, so the bands are set out in full below.

Michigan small-estate ceiling by the decedent’s date of death
Date of death	Ceiling
Deaths from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026	$53,000
Deaths from January 1, 2025 through December 31, 2025	$51,000

How the figure is set: MCL 700.1210 annual cost-of-living adjustment certified by the Michigan Department of Treasury.

For a death before 2025 use the Treasury notice certified for that year.

How the Michigan screen is measured

Procedure	Collection of personal property by sworn statement
What counts	Personal property only; real property is outside this route
Value basis	Value less enforceable liens and encumbrances
Waiting period	28 days after death

The Michigan caveats that can change this answer are listed once, on the Michigan overview.

The official Michigan path

PC 556, Petition and Order for Assignment — Michigan State Court Administrative Office. State-approved form for the MCL 700.3982 court-order route.
PC 598, Affidavit of Decedent’s Successor — Michigan State Court Administrative Office. State-approved sworn-statement form for MCL 700.3983.

What a small-estate screen can and cannot decide, and which assets never enter it, is explained once in small-estate affidavit or probate and what counts as a probate asset.

Controlling sources

Agency guidance

Mich. Dep't of Treasury, EPIC Cost-of-Living Adjustments (MCL 700.1210), Table B, calendar year 2026 (certified Jan. 30, 2026)

Reviewed source note: the 2023 cost-of-living adjustment factor for the 2026 calendar year is 1.057

What this means: The official annual Treasury publication that MCL 700.1210(3) requires, signed by the State Treasurer on January 30, 2026. Table B lists $53,000 for MCL 700.3982(1)&(2) and MCL 700.3983 for decedents dying in calendar year 2026 (base $50,000 as amended by 2024 PA 1 x the 2023 cost-of-living adjustment factor of 1.057 = $52,850, rounded to the nearest $1,000). The notice's later pages are only readable through pdf.js, so its source check declares that engine.

Michigan Department of Treasury (State Treasurer) · Edition/currentness: January 30, 2026 · Verified October 3, 2026

Statute

MCL 700.3983

Reviewed source note: After 28 days after a decedent's death, a person indebted to the decedent or having possession of tangible personal property or an instrument evidencing a debt, obligation, stock, or chose in action belonging to the decedent shall pay the indebtedness or deliver the tangible personal property or the instrument to a person claiming to be the decedent's successor

What this means: The displayed $50,000 is adjusted under MCL 700.1210; this dossier does not publish it as the current threshold.

Michigan Legislature · Edition/currentness: MCL Complete Through PA 103 of 2026 · Verified October 3, 2026

Michigan record: 10/10 verified, 56 matched checks, latest source re-fetch October 3, 2026. Source record · method · report a correction

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