Simplified route
$53,000
Collection of personal property by sworn statement; usable 28 days after death.
Eligibility and caveatsMichigan estate administration
Michigan probate: rules, process, costs, executor fees and deadlines
Small-estate limit: $53,000
That figure applies to deaths in 2026. Michigan sets this ceiling by the decedent’s date of death, so an earlier death is measured against a different amount.
In Michigan, estates up to $53,000 (2026 deaths) can use the small-estate route; executor pay is whatever the court finds reasonable (MCL 700.3719); and claims are generally due four months after publication, or one month after notice sent to a known creditor if later. Michigan’s Probate Court offers both a sworn-statement collection route for estates without real property and a court-order assignment route.
Sources reviewed August 9, 2026. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised .
Answer first
Michigan simplified probate route
Up to $53,000; usable 28 days after death. Source: Mich. Dep't of Treasury, EPIC Cost-of-Living Adjustments (MCL 700.1210), Table B, calendar year 2026 (certified Jan. 30, 2026).
Collection of personal property by sworn statementNo combined Michigan probate total
The Probate Court filing charge is statewide: $150 (MCL 600.880). Executor pay is reasonable compensation (MCL 700.3719), not a rate. Each side in full: Michigan probate filing cost and Michigan executor fees.
Screen a specific Michigan estate with the calculators on the small-estate page, or compare states in the full estate navigator.
What the reviewed rules establish
Court cost
$150
2 published schedules, itemised on the filing-cost page.
Filing-cost detailExecutor compensation
Court-reviewed
No percentage schedule; the court decides what is reasonable. Source: MCL 700.3719.
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.
MCL 700.3719, Michigan Compiled Laws, Personal Representative Compensation (Michigan Legislature).
The section’s own words
A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services performed. A personal representative may pay the personal representative's own compensation periodically as earned without prior court approval.
Creditor deadline
Multiple triggers
MCL 700.3801 (Michigan Legislature; reviewed August 9, 2026)
Timeline and creditor detailsStatutes read in full for Michigan
Read on the enacting state’s own site, with the date each was read.
| Citation | What reading it established | Read on |
|---|---|---|
| MCL § 700.3803 (EPIC), eff. Apr. 1, 2000, am. 2009 Act 46, eff. Apr. 1, 2010 | Michigan measures its four months from publication, and what the representative knew decides who gets longer — creditor deadline note | 2026-09-17 |
Michigan decision map
The four facts that change the Michigan route
Each Michigan answer below links to the page that sets out its source.
| Question | Recorded Michigan answer |
|---|---|
| What route is being screened? | Collection of personal property by sworn statement |
| What property and basis count? | personal probate property only; net of enforceable liens and encumbrances. |
| What is the amount screen? | $53,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026 |
| What is the time or deadline record? | 28 days after death; creditor deadlines: separate clocks by triggering event |
| What does the cost record establish? | $150 is the recorded statewide amount. |
| What does compensation use? | Reasonable compensation set by the court, measured on the estate accounting. |
Limits and unresolved costs
- The small-estate ceiling is set by the year of death. The Michigan Department of Treasury certified $53,000 for decedents dying in calendar year 2026 (notice signed January 30, 2026, Table B) and $51,000 for calendar year 2025 (notice certified January 31, 2025). A death in a later year must be checked against that year's Treasury notice, which is published early in the year; this page applies no figure to a year Treasury has not yet certified.
- The base amount is $50,000 (2024 PA 1). Each year MCL 700.1210 multiplies it by the cost-of-living factor and rounds to the nearest $1,000, which is how each year's figure in the Treasury notice is set.
Continue
What Michigan courts publish
Each link goes to the court’s own page and is checked before every release.
- Official formPC 556, Petition and Order for Assignment (PDF)Michigan State Court Administrative Office
State-approved form for the MCL 700.3982 court-order route.
- Official formPC 598, Affidavit of Decedent’s Successor (PDF)Michigan State Court Administrative Office
State-approved sworn-statement form for MCL 700.3983.
Limits on court material
- Michigan publishes statewide SCAO forms for both small-estate routes. The forms repeat that the statutory base is adjusted, but do not print an operative calendar-year ceiling.
- No statewide directory of probate courts is linked; the forms below link directly to the court's official form pages.
Michigan primary sources
Each rule on the Michigan pages comes from one of these 10 sources; the citation opens the publisher’s own text. All were last rechecked October 3, 2026.
Simplified-procedure rule
MCL 700.3982, Michigan Compiled Laws, Court Order Distributing Small Estates.
Simplified-procedure rule
MCL 700.3983, Michigan Compiled Laws, Collection by Sworn Statement.
Threshold indexing rule
MCL 700.1210, Michigan Compiled Laws, Cost-of-Living Adjustment.
Court cost rule
MCL 600.880, Michigan Compiled Laws, Probate Court Filing Fees.
Court cost rule
MCL 600.871, Michigan Compiled Laws, Decedent Estate Value Fee.
Executor compensation rule
MCL 700.3719, Michigan Compiled Laws, Personal Representative Compensation.
Creditor deadline rule
MCL 700.3801, Michigan Compiled Laws, Notice to Creditors.
Creditor deadline rule
MCL 700.3803, Michigan Compiled Laws, Limitations on Presentation of Claims.
Court cost rule
Mich. Dep't of Treasury, EPIC Cost-of-Living Adjustments (MCL 700.1210), Table B, calendar year 2025 (certified Jan. 31, 2025), Michigan Department of Treasury — Estates and Protected Individuals Code Cost-of-Living Adjustments to Specific Dollar Amounts (certified January 31, 2025).
Simplified-procedure rule
Mich. Dep't of Treasury, EPIC Cost-of-Living Adjustments (MCL 700.1210), Table B, calendar year 2026 (certified Jan. 30, 2026), Michigan Department of Treasury — Estates and Protected Individuals Code Cost-of-Living Adjustments to Specific Dollar Amounts (certified January 30, 2026).
Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Michigan source list · how sources are checked · report a correction