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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. Sources rechecked October 3, 2026. This page last revised .

1. Where and when
2. What they left

Asset 1

Asset 2

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).

Where the limit comes from

Is this the limit that applies?

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.

  • $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), Michigan Department of Treasury — Estates and Protected Individuals Code Cost-of-Living Adjustments to Specific Dollar Amounts (certified January 30, 2026) (Michigan Department of Treasury (State Treasurer); January 30, 2026).

The section’s own words
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.

Date of deathCeiling
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

ProcedureCollection of personal property by sworn statement
What countsPersonal property only; real property is outside this route
Value basisValue less enforceable liens and encumbrances
Waiting period28 days after death

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

The official Michigan path

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

Sources rechecked October 3, 2026: Michigan source list · how sources are checked · report a correction

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