What to gather for a small estate in Michigan

Pick a procedure and check off what you already have. Download or print the list to take with you.

Papers most holders ask for
Papers for this procedure: Affidavit of Decedent's Successor for Delivery of Certain Assets Owned by Decedent (form PC 598)
Other formats

Your checklist

Affidavit of Decedent's Successor for Delivery of Certain Assets Owned by Decedent (form PC 598)

A sworn statement you give to a bank, company or person holding the person's money or belongings, so they pay or deliver it to you. It is not filed with the court.

Limit

Up to $53,000 (deaths from January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026) Counted after subtracting liens (what is owed on the property).

Date of deathLimit
January 1, 2026 to December 31, 2026
$53,000
January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025
$51,000
January 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024
$50,000
January 1, 2023 to December 31, 2023
$27,000
January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2022
$25,000

The limit depends on the year of death: $53,000 for deaths in 2026, $51,000 for 2025, and $50,000 for 2024 (it was $27,000 for 2023 and $25,000 for 2022). The Michigan Department of Treasury publishes the new amount each year. The estate, minus liens, cannot be worth more than that amount, and it cannot include real estate.

What counts

The value of the entire estate, wherever located, minus liens and encumbrances. The estate cannot include any real property. Property that passes outside probate (joint, payable-on-death, beneficiary and trust property) is not part of the estate.

Waiting period

More than 28 days must have passed since the death.

Who can use it

The person who is the decedent's successor: the surviving spouse, an adult child or other heir, a beneficiary under the will, or a guardian or other representative of an heir or beneficiary who has a legal incapacity. The affidavit lists every other person entitled to a share and the share of each.

Court or where to file

Not filed with a court. You give it to the holder of the property.

Notary

The SCAO form is signed and sworn before a notary public.

Papers to attach
  • Copy of the death certificate
  • List of the property you are entitled to, and the name, address, relationship and share of every other person entitled to a share
Steps
  1. Wait until more than 28 days after the death.
  2. Check that no personal representative has been appointed or applied for, and no petition for assignment has been filed.
  3. Fill in form PC 598, listing the property and everyone entitled to a share.
  4. Sign it before a notary.
  5. Give the affidavit and a copy of the death certificate to the bank, company or person holding the property.
Fee

No court fee; the affidavit is not filed with the court.

Debts and responsibility

If you receive property with the affidavit, you must answer for it to a personal representative appointed later or to anyone with a better right to it. A false statement on the affidavit can be prosecuted as perjury.

What the bank or holder must do

After 28 days the holder must pay or deliver the property when given the death certificate and a proper sworn statement, and a transfer agent must re-register securities. A holder who does so is discharged as if it dealt with a personal representative and does not have to check whether the statements are true. If the holder refuses, the people entitled to the property can bring a court proceeding to make it pay or deliver.

Law: MCL 700.3983, 700.3984, 700.1210 (as amended by 2024 PA 1)

Source: Official page

Death certificates in Michigan

You can order a certified death record by mail, online, by phone, by drop box or by appointment; photo ID is not required for a death record. By mail, the state fee is $34 for the search and one certified copy and $16 for each additional copy; rush processing is $12 more. County clerks set their own fees.

Where to get it
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Division for Vital Records and Health Statistics (333 South Grand Avenue, Lansing), or the county clerk where the death happened
Official page
Official page

Car or vehicle title after a death in Michigan

If the person left no other property that needs probate, the surviving spouse, or an heir in the order set by inheritance law, can get a new title at a Secretary of State office with proof of death and a signed Certification from the Heir to a Vehicle. Bring the original title if available, a certified death certificate, identification for each heir who signs, and proof of Michigan no-fault insurance to register it. Next of kin who do not want the vehicle sign a statement saying so. The total value of the vehicles, on the date you apply, is limited: $100,000 for applications in 2024 and 2025, and for 2026 and later an amount adjusted each year and published by the Department of Treasury. If the title says 'Full Rights to Survivor', the surviving owner needs only the title, a death certificate and identification.

Law: MCL 257.236

Source: form TR-29

Agency
Michigan Department of State (Secretary of State)
Form
TR-29 Certification from the Heir to a Vehicle (available at Secretary of State offices)
Fee

The Secretary of State charges its title fee; a co-owner added who is not immediate family may owe 6% sales tax.

Source: Official page

Surviving spouse in Michigan

In a small estate assignment, the court turns the property over to the surviving spouse first; only if there is no spouse does it go to the heirs. The spouse is first in line to retitle the person's vehicles at the Secretary of State. In a probate case the spouse is entitled to a homestead allowance ($30,000 for 2026 deaths), exempt property ($20,000) and a family allowance (up to $36,000 as a lump sum) (MCL 700.2402, 700.2404, 700.2405; Treasury table for 2026).

Law: MCL 700.3982; MCL 257.236

Related pages

Free help in Michigan

A court self-help center or a legal aid office can check whether the estate qualifies, free of charge or at low cost.