Letter to a bank or other holder in Michigan

A letter that presents the small estate affidavit you have already signed. It says what you enclose and asks the holder to release the property.

Required when you mail the letter.

It goes into the letter only. It is never saved or sent to us.

Papers you are enclosing

Check what you will include. Only checked items go in the letter.

It goes into the letter as you type it. You can add a ready-made sentence:

Other formats

Do not send original documents unless the holder asks; keep copies. Sign the letter and keep a copy.

Official forms (linked, not reproduced here)

This site does not write the affidavit. Use the official form or the holder's own form:

Before you send it

Some banks have their own form or ask for a notary. Call the bank's estates department first and ask what it needs. Keep a copy of everything you send.

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

Bank accounts after a death in Michigan

A joint account with survivorship or a payable-on-death account goes to the surviving owner or beneficiary without probate. For an account in the person's name alone, the successor can use the small estate affidavit more than 28 days after the death if the whole estate, minus liens, is within the limit ($53,000 for 2026 deaths) and includes no real estate. The bank must pay on a proper affidavit and is then released.

Law: MCL 700.3983, 700.3984, 700.6101

Source: form PC 598

Source: Official page

Transfer-on-death (TOD) and payable-on-death (POD) in Michigan

Bank account (POD)

Yes

Law: MCL 700.6101

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

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

Who inherits with no will in Michigan

If there is no will and no descendant or parent survives, the spouse gets everything. Otherwise, for 2026 deaths, the spouse gets the first $301,000 plus one-half of the rest when the person left descendants, or plus three-quarters of the rest when no descendant but a parent survives. If none of the person's descendants are also the spouse's descendants, the spouse gets the first $201,000 plus one-half of the rest. The rest goes to descendants, then parents, then brothers and sisters and their descendants, then grandparents' families.

Law: MCL 700.2102, 700.2103, 700.1210; Treasury notice January 30, 2026 (Table A)

Source: Official page

Good to know in Michigan

  • Since February 21, 2024, Michigan's small estate limit is $50,000 adjusted each year for inflation ($53,000 for 2026 deaths), up from $15,000 adjusted ($28,000 in 2024 before the change) (2024 PA 1; MCL 700.1210; Treasury notice January 30, 2026).
  • The small estate affidavit can be used only if the estate has no real estate; the court assignment can include real estate, with mortgages subtracted.
  • No one other than the court can require you to use the court assignment instead of the affidavit, or the other way around, if you qualify for both.

Changes in 2024–2026

2024 PA 1 (immediate effect February 21, 2024): small estate amounts for MCL 700.3982 and 700.3983 raised to $50,000 and indexed with a 2023 base; waiting period for the affidavit set at 28 days; real property debt (up to $250,000, indexed) subtracted for the court assignment; SCAO required to publish a standard affidavit form (PC 598, Rev. 4/24). Treasury amounts: $51,000 for 2025 deaths, $53,000 for 2026 deaths (mortgage deduction $257,000 and $264,000). 2024 PA 2 (effective May 21, 2024): Secretary of State heir transfer limit for vehicles raised from $60,000 to $100,000 for 2024-2025, indexed from 2026.

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.