Michigan Small Estate Affidavit

The COLA figure, stated with its mechanics

The $50,000 figure is a statutory base, not a flat current figure. Under MCL 700.1210, amounts stated before January 1, 2024 apply as stated, and from January 1, 2024 they are multiplied by the 2023 cost-of-living factor (consumer price index for the prior year divided by the 2023 index) for the year of death, with the Treasury publishing the adjusted figures annually, rounded to the nearest $1,000. The Treasury notice of January 31, 2025 (Form 3500) puts the 2025 figures at $51,000 for the § 3982 and § 3983 tests, $257,000 for the § 3982(5) mortgage cap, and $2,000 for the § 3981 hospital-delivery lane. The 2024 history matters: 2024 PA 1, effective February 21, 2024, reset the base from the old $28,000 ladder to $50,000, creating a 51-day $28,000 window inside 2024 (January 1 to February 20). Any guide stating $15,000, $24,000, $25,000, $27,000, or $28,000 as current states superseded law. The 2026 figures ($53,000 and $264,000 in secondary sources) are not verified on a Treasury notice in this run and are not stated.

Track 1: transfer by affidavit (§ 700.3983)

After 28 days, the holder shall pay or deliver on the death certificate plus a sworn statement (SCAO form, with perjury notice) stating all of: (a) no real property in the estate, and the entire estate wherever located, net of liens and encumbrances, is $50,000 or less as adjusted under § 1210; (b) 28 days have elapsed; (c) no personal representative application or petition is pending or has been granted in any jurisdiction; (d) the successor is entitled; (e) each other entitled person's name, address, and share. A transfer agent shall change security ownership. No filing, court, publication, or bond appears in the section text.

Track 2: petition for assignment (§ 700.3982, Form PC 556)

Where the balance of the gross estate is $50,000 or less as adjusted, after funeral and burial expenses, the court may order distribution to a spouse or heirs where expenses are paid, and shall order payment or reimbursement first where expenses are unpaid or were paid by another, then may order the balance. An heir who is not an allowance-qualifying spouse or minor child is responsible, for 63 days after the order, for unsatisfied debts up to the value received, as stated in the order. From January 1, 2024, mortgage and secured indebtedness on real property, capped at $250,000, must be deducted from the real-property value in the calculation. Form PC 556 (Rev. 3/25) states the $50,000 figure as adjusted annually and a lien-reduction-to-zero rule keyed to March 28, 2013 that diverges from the § 3982(5) $250,000 cap — the two are never harmonized in this guide.

Non-compulsion (§ 3982(4)). No person other than the court may require the authorized person to use one track rather than the other. A holder that insists on the affidavit track, or on the court track, exceeds its authority.

Effect (§ 700.3984)

A holder that pays or delivers is discharged as if dealing with a personal representative and need not inquire into the truth of the statement. Refusal is compellable by proceeding on proof of right. A recipient is answerable to a later personal representative or person with a superior right.

Summary administration (§§ 700.3987–3988): formula only, no cap

The summary track is a formula test with no dollar cap: the entire estate, less liens and encumbrances, must not exceed administration costs plus funeral and burial expenses plus the homestead allowance plus the family allowance plus exempt property plus last-illness medical and hospital expenses. The personal representative may disburse at once without creditor notice and close under § 3988: a sworn statement that the formula is met, full administration, and copies plus a full account to distributees and aware unpaid creditors; no objection in 28 days leads to a register's certificate, and the appointment terminates one year after filing if no action is pending. The track is barred where the court has ordered a prohibition or the personal representative is supervised.

The hospital-delivery lane (§ 700.3981)

A hospital, convalescent home, nursing home, morgue, or law-enforcement agency holding $1,500 or less (as adjusted — $2,000 for 2025 deaths) plus wearing apparel may deliver to a spouse, child, or parent with identification and a sworn statement, where no administration is pending. The holder is released; the recipient is answerable and accountable. The vehicle-title statute (MCL 257.236) is a separate fork with its own stepped cap and is not stated here.

For small-estate procedures in other states, see the Small Estate Affidavits by State directory. For the questions each state's procedure answers, see Small Estate Affidavit Questions.

Source

Sources: Michigan EPIC, Act 386 of 1998 (Michigan Legislature official PDF, complete through PA 5 of 2025), §§ 700.1103, 700.1210, 700.3981–3984, 700.3987–3988; Treasury cost-of-living notice, January 31, 2025, Form 3500 (2023 factor 1.029; 2025 figures $51,000/$257,000/$2,000), read via a mirror of the official notice; Form PC 556, Petition and Order for Assignment, Rev. 3/25. Facts verified 2026-10-31. Open flags: (1) 2026 Treasury figures are secondary-only and are not stated; (2) the canonical michigan.gov Treasury notice PDF is a first-open owed; (3) the current PC 598 edition, filing and inventory fees, component allowance figures, will and intestacy framing, and the 120-hour rule are unopened and are not carried; (4) the § 3982(5) vs PC 556 lien-rule divergence is carried as a divergence, not resolved; (5) MCL 257.236 vehicle-title fork is unopened and no vehicle figure is carried.

This page explains how the process works and what the official rules say. It is general information, not legal advice. For a dispute about your specific situation, talk to the Michigan court or a lawyer.