If you die without a will in Michigan, MCL 700.2102 decides your spouse's share using dollar thresholds that shift depending on whether your children are also your spouse's, while MCL 700.2103 covers everyone else. This intestate succession process follows a fixed order set by state law, not your wishes. See the Michigan estate planning guide for your full options.
A signed will replaces this formula with your own instructions. Here is exactly how Michigan divides an estate with no will.
Key Takeaways
- MCL 700.2102 gives your spouse the entire estate only if you have no surviving descendants and no surviving parent.
- If every one of your children is also your spouse's child, your spouse's guaranteed share is the first $150,000 plus half of what remains, whether or not your spouse has children of their own from elsewhere.
- If some or all of your children are not your spouse's children, your spouse's guaranteed share drops to a first $150,000 or $100,000 threshold plus half the balance, depending on how many of your children are shared.
- With no surviving spouse or descendants, your estate passes to your parents, then to their descendants, meaning your siblings, under MCL 700.2103.
Who Inherits Your Property in Michigan Without a Will?
Michigan's MCL 700.2102 sets your spouse's share using specific dollar thresholds that depend on which descendants survive you and whose children they are. Anything that does not pass to your spouse moves to your other heirs under MCL 700.2103.
If You Have a Spouse and No Children
Your spouse inherits your entire estate if you have no surviving descendants and no surviving parent. If a parent of yours survives but you have no descendants, your spouse instead receives the first $150,000 plus three-fourths of the remaining balance, with your parent taking the rest.
If You Have a Spouse and Children You Share Together
If every one of your surviving children is also a child of your spouse, your spouse receives the first $150,000 plus one-half of the remaining balance, and your shared children divide the rest. This holds even if your spouse also has children of their own from another relationship, since Michigan treats that fact pattern the same as a fully shared family for purposes of the spouse's share.
If You Have a Spouse and Children From Another Relationship
If one or more, but not all, of your surviving children are not your spouse's children, your spouse receives the first $150,000 plus one-half of the balance. If none of your surviving children are your spouse's children, meaning all of them are from a relationship before your current marriage, your spouse's guaranteed amount drops to the first $100,000 plus one-half of the balance. Either way, your children divide what is left by representation.
If You Have Children and No Spouse
Your descendants inherit your entire estate by representation under MCL 700.2103.
If You Have No Spouse and No Children
Your estate passes to your surviving parent or parents. If neither survives, it passes to the descendants of your parents, meaning your siblings and their children. Absent any of those relatives, Michigan divides the estate equally between your paternal and maternal grandparents and their descendants.
What Assets Skip Michigan Intestacy Entirely?
Not everything you own runs through Michigan's intestacy formula. Retirement accounts and life insurance policies with a named, living beneficiary pass directly to that person, regardless of what the intestacy statute says. Property you own jointly with a right of survivorship, and bank or brokerage accounts set up as payable-on-death or transfer-on-death, work the same way, passing straight to the surviving co-owner or named beneficiary outside of probate.
This matters because it means intestacy usually only decides what happens to the assets you never got around to titling or designating a beneficiary for, most often a primary residence, a car, or a checking account still in your name alone. Michigan also allows a simplified process for small estates, which can matter if what is left after the above still falls under a modest dollar amount, see Michigan's small estate affidavit for those limits.
What Does Dying Without a Will Actually Cost Your Family in Michigan?
The gap between the $150,000 tier and the $100,000 tier turns entirely on whether any surviving child is also your spouse's child, a fact the probate court has to confirm before releasing any funds. That confirmation, on top of the state's own timeline for administering an estate, is what stretches the process out. See how long Michigan probate takes for a realistic sense of how long that takes.
For blended families in particular, these dollar thresholds rarely track what either side actually expected, especially once real estate values push the total estate well past the guaranteed floor.
How to Make Sure Your Wishes Control What Happens
A signed Michigan will replaces these dollar thresholds with your own instructions for your spouse and children. See common Michigan will mistakes for the errors that most often get a homemade will challenged, and consider whether a Michigan living trust also makes sense for your property.
Our guide on 7 awful consequences of dying without a will covers the wider risks of leaving your estate to intestacy.
FastWill's will package helps you put a valid Michigan will in place naming your own beneficiaries, instead of relying on MCL 700.2102.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does my spouse automatically inherit everything in Michigan if I die without a will?
Only if you have no surviving descendants and no surviving parent. Otherwise your spouse receives a set dollar amount, either $150,000 or $100,000 depending on whether your children are also your spouse's children, plus a share of the balance.
What happens to my house if I die without a will in Michigan?
Your house is part of your net estate and divided under the same dollar-threshold formula as the rest of your property, based on whose children survive you, unless it passes outside probate through joint ownership or a beneficiary designation.
Do stepchildren inherit under Michigan intestacy law?
No, unless you legally adopted them. Only biological and legally adopted children count as descendants under Michigan intestacy law.
Can an unmarried partner inherit in Michigan without a will?
No. Michigan intestacy law does not recognize unmarried partners. A will or beneficiary designation is the only way to provide for a partner you are not legally married to.
How do I avoid Michigan's intestacy rules?
Sign a valid Michigan will or fund a living trust naming your own beneficiaries, so your own choices, not the statutory dollar thresholds, control your estate.
