What happens if you die without a will in Michigan
You do not avoid having an estate plan by doing nothing. You inherit the one the Legislature wrote; and it rarely matches what families expect.
Dying without a will is called dying intestate. Michigan's Estates and Protected Individuals Code then supplies a fixed order of who inherits. Nothing goes to the State unless there is truly no living relative the statute can find; that part of the folklore is wrong. What is true is that the statute is blunt: it counts bloodlines and marriage certificates, and it knows nothing about which child helped you, which one you were estranged from, or what you promised anyone.
The surviving spouse does not automatically get everything
This is the single biggest surprise. Michigan gives the surviving spouse a dollar allowance off the top; an amount the statute adjusts for inflation each year; plus a fraction of the balance. How large that first slice is, and whether the spouse takes the whole estate, depends on who else survives.
| Who survives you | Roughly how the intestate estate divides |
|---|---|
| Spouse, no children or parents | The entire intestate estate goes to the spouse. |
| Spouse and children, all of them also the spouse's children | Spouse takes a base amount plus a share of the remainder; the children split the rest. |
| Spouse and a child who is not the spouse's child | The spouse's base amount is smaller and the children's share grows; the classic blended-family result. |
| Spouse and a surviving parent, no children | The spouse shares with your parent rather than taking all of it. |
| Children, no spouse | Divided equally among the children; a deceased child's share passes to their own children. |
| No spouse or children | Parents, then siblings and their descendants, then grandparents and their descendants. |
The dollar thresholds change annually, so the precise split has to be run on the figures in effect at the date of death. The structure, however, is stable; and the structure is what catches people out.
A blended family scenario
Other consequences beyond the math
- The court picks who is in charge. A statutory priority list decides who may serve as personal representative. If relatives disagree, that fight happens in front of a judge.
- A bond may be required. A well-drafted will normally waives it; an intestate estate often does not.
- No guardian is nominated for your children. The court decides who raises them, with no written statement of your wishes.
- Minors cannot inherit outright. A conservatorship is opened, and whatever is left is handed over in full at age eighteen.
- Unmarried partners and stepchildren receive nothing. The statute only recognizes legal marriage, blood and adoption.
- Everything is public. The inventory and the family members are filed in the county probate court.
What is not affected
Assets with a beneficiary designation, joint accounts with survivorship, and property already in a trust pass outside intestacy the same way they pass outside a will. That is why the probate estate is often much smaller than the whole estate; and why beneficiary forms deserve the same attention as the documents themselves.
The fix is small compared to the problem
A signed will, current beneficiary designations, and; where it fits; a funded revocable trust take the statute out of the picture entirely. Start with whether you need a will, then read wills vs. trusts. If a loved one has already died without a will, the probate court in the county where they lived handles what happens next.
This article is general information about Michigan law, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Intestate shares and statutory allowances depend on the figures in effect at the date of death and on your family's specific facts.
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