The Estate Planning Guide Est. 2026

What Happens If You Die Without a Will in Michigan?

Published June 3, 2026 4 min read

Quick answer

If a married Michigander with kids from the current marriage only dies without a will, the spouse takes the first $150,000 (inflation-adjusted — currently closer to $269,000) plus half the rest; the kids split the other half by representation. If any kid is from a prior relationship, the spouse's off-the-top amount drops to a $100,000 base.

Educational guide — not legal advice. Intestacy laws change. Confirm specifics with a licensed Michigan attorney before relying on this page.

How intestacy works in Michigan

When someone dies in Michigan without a valid will, Mich. Comp. Laws §700.2101 et seq. (EPIC) decides who inherits. The statute orders potential heirs by their relationship to the deceased — spouse and children first, then parents, then more distant relatives — and specifies exactly what share each one receives.

Michigan is NOT a community property state.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse only (no children, no parents)

Spouse takes the entire intestate estate if no descendants and no parents survive.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse and children

This is the most common situation and where Michigan’s rules get specific:

Statutory base amounts (inflation-adjusted annually): if all of the decedent's descendants are also the spouse's, and the spouse has no other descendants, the spouse gets the first $150,000 plus 1/2 of the balance. If 1 or more descendants are not the spouse's, the spouse gets the first $100,000 plus 1/2 of the balance. Descendants take the rest by representation. The headline base figures are adjusted yearly — the actual current numbers are higher.

For families where everyone is from the same marriage, the spouse generally gets a meaningful share. For blended families — where one or more children are from a prior relationship — many states change the math substantially. If your situation might fit that, the section above is exactly the rule that applies.

What happens when there’s a surviving spouse and parents (no children)

Spouse takes the first $150,000 (statutory base, inflation-adjusted) plus 3/4 of the balance; parents take the rest.

What happens when there are children but no spouse

Entire estate to descendants by representation.

What happens when there’s no spouse and no children

Order: parents equally or surviving parent → descendants of parents (siblings, etc.) by representation → grandparents and their descendants (paternal/maternal halves) → escheat to the State of Michigan.

This is where intestacy starts producing results that often surprise people — distant relatives the deceased may not have been close to can end up inheriting, and a long-time unmarried partner inherits nothing.

A Michigan-specific quirk

Michigan follows the Uniform Probate Code (EPIC). The dollar thresholds in MCL §700.2102 are inflation-adjusted yearly under §700.1210 — the headline $150,000 / $100,000 figures are statutory base figures and the actual amounts in current dollars are higher (about $269,000 / $179,000 as of 2024). Half-blood is treated as whole-blood under MCL §700.2107.

What intestacy can’t do (and why it usually fails most people)

Even when Michigan’s intestacy rules produce a result close to what someone would have chosen, the rules can never:

  • Leave anything to an unmarried partner — intestacy doesn’t recognize unmarried partners regardless of relationship length
  • Leave anything to a step-child you didn’t formally adopt
  • Leave anything to a friend, charity, or specific person outside your family
  • Name a guardian for your minor children — a Michigan judge picks
  • Specify who handles your estate — a court appoints an administrator
  • Identify specific items for specific people
  • Account for blended-family dynamics in nuanced ways
  • Reduce probate costs and time — intestate estates still go through full probate

For most Michigan families, a basic will — costing $300 to $1,500 with a local attorney, or $50 to $300 with an online service — is meaningfully better than the default rules.

What probate looks like in Michigan when there’s no will

If someone dies intestate in Michigan, the estate still goes through probate. A court appoints an administrator (rather than an “executor” — the title is different for intestacy) to:

  1. Inventory the estate’s assets
  2. Notify creditors and pay debts
  3. Identify legal heirs under Michigan’s intestacy statute
  4. Distribute remaining assets to heirs according to the statute

For details on what probate costs and how long it takes in Michigan, see:

What to do this week if you don’t have a will

The most useful single move for any Michigan adult without a will:

  1. Write a basic will. Either through an online service ($50-$300) or a local attorney ($300-$1,500). Name an executor, name a guardian for any minor children, and specify who inherits what.
  2. Update beneficiary designations on retirement accounts, life insurance, and POD/TOD bank accounts. These pass outside both the will and intestacy.
  3. Sign a financial power of attorney and a healthcare directive. These handle incapacity (not death) and prevent your family from needing court-appointed guardianship.

For a Michigan family with a typical estate, this whole package usually costs under $1,500 and takes a couple of weeks of intermittent work. It’s substantially cheaper and less stressful than what happens if you don’t do it.

This page explains Michigan intestacy law in general terms as of 2026. It is not legal advice; intestacy provisions, dollar thresholds, and statute citations can change. Confirm current rules with a licensed Michigan attorney before relying on this page. Sources: MCL §700.2102, MCL §700.2103, MCL §700.1210.

Related guides