Michigan Intestate Succession Laws
If any part of a Michigan decedent's estate is not effectively disposed of by will, the intestate share will be distributed in the following order and manner:
1. Surviving spouse. A surviving spouse is generally first in line to get any assets from the intestate estate. However, the amount a surviving spouse is entitled to varies as follows:
If the decedent left no surviving descendants or parents, the surviving spouse is entitled to the entire intestate estate.
If all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and there is no other descendant of the surviving spouse who survives the decedent, the surviving spouse gets the first $150,000 plus one-half of any remaining assets in the intestate estate.
If no descendant of the decedent survives the decedent, but a parent of the decedent survives, the surviving spouse gets the first $150,000 plus three-fourths of any remaining assets in the intestate estate.
If all of the decedent's surviving descendants are also descendants of the surviving spouse and the surviving spouse has 1 or more surviving descendants who are not decedent's descendants, the surviving spouse gets the first $150,000 plus one-half of any remaining assets in the intestate estate.
If one or more, but not all, of the decedent's surviving descendants are not descendants of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse gets the first $150,000 plus one-half of any remaining assets in the intestate estate.
If none of the decedent's surviving descendants are descendants of the surviving spouse, the surviving spouse gets the first $100,000 plus one-half of any remaining assets in the intestate estate.
The specific dollar amounts listed above are subject to an annual cost-of-living adjustment.
2. Heirs other than surviving spouse. Any part of the intestate estate not passing to the surviving spouse as indicated above, or the entire intestate estate if there is no surviving spouse, passes as follows to:
Decedent's children, and their descendants, in equal parts, the descendants of the deceased child or grandchild to take the share of the deceased parent in equal parts among them.
Decedent's parent or parents equally.
Decedent's parents' descendants (e.g., decedent's brothers and sisters).
Decedent's grandparents or their descendants. Half of the estate passes to the decedent's paternal grandparents equally if both survive, or to the surviving paternal grandparent, or to the descendants of the decedent's paternal grandparents, or either of them if both are deceased. The other half passes to the decedent's maternal relatives in the same manner. If there is no surviving grandparent or descendant of a grandparent on either the paternal or the maternal side, however, the entire estate passes to the decedent's relatives on the other side in the same manner as the half.
3. State of Michigan. If there is no taker under any of the above provisions, the intestate estate passes by default ("escheats") to the state of Michigan.
Michigan Intestate Succession Law Fun Facts
Relatives of the half-blood inherit the same share as relatives of the whole-blood.
Any person who fails to survive the decedent by 120 hours is deemed to have predeceased the decedent for purposes of intestate succession (which means that the person generally doesn't get a share of the decedent's estate). If it cannot be established by clear and convincing evidence that the person who would otherwise be an heir has survived the decedent by 120 hours, it is considered that the person failed to survive for the required period. However, these rules don't apply if the end result is that the state of Michigan gets the intestate estate.
Relatives of the decedent conceived before his death but born thereafter inherit as if they had been born in the lifetime of the decedent (provided a new-born lives at least 120 hours after birth).
Michigan's intestate succession laws, as well as other related laws, can be found in Chapter 700 of the Michigan Compiled Laws.
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