Intestate Succession in Michigan: Spouse, Children, and Allowances

When a Michigan resident dies without a valid will, intestate succession in Michigan controls who inherits. The state’s Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC) sets a fixed order: the surviving spouse and descendants come first, then parents, then siblings, then grandparents and their descendants. For deaths in 2026, the two dollar thresholds that shape a surviving spouse’s share are $301,000 and $201,000, both adjusted from the statute’s base figures by a cost-of-living factor the Michigan Department of Treasury publishes each year.¹

What the Surviving Spouse Inherits

The spouse’s share depends entirely on who else survived. Michigan sorts this into four scenarios.

No descendants and no surviving parent: the spouse inherits everything.
No descendants but a surviving parent: the spouse takes the first $301,000 plus three-quarters of any balance. The parent or parents take the rest.
Descendants who are all also descendants of the surviving spouse: the spouse takes the first $301,000 plus half of the remainder. The descendants split what’s left.
Descendants who are not all descendants of the surviving spouse (for example, children from a prior relationship): the spouse takes the first $201,000 plus half of the remainder. The decedent’s other descendants split the rest.

The second scenario surprises people. A spouse with no children does not automatically take the whole estate if a parent of the decedent is still living. On larger estates, that parental slice can be significant.

What the Children and Grandchildren Inherit

With no surviving spouse, the decedent’s descendants take the entire estate. When a spouse does survive, the descendants divide whatever remains after the spouse’s statutory portion.

Michigan splits shares among descendants “by representation,” which is not the same as strict per stirpes.² Shares are cut at the first generation containing a living member. Each living person at that level gets one share. Shares belonging to already-deceased people at that level are pooled, and the pool is split equally among their descendants using the same rule.

An example makes it concrete. The decedent had three children; one child died before the decedent, leaving two grandchildren. The estate is divided into three shares. Each surviving child receives one share. The deceased child’s two grandchildren split the third share, so each grandchild takes one-sixth of the estate. A grandchild inherits only when their own parent is no longer alive to take a share.

When No Spouse or Descendants Survive

If the decedent left neither a spouse nor descendants, EPIC works down a priority list. Each level inherits only if no one exists at the level above it.

Parents share equally, or the surviving parent takes everything.
If neither parent survives, the estate passes to the decedent’s siblings by representation. A deceased sibling’s share flows to that sibling’s children.
If no sibling or their descendants survive, the estate is split in half between the paternal and maternal sides. Each half goes to the grandparents on that side, or by representation to their descendants. If one side has no takers, the entire estate goes to the other side.

Half-siblings inherit the same share as full siblings; Michigan draws no half-blood distinction for intestate purposes.³

Only if no relative at any of those levels can be found does the estate escheat to the state.⁴ In practice, that rarely happens, because the statute reaches far enough into the family tree to capture distant cousins first.

Assets That Bypass Intestate Succession

Intestate rules only govern property that was titled in the decedent’s name alone with no beneficiary designation and no survivorship feature. A great deal of what most people own transfers outside of probate entirely, regardless of what the statute says:

Life insurance proceeds go to the named beneficiary.
IRAs, 401(k)s, and similar retirement accounts pass to the beneficiary on file.
Real estate or bank accounts held as joint tenants with right of survivorship go to the surviving owner by operation of law.
Payable-on-death and transfer-on-death accounts go to the named individual.
Assets already inside a revocable living trust are governed by the trust document.

If the decedent had beneficiary designations on most of their major assets, the intestate estate itself may turn out to be quite small.

Allowances That Come Off the Top

Before creditors or other heirs take anything, a surviving spouse and dependent children can claim three allowances. These do not count against the spouse’s or children’s intestate share.

Homestead Allowance

The surviving spouse is entitled to a homestead allowance of $15,000, adjusted annually by the same Treasury factor that lifts the spouse’s intestate thresholds. If there is no surviving spouse, the decedent’s minor and dependent children share it equally.

Family Allowance

During probate, the surviving spouse and any minor or dependent children the decedent was supporting can receive a reasonable family allowance for their maintenance. The statute sets no fixed dollar figure; the amount is whatever is reasonable under the circumstances. If the estate cannot cover every approved claim, the family allowance is capped at one year. It has priority over almost every claim against the estate other than administrative costs, funeral expenses, and the homestead allowance.⁵

Exempt Property

The surviving spouse, or the children if no spouse survives, can claim a separate exempt property allowance for household furniture, automobiles, personal effects, and similar items up to the statutory limit. The base amount is adjusted for inflation each year under the same Treasury notice that governs the other EPIC figures.¹

Rules That Can Change Who Inherits

The 120-Hour Survival Rule

An heir who does not outlive the decedent by at least 120 hours (five days) is treated as having died first for purposes of intestate succession, the homestead allowance, and exempt property.⁶ If spouses die in the same accident and neither clearly survives the other by five full days, each estate is distributed as though the other spouse predeceased.

The Slayer Rule

Anyone who feloniously and intentionally kills the decedent forfeits every benefit from the estate, including the intestate share, the elective share, the homestead and family allowances, and exempt property. The estate is distributed as if the killer had disclaimed. A criminal conviction settles the question, but even without a conviction, the probate court can make the finding by a preponderance of the evidence.⁷ The rule also severs any joint tenancy between killer and victim, converting it into a tenancy in common so the killer cannot take by survivorship.

Adopted, Posthumous, and Terminated-Rights Children

Adopted children inherit from and through their adoptive parents exactly as biological children do, and the adoption severs the legal parent-child relationship with the biological parents for inheritance purposes. There is one exception: when a stepparent adopts, the child’s relationship with the other biological parent stays intact for inheritance purposes.⁸

A natural parent whose parental rights were permanently terminated cannot inherit from or through that child unless the parent openly treated the child as their own and did not refuse to support them.⁸

A child conceived before but born after the decedent’s death is recognized as an heir. A child born during a marriage, or conceived during one, is presumed to be the child of both spouses for intestate purposes.⁸

Small Estates Can Skip Probate

Not every intestate estate needs a full probate case. If the total estate value, after subtracting any debts secured by liens, does not exceed $50,000 (adjusted annually for inflation), heirs can collect assets using a signed affidavit and a certified copy of the death certificate. The heir has to wait at least 28 days after the death, and no formal probate case can already be open for the same estate.⁹ The asset holder, such as a bank or brokerage, is generally required to release the property to the successor named in the affidavit. For families whose loved one held modest assets in their own name, this route avoids court involvement entirely.

1
Michigan Department of Treasury. Estates and Protected Individuals Code Cost-of-Living Adjustment – 2026
2
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2106 – Representation
3
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2107 – Relative of Half Blood
4
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2105 – No Taker
5
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2403 – Family Allowance
6
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2104 – Requirement of Survival by 120 Hours
7
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2803 – Forfeiture and Revocation of Benefits
8
Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2114 – Parent and Child Relationship
9
Michigan Courts. PC 598 – Affidavit of Decedent’s Successor for Delivery of Certain Assets