Michigan’s Estates and Protected Individuals Code, usually called EPIC, is the state statute that controls what happens to a person’s property after death and how courts step in to protect people who can’t manage their own affairs. Signed in 1998 and effective April 1, 2000, EPIC replaced the older Revised Probate Code and is built on the Uniform Probate Code. If you’re settling a relative’s estate, writing your own will, or facing a guardianship question in Michigan, EPIC is the law that governs the process.
What EPIC Covers
EPIC gathers five related areas of law into one code. It sets the rules for who inherits when someone dies without a will. It protects surviving spouses and dependent children from being left with nothing. It spells out the formalities for making a valid will or trust. It lays out how probate administration works, from appointing a personal representative to closing the estate. And it governs guardianships and conservatorships for minors and incapacitated adults.
Everything below walks through those areas in the order most readers encounter them.
Who Inherits When There Is No Will
When a Michigan resident dies without a valid will, EPIC’s intestate succession rules decide who gets what. Any property not covered by a will passes to the decedent’s heirs according to a fixed priority list.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2101 – Intestate Estate
The Surviving Spouse’s Share
If no children or parents survive the decedent, the spouse inherits everything. When other close family members are also living, the spouse receives a set dollar amount off the top plus a percentage of what remains.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2102 – Share of the Spouse The baseline is $150,000 plus half the rest when the decedent’s children are all shared with the spouse, and $150,000 plus three-quarters of the rest when a parent survives but no children do. When blended families are involved, the figure drops: $100,000 plus half the balance if none of the decedent’s children are also the spouse’s children. These dollar thresholds are subject to periodic cost-of-living adjustments under MCL 700.1210. Whatever the spouse doesn’t take passes to the decedent’s descendants.
When There Is No Surviving Spouse
Without a spouse, the estate goes first to the decedent’s descendants. If none survive, it passes to the decedent’s parents, then to the parents’ descendants (the decedent’s siblings and their children), then to grandparents and their descendants. The code works outward through the family tree until it reaches a living heir.
How Shares Divide Among Descendants
EPIC distributes among descendants using a method called representation. The estate divides into equal shares at the first generation below the decedent that has at least one living person in it. Each surviving person in that generation takes a share, and the shares that would have gone to deceased members of that generation are pooled and divided equally among the next generation of descendants.3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2106 – Representation The practical result is that cousins in the same generation end up with equal shares, which is not always the case under traditional per stirpes distribution.
The 120-Hour Survival Rule
To inherit under intestate succession, an heir must outlive the decedent by at least 120 hours, or five days. Anyone who dies inside that window is treated as having predeceased the decedent, and their share moves on to the next eligible heirs. The rule exists so that families don’t have to run two probate proceedings when relatives die in the same accident or close in time.
Protections for a Surviving Spouse and Dependents
Even when a will leaves the surviving spouse less than intestate succession would, EPIC provides several financial protections that take priority over most creditor claims.
Elective Share
A spouse who is unhappy with what a will provides can petition the court for an elective share. Under EPIC, that share is half of what the spouse would have received by intestate succession, reduced by half the value of any property the spouse already received from the decedent outside the will, such as life insurance or joint accounts.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2202 – Elective Share The right exists to prevent complete disinheritance of a spouse.
Homestead Allowance
The surviving spouse is entitled to a $15,000 homestead allowance, subject to cost-of-living adjustments. If there is no surviving spouse, the decedent’s minor and dependent children split the amount equally. It comes off the top of the estate before creditors are paid, in addition to anything received under the will or by intestate succession.
Family Allowance
During administration, the surviving spouse and any minor or dependent children the decedent supported are entitled to a reasonable family allowance for their maintenance. The court can order it as a lump sum or periodic payments, and if the estate can’t cover all claims, the allowance can continue for up to one year.5Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2403 – Family Allowance
Making a Valid Will or Trust
EPIC sets specific formalities for estate planning documents. A document that misses them can be refused by the court, which sends the property through intestate succession regardless of the writer’s intent.
Formal Wills
To make a will in Michigan, you must be at least 18 and have the mental capacity to understand what you own, who your natural heirs are, and what effect signing the will has on distributing your property.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2501 – Will, Maker, Sufficient Mental Capacity The will must be in writing, signed by you (or by someone else at your direction and in your presence), and signed by at least two witnesses. Each witness must sign within a reasonable time after watching you sign or hearing you acknowledge your signature.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2502 – Execution, Witnessed Wills, Holographic Wills
Holographic Wills
Michigan also recognizes holographic wills. A holographic will needs no witnesses, but it must be dated, and both the signature and the material portions of the document must be in the testator’s own handwriting.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.2502 – Execution, Witnessed Wills, Holographic Wills A typed document with only a handwritten signature does not qualify. Courts can consider outside evidence to decide whether the writer intended the document to serve as a will.
Trusts
EPIC incorporates the Michigan Trust Code. A trust is created when a settlor expresses the intent to establish one, identifies property to fund it, names a trustee to manage the assets, and designates a beneficiary.8Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.7401 – Creation of Trust A trust must have at least one identifiable beneficiary, with exceptions for charitable trusts and certain animal care trusts. Property held in trust at the time of death generally bypasses probate.
Digital Assets
In 2016, Michigan adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, giving executors and trustees a legal path to manage a deceased person’s online accounts, cryptocurrency, digital photos, and other electronic property.9Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws Act 59 of 2016 – Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets The access is narrower than most people expect. An executor cannot read the content of private communications such as email, direct messages, or social media posts unless the deceased specifically authorized that in a will, trust, or power of attorney. Providers can require court orders, limit access to what is reasonably necessary to settle the estate, and charge fees. If you want your executor to handle your digital life, say so in writing and keep a separate secure record of accounts and passwords.
How Probate Works Under EPIC
Probate begins when someone files an application or petition with the probate court in the county where the decedent lived. EPIC offers two tracks: informal proceedings handled by a probate register, and formal proceedings that require a judge.10Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.3301 – Informal Probate or Appointment Proceedings Most straightforward estates move through the informal track. Contested wills, unclear documents, and disputes among heirs push the case into the formal process.
The Personal Representative
The court appoints a personal representative to run the estate. That person receives Letters of Authority, which function as the legal credential for accessing bank accounts, transferring titles, and dealing with creditors. Within 28 days of appointment, the personal representative must notify all heirs, beneficiaries named in any known will, and trustees of any trusts the decedent created.11Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.3705 – Appointment of Personal Representative, Notice Requirements
Creditor Claims
The personal representative publishes a newspaper notice telling creditors to file their claims. Creditors then have four months from the publication date, or they lose the claim.12Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.3801 – Notice to Creditors Known creditors, and those a reasonable review of the decedent’s last two years of records would turn up, must also get individual notice; they have the later of four months from publication or one month from actual notice. If the estate can’t pay everyone, EPIC sets a priority order that puts administration costs and spousal protections first, funeral expenses and taxes next, and ordinary unsecured creditors last.
Small Estate Shortcuts
EPIC offers two shortcuts for smaller estates. If the estate contains no real property and the total value after liens and debts is $50,000 or less, an heir can collect the decedent’s assets using a small estate affidavit. The heir waits at least 28 days after death, then presents a death certificate and sworn statement to whoever holds the property.13Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.3983 – Small Estates Separately, if the gross estate is $50,000 or less after funeral expenses, the court can order the remaining property turned over to the surviving spouse or, if there is no spouse, to the heirs.14Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.3982 – Summary Proceedings for Small Estates Both thresholds are subject to cost-of-living adjustments. Neither procedure helps if the decedent owned a house.
Closing the Estate
Once the creditor period ends and valid debts are paid, the personal representative distributes what remains to the beneficiaries. The estate closes when the representative files a sworn closing statement or a formal petition for discharge with the court. Most estates take six months to a year; disputed claims or hard-to-value assets can stretch things longer.
Guardianships and Conservatorships
EPIC also covers protection of living people who can’t manage their own affairs because of age, disability, or cognitive decline. The court can appoint a guardian, a conservator, or both, and the two roles handle different things.
A guardian handles personal decisions: medical care, housing, daily needs, and overall well-being. A conservator manages money and property: paying bills, overseeing investments, filing taxes, and protecting assets. One person can hold both roles, or the court can split them. Either appointment requires clear and convincing evidence that the person is incapacitated and that the appointment is necessary.
When choosing who serves, the court starts with anyone the protected person nominated before becoming incapacitated. If there is no nomination, the court typically looks to a spouse, then adult children, then parents. A professional fiduciary can be appointed when no suitable family member is available or when family conflict makes a neutral party the better choice.
Oversight continues after appointment. Conservators must file financial accountings with the court at least annually, detailing every transaction involving the protected person’s assets, and the court can order a physical check of the estate at any time and in whatever manner it chooses.15Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 700.5418 – Conservator Accounting Guardians must report on the ward’s condition. A guardian or conservator who neglects these duties or mismanages funds can be removed and held personally liable for losses.
What EPIC Does Not Reach
Two boundaries are worth knowing. First, EPIC is state probate and protective law; it does not deal with estate tax. Michigan imposes no state estate or inheritance tax on current deaths (the old inheritance tax applies only to deaths on or before September 30, 1993), so tax questions for Michigan estates are federal questions.16State of Michigan. Inheritance Tax Frequently Asked Questions
Second, a lot of wealth never touches EPIC at all. Property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, accounts with payable-on-death or transfer-on-death designations, life insurance and retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, and assets titled in a revocable trust all pass outside probate. Beneficiary designations on financial accounts override your will, which is where estate plans most often go wrong: a 401(k) that still lists an ex-spouse pays the ex-spouse, no matter what the will says.