Choosing between a will and a trust in Michigan comes down to how much court involvement, public exposure, and upfront cost you’re willing to accept. A will is cheaper to draft but has no legal force until a Michigan probate court admits it, which means delay, filing fees, and a public record of your assets and heirs. A properly funded revocable living trust costs more to set up, avoids probate entirely, keeps your affairs private, and gives someone the authority to manage your property if you become incapacitated. Michigan imposes no state estate tax, so taxes rarely drive the decision; probate avoidance, privacy, and incapacity planning do.
What Each Document Actually Does
A will is a set of instructions that only takes effect at death, and only after a probate court validates it. Michigan law is explicit: a will does not transfer property until it has been declared valid through either an informal probate order or a court adjudication.1Michigan Legislature. Michigan Estates and Protected Individuals Code 700-3102 Once admitted, the court appoints a personal representative and issues Letters of Authority, which give that person the legal power to collect assets, pay debts, and distribute what remains.2Michigan Courts. Letters of Authority for Personal Representative
A revocable living trust is a separate legal arrangement that owns your property during your lifetime. You create it under the Michigan Trust Code,3Michigan Legislature. Michigan Estates and Protected Individuals Code 700-7101 usually name yourself as the first trustee so nothing about day-to-day control changes, and name a successor trustee to take over at your incapacity or death. Because the trust already holds title to the assets, the successor trustee can distribute them without a court petition, a judge, or Letters of Authority.
The step people underestimate is funding. A trust that exists only on paper accomplishes nothing. Real estate has to be transferred by deed and recorded with the county register of deeds. Bank accounts, brokerage accounts, and other titled property have to be re-titled in the trust’s name. Any asset still in your individual name at death goes through probate no matter what the trust document says.
When a Will Is Enough
If your estate is small and your wishes are simple, a will may be all you need. Michigan has a streamlined small-estate process: when the gross estate is worth $50,000 or less after funeral and burial expenses, the probate court can order the remaining property turned over directly to the surviving spouse, or to the heirs if there is no spouse.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Estates and Protected Individuals Code 700-3982 The filing fee for that petition is $25.5Michigan Courts. Probate Court Fee Tables Below that threshold, the cost savings of a trust get hard to justify.
A will is also the simpler tool when most of your wealth already passes outside probate. Retirement accounts with named beneficiaries, life insurance, jointly titled real estate with rights of survivorship, and payable-on-death bank accounts all skip the court process automatically. If what remains in your sole name would fit under the small-estate limit, a basic will plus beneficiary designations may do the job.
When a Trust Is Worth the Extra Work
Three situations push the choice toward a trust: a larger estate that would otherwise face full probate, a strong preference for privacy, and the real possibility of incapacity before death.
Probate Costs Add Up
Opening a probate estate in Michigan costs $150 in filing fees, plus a separate inventory fee based on the estate’s value. The inventory fee scales: an estate between $50,000 and $99,999 pays $237.50 plus a quarter of one percent of the value above $50,000, and an estate between $100,000 and $500,000 pays $362.50 plus an eighth of one percent of the value above $100,000.5Michigan Courts. Probate Court Fee Tables A $300,000 estate owes roughly $150 in filing fees plus $612.50 in inventory fees before anyone pays an attorney. Trust administration avoids these court costs entirely.
Privacy
A will filed with a Michigan probate court becomes a public record. The file typically includes the will itself, the inventory of assets, and the names of all heirs and beneficiaries, and anyone can view it at the courthouse. A trust is a private agreement and is never filed with a court unless someone sues to challenge it. The names of beneficiaries, the value of assets, and the terms of distribution all stay confidential. For many families, this alone decides the question.
Incapacity
A will does nothing until you die. If you have only a will and you suffer a stroke or develop dementia, your family may need to petition the probate court for a conservatorship just to pay your bills or manage your investments. That proceeding is expensive, slow, and public.
A revocable trust is built for this. The trust document names a successor trustee who steps in when you can no longer manage your own affairs, and it can specify exactly what triggers the transition, such as a written determination from your physician. The successor trustee takes over management of trust assets without any court involvement.
What a Trust Will Not Do
A revocable trust is a probate-avoidance and incapacity tool, not an asset-protection device, and a few boundaries matter before you decide.
It does not protect your assets from your creditors during your lifetime. Michigan law states directly that the property of a revocable trust is subject to the claims of the settlor’s creditors while the settlor is alive, whether or not the trust contains a spendthrift provision.6Michigan Legislature. Michigan Estates and Protected Individuals Code 700-7506 Because you can revoke the trust at any time, the law treats the assets as still yours.
It does not solve Medicaid planning. Michigan runs a Medicaid estate recovery program and can seek reimbursement after death for nursing home care, home- and community-based services, and related medical expenses.7Michigan Legislature. Michigan Social Welfare Act 400-112g When you apply for Medicaid long-term care coverage, the state reviews the previous 60 months of asset transfers, and any transfer for less than fair market value during that window triggers a penalty period.8Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Transfer of Assets in the Medicaid Program Moving assets into a revocable trust does not restart that clock, because the assets are still considered available to you.
It does not change your tax picture in any meaningful way. Michigan has no state estate tax. The federal estate tax exemption for 2026 is $15,000,000 per individual, which puts federal estate tax out of reach for nearly all Michigan families.9Internal Revenue Service. What’s New – Estate and Gift Tax The step-up in basis at death applies equally to property passing through a will and property passing through a revocable trust, so you don’t lose that benefit by choosing one over the other.10Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 1014 – Basis of Property Acquired From a Decedent
A Trust Rarely Stands Alone
Most Michigan estate plans built around a trust include two companion documents.
The first is a pour-over will. Because it’s nearly impossible to guarantee every asset ends up titled in the trust before you die, a pour-over will names the trust as the beneficiary of anything left outside it. If you open a new account or inherit property and forget to re-title it, the pour-over will catches it. The limitation: anything passing through the pour-over will still goes through probate. The pour-over will is a backstop, not a substitute for actually funding the trust.
The second is a durable power of attorney. The successor trustee’s authority reaches only assets the trust owns. Retirement accounts, life insurance, and any account still in your individual name sit outside that reach. A durable power of attorney lets your designated agent handle those non-trust assets, file tax returns, and apply for government benefits. Skipping it because you have a trust is a common and expensive mistake, because the only way to fill the gap after the fact is a court-appointed conservatorship.
What Happens If You Do Neither
If you die without a will or a trust, Michigan’s intestacy statute decides who gets your property, and the results often surprise people. A surviving spouse with children from a prior relationship, for example, receives only the first $100,000 of the estate plus half of the balance when none of the decedent’s descendants are also descendants of the spouse.11Michigan Legislature. Michigan Estates and Protected Individuals Code 700-2102 Intestacy also guarantees probate court involvement, public filings, and a court-chosen personal representative. Even a simple will avoids the worst of this. A funded trust avoids nearly all of it.