Dying Without a Will in Michigan: Who Inherits What

When a Michigan resident dies without a will, state law decides who inherits, and the outcome often surprises families, especially those with blended households or unmarried partners. Michigan's Estates and Protected Individuals Code assigns heirs in a fixed order, leaving no room for personal wishes. Understanding this hierarchy helps families see exactly what is at stake and what a simple estate plan can change.

The Short Answer: Michigan Law Decides Who Gets What

When a Michigan resident dies without a will, Michigan's Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC), MCL 700.2101 through MCL 700.2114, takes over and assigns every probate asset to a legally defined list of heirs. The decedent's preferences, relationships, and intentions play no role whatsoever. The result is often not what families expect, and in households with stepchildren, long-term partners, or children from prior relationships, the outcome can be genuinely disorienting.

One important boundary to draw right away: EPIC governs only the probate estate. Assets with named beneficiaries, property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship, and assets inside a trust pass entirely outside this system. Life insurance, IRAs, 401(k)s, payable-on-death bank accounts, and transfer-on-death deeds go directly to whoever is named, regardless of what Michigan intestacy law says. The rules below apply only to what remains after those assets are removed from the picture.

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How Michigan Divides the Estate: The Heir Hierarchy

Michigan intestacy law distributes the probate estate in a strict priority order. Each tier inherits only if no one in the tier above survives the decedent.

The Statutory Order of Priority

Surviving spouse and descendants (MCL 700.2102): The surviving spouse is first in line, but the share depends on who else survives.

• If all surviving descendants are also the surviving spouse's descendants (a straightforward family with no children from other relationships), the spouse inherits 100% of the intestate estate.
• If any descendant is not the surviving spouse's child, the spouse receives a dollar amount adjusted annually plus one-half of the remainder. The other half passes to all of the decedent's descendants equally.

This blended-family exception is where the biggest surprises happen, and it is discussed in detail in the next section.

Parents (MCL 700.2103): If no spouse or descendants survive, the estate passes equally to surviving parents.

Siblings and their descendants (MCL 700.2104): If no parents survive, the estate passes to siblings. If a sibling has already died, that sibling's share passes to their own children.

Grandparents and their descendants (MCL 700.2105 through MCL 700.2106): If no siblings or their descendants survive, the estate is divided equally between the maternal and paternal lines of the decedent's grandparents and their descendants.

Escheat to the State of Michigan: If no qualifying relative survives under any tier of this hierarchy, the entire estate passes to the State of Michigan. This is called escheat, and it is not a theoretical risk. Individuals who are estranged from family or who have outlived everyone close to them face this outcome without an estate plan.

Michigan Intestate Heir Hierarchy at a Glance

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A Worked Example: The Blended Family Outcome

Consider a Michigan resident who is married and has three children: two from the current marriage and one from a prior relationship. He dies without a will, leaving a probate estate of $400,000. His wife assumes she will inherit everything. Under Michigan intestacy law, that is not how the math works.

Because one of the three children is not the surviving spouse's child, MCL 700.2102 applies the blended-family formula. The spouse receives a dollar amount adjusted annually (the exact figure changes each year; verify the current number with a Michigan probate court or attorney) plus one-half of what remains after that amount is subtracted. The other half goes to all three children equally, including the two children the spouse helped raise from infancy.

In practical terms, the wife's share of a $400,000 estate could end up being significantly less than half, depending on the current annual adjustment figure. A portion of her late husband's estate passes directly to his child from a prior relationship, which may have been exactly what the couple intended, or it may have been the opposite of what they wanted. Either way, no one asked them.

Two additional points that often catch people off guard: stepchildren have no intestate right to inherit from a stepparent, and a stepparent has no intestate right to inherit from a stepchild, under any circumstances, unless adoption legally occurred. And an unmarried partner, regardless of how many years the couple lived together, receives nothing. Michigan has not recognized common-law marriage formed after 1957, so a partner of 20 years has no legal claim to any probate asset.

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Assets That Bypass Intestacy Entirely

A meaningful portion of most Michigan families' wealth never touches the probate estate and is therefore completely unaffected by EPIC's heir hierarchy. Understanding which assets these are matters because families sometimes assume that dying without a will means the state controls everything. It does not, but only for assets that are properly structured.

Assets that commonly pass outside intestacy include:

• Life insurance policies with a named living beneficiary
• IRAs and 401(k)s with a named living beneficiary
• Payable-on-death (POD) bank accounts
• Transfer-on-death (TOD) brokerage accounts
• Property held in joint tenancy with right of survivorship
• Assets held inside a revocable or irrevocable trust
• Real property conveyed by a Lady Bird deed (also called an enhanced life estate deed)

The Lady Bird deed deserves specific mention for Michigan homeowners. It allows a property owner to retain full control during their lifetime while designating who receives the property at death, completely outside of probate. Many Michigan families are unaware this tool exists. For a full explanation of how it works and when it makes sense, see our article on Lady Bird deeds in Michigan.

The serious risk here is not misunderstanding the tool; it is neglect. Beneficiary designations that name a deceased person, an ex-spouse, or no one at all cause assets to fall back into the probate estate, where intestacy rules take over. Outdated designations are one of the most common and avoidable problems in estate administration.

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Special Situations: Unmarried Partners, Stepchildren, and Children Born Outside Marriage

Michigan intestacy law operates on formal legal relationships. Emotional closeness, financial dependence, and years of shared life carry no weight under EPIC. This is worth stating plainly because the gap between what families assume and what the law provides is widest in these three situations.

Unmarried partners: Michigan does not recognize common-law marriage formed after 1957. A person who has lived with a partner for decades, shared finances, and built a life together has no legal claim to that partner's probate assets under intestacy. The only way to provide for an unmarried partner is through a will, a trust, or a beneficiary designation.

Stepchildren and stepparents: EPIC does not extend intestate inheritance rights between stepchildren and stepparents in either direction. A stepchild cannot inherit from a stepparent who dies without a will, and a stepparent cannot inherit from a stepchild who dies without a will. The relationship has no legal weight unless adoption was completed. Only legally adopted children are treated identically to biological children under Michigan law.

Children born outside marriage: These children inherit from their mother under Michigan intestacy without any restriction. Inheriting from their father is more complicated. Under MCL 700.2114, a child born outside of marriage can inherit from their father only if paternity was legally established during the father's lifetime, the father acknowledged paternity in a signed writing, or paternity is established after the father's death by clear and convincing evidence. The standard is high, and disputes in this area are not uncommon.

In every one of these situations, the fix is the same: a properly drafted will, a funded trust, or an updated beneficiary designation. The law cannot override itself, but a thoughtful estate plan can.

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The Probate Process for an Intestate Michigan Estate

Dying without a will does not mean avoiding probate court. It means going through probate without the guidance a will would have provided. Instead of an executor named by the decedent, the court appoints a personal representative (sometimes called an administrator) to manage the estate. The personal representative has the same duties as any executor: gathering assets, paying debts and taxes, and distributing what remains to the heirs determined by EPIC.

For smaller estates, Michigan offers a simplified option. The small estate affidavit procedure under MCL 700.3982 allows heirs to collect certain personal property without opening a full probate proceeding, provided the estate's gross value falls below a threshold adjusted annually and published by the Michigan probate courts. This procedure is available only to legal heirs under intestacy or under a will. Informal partners, close friends, and unrecognized family members cannot use it.

For a sense of how long a typical Michigan probate takes, our article on Michigan probate timelines walks through the process from filing the petition to final distribution.

Practical Steps When a Michigan Resident Dies Without a Will

• Locate and secure any existing estate documents, including deeds, bank statements, and insurance policies
• Identify all assets and determine which are probate assets and which pass by beneficiary designation or joint ownership
• File a petition for probate in the Michigan probate court for the county where the decedent lived
• Request appointment as personal representative, or identify who among the heirs qualifies under MCL 700.3203
• Notify creditors and publish notice as required by Michigan law
• Determine the legal heirs under EPIC's hierarchy
• Evaluate whether the estate qualifies for the small estate affidavit procedure under MCL 700.3982
• Distribute assets to heirs and close the estate

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Where People Go Wrong

These are not unusual mistakes. They are the kinds of assumptions that well-intentioned families make all the time, often because they have not had occasion to look closely at Michigan law until something goes wrong.

Assuming the spouse gets everything. This is true only when every surviving descendant is also the surviving spouse's child. One child from a prior relationship changes the calculation significantly, and most families do not realize this until after a death.

Assuming a long-term partner is protected. Years of shared life and financial intertwining create no legal inheritance right under Michigan intestacy. Without a will, trust, or beneficiary designation, a partner of any duration receives nothing from the probate estate.

Assuming stepchildren inherit. Unless adoption occurred, stepchildren have no intestate claim on a stepparent's estate. A stepparent who intended to provide for stepchildren and never got around to a will has left those children with no legal recourse.

Assuming beneficiary designations are current. An IRA naming a deceased parent, a life insurance policy naming an ex-spouse, or a 401(k) with no beneficiary at all can redirect assets in ways the account holder never intended. These designations should be reviewed after every major life event.

Assuming real estate passes automatically. Real property titled in the decedent's name alone is a probate asset. Without a joint tenancy arrangement, a Lady Bird deed, or a trust, the home goes through probate and is subject to intestacy rules.

A basic estate plan addresses every one of these situations directly. It is not a complicated undertaking, and it does not require a large estate to make sense.

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A Simple Estate Plan Prevents All of This

Michigan intestacy law is not a punishment. It is a default, designed for people who never made a different choice. The good news is that overriding it is straightforward. A will, a revocable trust, updated beneficiary designations, and a Lady Bird deed for real property together address every scenario described in this article.

For families with elder law considerations, including those thinking ahead about long-term care costs and Medicaid eligibility, the planning conversation is a bit wider. An estate plan and a Medicaid strategy often work together. Our article on the Medicaid look-back period in Michigan explains how asset transfers are evaluated and why early planning matters.

Intestacy is what happens when no plan exists. The documents that prevent it are not complicated, and the peace of mind they provide is real. When you are ready to talk through your options, we are here. Visit our estate planning page to learn more about how Thornbury and Finch approaches this work.