Saginaw firm founded by Albert A. Smith in 1939, with offices in Saginaw, Frankenmuth and Alma serving Mid-Michigan and the Thumb. Handles probate and trust administration, guardianships and conservatorships, and probate litigation, and drafts wills, living trusts, special needs trusts and Medicaid and long-term-care plans for aging clients.
Probate in Sanilac County
Probate Court Record
Sanilac County Probate Court
Sanilac County
Phone
Hours
Monday-Friday 8:00 AM-noon and 1:00 PM-4:30 PM
Office
60 West Sanilac Avenue, Room 213, Sandusky, MI 48471
Website
Self-represented filing
Allowed
Self-help forms
How to file probate in Sanilac County →
Verified October 15, 2026 · Source
Do I need a lawyer for probate in Sanilac County? →Settling an estate in Sanilac County →
Trust Administration Firms Serving Sanilac County
East Lansing elder law and probate firm with offices in Battle Creek, Jackson, Saginaw, Southfield, Ann Arbor, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids. Helps fiduciaries with inventories, accountings and creditor claims, and its litigation team handles will and trust contests over undue influence, capacity and breach of fiduciary duty, guardianships and elder financial exploitation.
East Lansing firm with a second office in Mt. Pleasant, practicing in the probate courts of Ingham, Clinton, Eaton, Isabella and other mid-Michigan counties. Represents personal representatives, trustees and beneficiaries in probate and trust administration, from marshalling assets to notice to creditors and estate taxes. Also litigates will contests, trust disputes and undue influence claims.
Lansing firm tracing its origins to 1902, with a Trusts and Estates group in Lansing, Grand Rapids, Holland, Southfield and Detroit serving families, family businesses and fiduciaries throughout Michigan. The group handles trust and estate administration and trust and estate litigation, alongside gift tax, business succession, and Medicaid and elder law planning.
Lansing firm in the Boji Tower, tracing its practice to 1883 and the Michigan member of SCG Legal. Its trusts and estates team works with personal representatives and trustees through probate and trust administration, represents beneficiaries and fiduciaries in estate and trust disputes, and handles guardianship and conservatorship petitions and Medicaid planning.
Multi-practice firm with Michigan offices in Grand Rapids, Traverse City and Detroit, appearing in the Grand Traverse County Probate Court and the surrounding Northern Michigan courts. Represents personal representatives, heirs and beneficiaries through Michigan probate, guides trustees through trust administration, and handles will challenges and disputes over a personal representative.
All 9 Michigan trust administration firms serving Sanilac County →
Forms for Planning and Settling an Estate in Michigan
Free Michigan forms to plan or settle an estate: a will, trust, powers of attorney, TOD deed and the probate forms. Prepare each form for Michigan.
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Revocable Living Trust
Create a revocable living trust to avoid probate, protect privacy, and control asset distribution.
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Free
Pour-Over Will
In Michigan, a pour-over will is signed before 2MCL 700.2502Verified Oct 18, 2026View source witnesses and moves anything left outside the trust into it through probate.
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Tools for Planning and Settling an Estate in Michigan
Free calculators and checklists to plan or settle an estate in Michigan: will and trust costs, probate, executor pay and taxes. Run each tool for Michigan.
How Do I Settle a Trust?
Settling a trust in Michigan happens outside court: the trustee acts under the state's Uniform Trust CodeMCL 700.7101 et seq.Verified Oct 17, 2026View source, notifies the beneficiaries within 63 daysMCL 700.7814, 700.7905; MCL 700.7109Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, then pays the debts and distributes under the trust's terms.
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What's Fair Trustee Compensation?
In Michigan, trustee compensation follows "reasonable compensation" (UTC § 708 or equivalent)Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.7708Verified Sep 18, 2026View source unless the trust instrument sets a different amount.
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How Do I Settle an Estate?
Settling an estate in Michigan: the personal representative files the estate inventory within 91 daysMCL 700.3706, 700.3707, 700.3708Verified Sep 15, 2026View source of appointment; creditors have 4 monthsMCL 700.3801, 700.3803, 700.3804, 700.3805, 700.3806; MCR 5.208, MCR 5.106Verified Oct 18, 2026View source to present claims; a simple estate closes in 5 months to 7 months.
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Do I Have to File Tax Returns for Someone Who Died?
Michigan requires a final state income tax return for the decedent alongside the federal Form 1040MCL 206.51Verified Sep 20, 2026View source; a federal estate tax return (Form 706) is required only for estates above $15,000,00026 USC 2001(c), 2010; P.L. 119-21 §70106Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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How Does Step-Up in Basis Work?
Inherited assets in Michigan take a basis reset to fair market value on the date of death26 USC § 1014Verified Sep 15, 2026View source, and the gain on a later sale faces ordinary income tax at the state's regular ratesMCL § 206.51 (statutory base 4.25% with annual revenue-trigger reduction formula)Verified Sep 15, 2026View source.
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