In Michigan, estates with personal property of $53,000MCL 700.3983Verified Sep 8, 2026View source or less skip probate with the Affidavit of Decedent's SuccessorMCL 700.3983Verified Sep 8, 2026View source, 28 daysMCL 700.3983Verified Sep 8, 2026View source after death. Real property cannot pass through the affidavitMCL 700.3983Verified Sep 8, 2026View source; an estate that includes real estate uses a separate process. Michigan sets the limit by the decedent's date of deathMCL 700.3983Verified Sep 8, 2026View source; an earlier death may be measured against a lower figure. An estate over the limit does not qualify, and no affidavit is prepared for it.

Michigan's recorded instrument, Affidavit stating facts relating to matters affecting realty, rests on the general recording statute for affidavits of facts affecting title to land. What a recorded affidavit does, in the statute's words: may be received in evidence in any civil cause and by any board or officer of the state in any suit or proceeding affecting the real estate, and is prima facie evidence of the facts and circumstances it containsMCL 565.453Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. It is evidence of the facts it states, not a deed; it does not itself transfer title, and a purchaser, lender or title company decides whether to rely on it.

In the office of the register of deeds of the county where the real property is situatedMCL 565.451a; MCL 565.452(1)Verified Sep 24, 2026View source. The office records it as it records deeds, in the county where the land lies, and charges its recording fee per page. The page is laid out to Michigan's recording standard: a 2.5-inch clear top margin on the first page, 0.5-inch side margins, type no smaller than 10 pointsMCL 565.201(1)(f)Verified Sep 25, 2026View source.

It depends on what the person owned and how it was titled. Property with a named beneficiary, joint property with survivorship, and property in a trust pass outside probate. What remains goes through probate unless it is under the state's small estate limit, in which case a small estate affidavit collects it. The Probate Decision Tool applies your state's rules.