How Do I Avoid Probate in Michigan?

Michigan's nonprobate-transfer statute names an insurance policyMCL 700.6101(1)Verified Nov 2, 2026View source: the death benefit is paid to the beneficiary the owner designated, outside probate. A policy with no beneficiary, or one payable to the estate, is part of the probate estate.

An employer plan is governed by federal law: An employer retirement plan pays its death benefit to the beneficiary named in the plan's records, and federal law displaces a state rule that would redirect it. A married participant's spouse is the beneficiary unless the spouse consented in writing to another29 U.S.C. § 1144(a)Verified Nov 1, 2026View source. An IRA is the state's: Michigan's statute names an individual retirement accountMCL 700.6101(1)Verified Nov 2, 2026View source, so the balance is paid to the named beneficiary outside probate. A retirement account with no beneficiary named is part of the probate estate.

Survivorship title in Michigan: Michigan owners hold with a right of survivorship as joint tenants, which the deed must expressly declare; as joint tenants with right of survivorship, which creates a joint life estate with the remainder to the survivor; or as tenants by the entirety, which a deed to a married couple creates unless it says otherwise. At the death the deceased owner's interest ends and the survivor holds the propertyMCL 565.451a, 565.451c, 565.452, 565.453; MCL 565.48; MCL 554.44, 554.45Verified Oct 26, 2026View source. In Michigan, no statute authorizes a transfer on death deed. A home in the owner's name alone, with no survivor, deed beneficiary or trust, is part of the probate estate.

In Michigan, no transfer on death designation is titled on a vehicle. A vehicle in the owner's name alone is part of the probate estate; one titled in a revocable trust passes under the trust's terms.