Updated September 6, 2026. Quick answer: in Michigan, an estate can use petition and order for assignment when the qualifying value is $53,000 or less for a death in 2026. The statute’s own base is $50,000; MCL 700.1210 requires that base to be multiplied every year by that year’s cost-of-living adjustment factor (published by the Department of Treasury, rounded to the nearest $1,000). Kent County’s own probate court publishes the resulting current-year figure directly: $53,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 onward. Real property counts toward the ceiling, but only net of any lien or mortgage up to a capped deduction. It is not excluded outright.
What this guide covers
Whether probate is required in Michigan turns on two questions: does the estate qualify for a small-estate shortcut, and does that shortcut reach whatever real property is involved. This page answers both for Michigan, with the statute cited, and then covers what full probate costs if the shortcut does not apply.
The affidavit route, and its limit
Michigan’s route: petition and order for assignment, under MCL 700.3982; adjustment mechanism MCL 700.1210.
$53,000 or less for a death in 2026. The statute’s own base is $50,000; MCL 700.1210 requires that base to be multiplied every year by that year’s cost-of-living adjustment factor (published by the Department of Treasury, rounded to the nearest $1,000). Kent County’s own probate court publishes the resulting current-year figure directly: $53,000 for deaths from January 1, 2026 onward.
if the balance of a decedent’s gross estate consists of property of the value of $50,000.00 or less, the court may order that the property be turned over to the surviving spouse or, if there is not a spouse, to the decedent’s heirs
Source: MCL 700.3982(1), fetched directly from the Michigan Legislature’s own site
Beginning January 1, 2024, those specific dollar amounts must be multiplied by the 2023 cost-of-living adjustment factor for the calendar year in which the decedent dies. … A product resulting from application of the cost-of-living adjustment factor to a specific dollar amount must be rounded to the nearest $1,000.00 amount.
Source: MCL 700.1210(2)-(3), fetched directly from the Michigan Legislature’s own site
The current adjusted figure:
January 1, 2026 to Present $53,000 $264,000
Source: Kent County, Michigan (official county government probate-court page), ‘Small Estate Threshold, By Date of Death’ table
If a trust fits your situation in Michigan
In Michigan the small-estate route can reach real property only within its own limits and conditions; above them, a funded revocable living trust avoids the question instead of relying on a figure that changes every year, and LawDepot builds a state-specific one.
Build a living trust at LawDepot
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The real-estate problem
Beginning January 1, 2024, when calculating the value of the decedent’s gross estate under subsection (1), if real property included in the estate is encumbered by or used as security for an indebtedness, the amount of the indebtedness, not to exceed $250,000.00, must be deducted from the value of the real property.
Source: MCL 700.3982(5), fetched directly from the Michigan Legislature’s own site
Real property is not excluded outright, but it counts toward the $53,000 ceiling only net of any lien or mortgage up to a deduction cap that is itself adjusted every year the same way as the threshold ($250,000 base, $264,000 for 2026 per Kent County’s own table).
What probate costs in Michigan if it is required
Michigan’s probate fees and attorney-compensation rules are their own topic, worked through in full on Michigan probate cost.
The order to work through it
List what Michigan residents typically own and how each item is titled. Remove everything with a living named beneficiary, a surviving joint owner, or a trust already holding it. If what remains qualifies as described above, petition and order for assignment is the route to look at.
The general rule: when probate is required. Thresholds elsewhere: small estate limits by state. Michigan’s own small-estate mechanics: Michigan small estate affidavit.
Statutory text read at Michigan’s own legislature, courts, or official code publisher. General information, not legal advice; fee statutes and thresholds change and a court retains the final say on what qualifies.
General information drawn from state statutes and official court materials, not legal advice. Whether probate is required is STATE law and differs in every state; thresholds, what the small-estate route reaches, and probate costs all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.