Updated September 7, 2026. Quick answer: In Michigan, under Michigan’s Estates and Protected Individuals Code, bond is NOT required by default for a personal representative appointed in informal proceedings, except when a special personal representative is appointed, the will expressly requires bond, or bond is demanded under § 700.3605. In formal proceedings, a court may order bond but generally must not if the will relieves the PR of bond.
Does Michigan require an executor to post a bond?
Under Michigan’s Estates and Protected Individuals Code, bond is NOT required by default for a personal representative appointed in informal proceedings, except when a special personal representative is appointed, the will expressly requires bond, or bond is demanded under § 700.3605. In formal proceedings, a court may order bond but generally must not if the will relieves the PR of bond.
“A bond is not required of a personal representative appointed in informal proceedings, except in any of the following circumstances”
Source: Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.3603
Can the will waive it in Michigan?
Sometimes. Because informal administration defaults to no bond, the will’s role is inverted from other states; a will provision can impose a bond requirement rather than waive one; in formal proceedings the will can relieve the PR of bond.
Can the heirs or beneficiaries waive it in Michigan?
Sometimes. Interested persons or creditors with an interest exceeding $30,000 can demand bond under § 700.3605, but heirs have no freestanding right to waive a bond that isn’t otherwise required.
If a bond is required, how much?
When a bond is required, Michigan sizes it at 100% of the estimated value of the personal estate plus expected annual income, per its own bond-amount statute.
“best estimate of the value of the decedent’s personal estate and of the income expected from the personal and real estate during the next year”
Source: Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.3604
What makes Michigan different
Michigan follows the classic UPC pattern: no bond by default for informal (unsupervised) administration, bond available on demand above a dollar threshold, and formal-proceeding bond waivable by will. The state is a clean textbook example of the UPC’s informal/formal split described in the research brief.
A note on sourcing: The official legislature.mi.gov page could not be fetched due to a TLS certificate verification error on this tool; verified instead via two independent mirrors (FindLaw and Onecle) that returned identical statutory text with the official MCL § 700.3603 citation.
| Bond-requirement source | Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.3603 |
| Michigan courts (general reference) | Michigan judicial branch |
| Michigan Secretary of State / legislature | Michigan state government |
| Confidence | Medium |
Every statute quoted on this page was read directly from the state’s own legislature/code site this session, or, where that site blocked automated access, from a reputable legal-citation mirror quoting the same official text with its official citation (disclosed below). General information, not legal advice; a probate court has final discretion over bond in every state; confirm your own case with the court or a local attorney before relying on the default described here.
Related: how long creditors have to file a claim against an estate in Michigan.