Updated September 4, 2026. Quick answer: in Michigan, dying without a will does not mean the state keeps the estate; it means Michigan’s intestacy statute (MCL 700.2102 (spouse’s share); MCL 700.2103 (other heirs); MCL 700.2107 (half-blood); MCL 700.1210 (COLA)) decides who gets it, and the surviving spouse usually does not take everything. The single most common misunderstanding on this page: a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship can cut the spouse’s share sharply below what most people assume.
What this guide covers
Who inherits from Michigan residents who die without a will is set by statute, not custom: MCL 700.2102 (spouse’s share); MCL 700.2103 (other heirs); MCL 700.2107 (half-blood); MCL 700.1210 (COLA) and the sections around it. It governs only the probate estate: what is left after retirement accounts and life insurance with a living named beneficiary, payable-on-death accounts, property in joint tenancy with survivorship, and anything already in a funded trust have already passed outside it. This page covers the spouse’s share, who inherits if there is no spouse, and the rules that can change the answer: half-blood relatives.
The spouse’s share
When the spouse takes everything: Spouse takes the ENTIRE intestate estate only ‘if no descendant or parent of the decedent survives the decedent’; MCL 700.2102(1)(a). Requires BOTH no descendant AND no parent.
When it is less than everything: UPC-style dollar-plus-fraction; base year-2000 figures, subject to annual COLA under MCL 700.1210 (current operative thresholds are higher than the raw figures below, not independently resolved this session). (b) all decedent’s descendants also spouse’s, spouse has no other descendants: ‘first $150,000, plus 1/2 of any balance’. (c) no descendant, but a parent survives: ‘first $150,000, plus 3/4 of any balance’. (d) all mutual descendants but spouse has additional outside descendants: ‘first $150,000, plus 1/2 of any balance’. (e) some (not all) descendants are non-mutual (true blended family): ‘first $150,000, plus 1/2 of any balance’. (f) NONE of decedent’s descendants are spouse’s (spouse is stepparent to all): ‘first $100,000, plus 1/2 of any balance’; Michigan’s smallest floor.
(1) The intestate share of a decedent’s surviving spouse is 1 of the following: (a) The entire intestate estate if no descendant or parent of the decedent survives the decedent. … (f) The first $100,000.00, plus 1/2 of any balance of the intestate estate, if none of the decedent’s surviving descendants are descendants of the surviving spouse.
Source: MCL 700.2102 (spouse’s share); MCL 700.2103 (other heirs); MCL 700.2107 (half-blood); MCL 700.1210 (COLA)
If a DIY will fits your situation in Michigan
In Michigan, a surviving spouse can end up sharing the estate with a stepchild or a child from an earlier relationship under the default rules above; a will is what lets you decide that instead of the statute. LawDepot builds a state-specific last will and testament.
LawDepot pays us a commission if you buy through this link; it costs you nothing extra. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice. Affiliate Disclosure.
Who inherits if there is no spouse
MCL 700.2103: descendants by representation -> parents equally or surviving parent -> descendants of parents (siblings/their descendants) by representation -> 1/2 paternal grandparents (or descendants), 1/2 maternal (or descendants), whole estate to one side if other empty.
Rules that change the outcome
Half-blood relatives: Full share. MCL 700.2107: ‘A relative of the half blood inherits the same share he or she would inherit if he or she were of the whole blood.’
What a will changes
A will does not just skip the statute above; it lets you choose who gets Michigan property that the intestacy rules would send somewhere else: a spouse who would otherwise share the estate with a stepchild, a partner who is not married and inherits nothing under intestacy at all, or specific people the statute’s ladder never reaches. It also lets you name an executor rather than leaving the court to appoint one. What it does not change: assets that already pass outside probate: a will has no effect on a beneficiary designation, a payable-on-death account, or property held in joint tenancy.
General information drawn from state intestate-succession statutes, not legal advice. Who inherits without a will is STATE law and differs in every state; the spouse’s share, the order of inheritance, and how half-blood and community-property rules apply all change, and every figure here is sourced and dated. We are not a law firm and this is not legal advice.