How to File Small Estate Affidavit in Michigan: Step by Step
To file Small Estate Affidavit in Michigan, you complete the official form under MCL 700.3983, after the 28-day waiting period following death has passed. Below is the step-by-step walkthrough. This is informational only and is not legal advice; we explain how to use the state's own form — we do not draft it for you.
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Filing Small Estate Affidavit in Michigan means completing the official form under MCL 700.3983, after the 28-day waiting period following death has passed. Here is the full sequence, with the statutory fact behind each step.
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Check whether real property is in the estate
The affidavit is available only if the estate does not include real property. Property owned jointly with rights of survivorship, life insurance, retirement accounts with a named beneficiary and trust property pass outside the estate (Michigan Legal Help). A house or land in the decedent's own name does not. View source →
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Total the estate against the limit for the year of death
Add the value of everything that is part of the estate, wherever located, and subtract liens and encumbrances. The figure must be at or under the statutory $50,000 as adjusted for the year of death — $53,000 for 2026 (Michigan Treasury's cost-of-living notice under MCL 700.1210).
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Wait 28 days after the death and confirm nothing is pending
A holder's duty starts 28 days after the death. No application or petition for a personal representative may be pending or granted anywhere, and no petition for assignment may have been filed.
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Work out who signs and who else shares
The signer is the decedent's successor: a surviving spouse, an adult child or other heir, a devisee under a will (attach the will), or a fiduciary for an heir or devisee who has a legal incapacity (PC 598 ¶ 1). List every other person entitled to a share, with address, relationship and share percentage (¶ 8).
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Get the current PC 598 from the courts' own site
Download the form from courts.michigan.gov and check the edition date printed on the bottom of the page — this guide was written against the 4/24 edition.
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Fill in the form and attach the death certificate
State where the decedent lived at death, that 28 days have passed, that no real property is in the estate, that the estate is within the limit, that no personal representative or petition for assignment is pending or granted, and describe the property you are entitled to receive (¶ 7). Attach a copy of the death certificate (¶ 9).
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Sign before a notary
The affidavit is signed under oath before a notary. It is not filed with a court. The form warns that a false statement may subject the signer to prosecution for perjury.
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Present it to each holder with the death certificate
Take the notarized affidavit and a death certificate to each bank, brokerage or other holder. Ask which department handles deceased-customer accounts. A holder that pays or delivers on it is discharged as if it had dealt with a personal representative (MCL 700.3984(1)).
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If a holder refuses, put the statute in front of it
Ask the holder to state in writing what it says is missing, and send MCL 700.3983 and 700.3984. The statute's remedy for a refusal is a court proceeding to compel payment or delivery (MCL 700.3984(2)). If you qualify for the court assignment as well, nobody but the court may require you to use it instead (MCL 700.3982(4)).
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Distribute to the others named, and keep records
The person who receives property is answerable to a later-appointed personal representative or to anyone with a superior right (MCL 700.3984(2)). Pay each other person the share listed in paragraph 8 and keep a record of what each holder gave you.
The step families get stuck on is presenting the completed filing to a bank, DMV, or title company — see also how long the whole process actually takes once the waiting period passes.
Get the official Michigan form
Download the state's own fill-in instrument directly — never a third-party paywalled copy: Official Small Estate Affidavit form . The State Court Administrative Office publishes the statutory form: PC 598, "Affidavit of Decedent's Successor for Delivery of Certain Assets Owned by Decedent" (edition 4/24, one page, notarized, not filed with any court). MCL 700.3983(3) directs the office to publish a standardized form with a notice that a false statement may subject the person swearing to prosecution for perjury. Check the edition date at the bottom of the page before you use a copy from anywhere other than courts.michigan.gov.
The step that isn't really paperwork
Presenting it to the bank, DMV, or title company is where families actually lose time — most front-line staff have never processed this kind of filing before. Free one-pager: what to bring and what to say before you go, emailed now. Then a few short follow-ups over the next few weeks — then we stop. No ongoing newsletter.