How Long Does Michigan's Petition for Assignment Take?
No source reviewed states how long a county takes from filing to a signed order; one aggregator says the judge sometimes signs the same day, which this guide did not verify. The statute's only fixed period is the 63 days after the order during which non-spouse heirs answer for the decedent's debts (MCL 700.3982(3)). Count the funeral-statement and asset-documentation gathering as your own time, since the clerks require all of it with the petition. This is informational only and is not legal advice.
Last reviewed
The short answer
No source reviewed states how long a county takes from filing to a signed order; one aggregator says the judge sometimes signs the same day, which this guide did not verify. The statute's only fixed period is the 63 days after the order during which non-spouse heirs answer for the decedent's debts (MCL 700.3982(3)). Count the funeral-statement and asset-documentation gathering as your own time, since the clerks require all of it with the petition.
What slows families down
- The court's own docket. Michigan requires petition for assignment to be filed with and approved by the court, so local scheduling — which varies by county — sets the floor on how fast this can move, independent of anything you control.
- The estate is over the threshold for the year of death. After funeral and burial expenses, the gross estate must be at or under $50,000 as adjusted — $53,000 for a 2026 death, $51,000 for 2025, $50,000 from February 21, 2024. For deaths from 2024 on, debt secured by real property is deducted up to a cap ($264,000 for 2026). A mortgage cannot reduce a parcel below zero, and county clerks differ on how they apply the deduction.
- No satisfactory evidence about the funeral and burial expenses. The court acts "on a showing of evidence, satisfactory to the court, of payment of the expenses for the decedent's funeral and burial." Counties want an itemized funeral statement showing who paid what, or the balance owing.
Why the delay matters: a probate attorney typically charges $1,500–$4,200+ to handle this instead, and every week spent re-filing after an avoidable rejection is a week the estate's accounts stay frozen. The next step is the step-by-step filing sequence.
The asset holder is why this takes longer than it should
It's the #1 reason a quick process turns into a multi-week one. Free one-pager: what to bring and say before you present it, so a first visit doesn't turn into a second — emailed now. Then a few short follow-ups over the next few weeks — then we stop.