Title 700, ESTATES AND PROTECTED INDIVIDUALS CODE

Sec. 2110. A debt owed to a decedent is not charged against the intestate share of any individual except the debtor. If the debtor fails to survive the decedent, the debt is not taken into account in computing the intestate share of the debtor's descendants.

Sec. 2111. An individual is not disqualified to take as an heir because the individual or an individual through whom he or she claims is or has been an alien.

Sec. 2113. An individual who is related to the decedent through 2 lines of relationship is entitled to only a single share based on the relationship that would entitle the individual to the larger share.

Sec. 2114. (1) Except as provided in subsections (2) to (4), for purposes of intestate succession by, through, or from an individual, an individual is the child of the individual's natural parents, regardless of their marital status. The parent and child relationship may be estab…

Sec. 2201. Subject to sections 2203 to 2205, upon an individual's death, the individual's surviving spouse has the right described by section 2202.

Sec. 2202. (1) The surviving widow of a decedent who was domiciled in this state and who dies intestate may file with the court an election in writing that she elects to take 1 of the following: (a) Her intestate share under section 2102. (b) If the decedent died before the effec…

Sec. 2203. If a surviving spouse fails to make an election within the time specified in section 2202, it is conclusively presumed that an intestate decedent's widow elects her intestate share or that a testate decedent's spouse elects to abide by the terms of the will, except in …

Sec. 2204. Filing of a petition to admit the will of a deceased spouse, failing to object or consenting to admission of the will to probate, or accepting appointment as a personal representative does not prevent a surviving spouse's election to take against the will.

Sec. 2205. The rights of the surviving spouse to a share under intestate succession, homestead allowance, election, exempt property, or family allowance may be waived, wholly or partially, before or after marriage, by a written contract, agreement, or waiver signed by the party w…

Sec. 2206. Sections 2201 to 2205 shall not be construed as creating an inchoate or choate right to the rights described in those sections in the property of a spouse before the death of a spouse.

Sec. 2301. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if a testator's surviving spouse marries the testator after the testator executes his or her will, the surviving spouse is entitled to receive, as an intestate share, not less than the value of the share of the estate the survi…

Sec. 2302. (1) Except as provided in subsection (2), if a testator fails to provide in his or her will for a child of the testator born or adopted after the execution of the will, the omitted after-born or after-adopted child receives a share in the estate as provided in 1 of the…

Sec. 2401. This part applies to the estate of a decedent who dies domiciled in this state. For a decedent who dies domiciled outside of this state, rights to homestead allowance, family allowance, and exempt property are governed by the law of the decedent's domicile at death.

Sec. 2402. A decedent's surviving spouse is entitled to a homestead allowance of $15,000.00, adjusted as provided in section 1210. If there is no surviving spouse, each minor child and each dependent child of the decedent is entitled to a homestead allowance equal to $15,000.00, …

Sec. 2403. (1) For their maintenance during the period of administration, a reasonable family allowance is payable to the decedent's surviving spouse and minor children whom the decedent was obligated to support, and children of the decedent or another who were in fact being supp…

Sec. 2404. (1) The decedent's surviving spouse is also entitled to household furniture, automobiles, furnishings, appliances, and personal effects from the estate up to a value not to exceed $10,000.00 more than the amount of any security interests to which the property is subjec…

Sec. 2405. (1) If the estate is otherwise sufficient, property specifically devised shall not be used to satisfy rights to homestead allowance or exempt property. Subject to this restriction, the surviving spouse, fiduciaries or others that have the care and custody of minor chil…

Sec. 2501. (1) An individual 18 years of age or older who has sufficient mental capacity may make a will. (2) An individual has sufficient mental capacity to make a will if all of the following requirements are met: (a) The individual has the ability to understand that he or she …

Sec. 2502. (1) Subject to section 1202, and except as provided in subsection (2) and in sections 2503, 2506, and 2513, a will is valid only if it is all of the following: (a) In writing. (b) Signed by the testator or in the testator's name by some other individual in the testator…

Sec. 2503. Although a document or writing added upon a document was not executed in compliance with section 2502, the document or writing is treated as if it had been executed in compliance with that section if the proponent of the document or writing establishes by clear and con…

Sec. 2504. (1) A will may be simultaneously executed, attested, and made self-proved by acknowledgment of the will by the testator and 2 witnesses' sworn statements, each made before an officer authorized to administer oaths under the laws of the state in which execution occurs a…

Sec. 2505. (1) An individual generally competent to be a witness may act as a witness to a will. (2) The signing of a will by an interested witness does not invalidate the will or any provision of it.

Sec. 2506. A written will is valid if executed in compliance with section 2502 or 2503, with the law at the time of execution of the place where the will is executed, or with the law of the place where, at the time of execution or at the time of death, the testator is domiciled, …

Sec. 2507. (1) A will or a part of a will is revoked by either of the following acts: (a) Execution of a subsequent will that revokes the previous will or a part of the will expressly or by inconsistency. (b) Performance of a revocatory act on the will, if the testator performed …

Sec. 2508. Except as provided in sections 2802 to 2809, a change of circumstances does not revoke a will or a part of a will.

Sec. 2509. (1) If a subsequent will that wholly revoked a previous will is later revoked by a revocatory act under section 2507(1)(b), the previous will remains revoked unless it is revived. The previous will is revived if it is evident from the circumstances of the revocation of…

Sec. 2510. A writing in existence when a will is executed may be incorporated by reference if the language of the will manifests this intent and describes the writing sufficiently to permit its identification.

Sec. 2511. (1) A will may validly devise property to the trustee of a trust established or to be established in any of the following manners: (a) During the testator's lifetime by the testator, by the testator and some other person, or by some other person, including a funded or …

Sec. 2512. A will may dispose of property by reference to acts and events that have significance apart from their effect upon the dispositions made by the will, whether they occur before or after the execution of the will or before or after the testator's death. The execution or …

Sec. 2513. Whether or not the provisions relating to a holographic will apply, a will may refer to a written statement or list to dispose of items of tangible personal property not otherwise specifically disposed of by the will, other than money. To be admissible under this secti…

Sec. 2514. (1) If executed after July 1, 1979, a contract to make a will or devise, not to revoke a will or devise, or to die intestate may be established only by 1 or more of the following: (a) Provisions of a will stating material provisions of the contract. (b) An express refe…

Sec. 2515. (1) A will in writing that is enclosed in a sealed wrapper, on which is endorsed the testator's name, place of residence, and social security number or state of Michigan driver's license number, if any, and the day on which and the name of the person by whom it is deli…

Sec. 2516. A custodian of a will or codicil or person having possession or care of a will or codicil shall forward it to the court having jurisdiction with reasonable promptness after the death of the testator either by delivering it personally or by sending it properly addressed…

Sec. 2517. (1) In the estate of a decedent who died before October 1, 1993, the following apply to the opening of a safe deposit box: (a) A safe deposit box of which the decedent was an individual or joint lessee may be opened following the decedent's death only upon compliance w…

Sec. 2518. A provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or instituting other proceedings relating to the estate is unenforceable if probable cause exists for instituting proceedings.

Sec. 2519. (1) A will executed in the form prescribed by subsection (2) and otherwise in compliance with the terms of the Michigan statutory will form is a valid will. A person printing and distributing the Michigan statutory will shall print and distribute the form verbatim as i…

Sec. 2601. As used in this part: (a) "Alternative devise" means a devise that is expressly created by the will and, under the terms of the will, can take effect instead of another devise on the happening of 1 or more events, including survival of the testator or failure to surviv…

Sec. 2602. (1) In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in this part control the construction of a will. (2) A will may provide for the passage of all property that the testator owns at death and all property acquired by the estate after the …

Sec. 2603. (1) If a devisee fails to survive the testator and is a grandparent, a grandparent's descendant, or a stepchild of either the testator or the donor of a power of appointment exercised by the testator's will, the following apply: (a) Except as provided in subdivision (d…

Sec. 2604. (1) Except as provided in section 2603, a devise, other than a residuary devise, that fails for any reason becomes a part of the residue. (2) Except as provided in section 2603, if the residue is devised to 2 or more persons, the share of a residuary devisee that fails…

Sec. 2605. (1) If a testator executes a will that devises securities and the testator then owns securities that meet the description in the will, the devise includes additional securities owned by the testator at death to the extent the additional securities are acquired by the t…

Sec. 2606. (1) A specific devisee has a right to the specifically devised property in the testator's estate at death and all of the following: (a) Any balance of the purchase price, together with any security agreement, owing from a purchaser to the testator at death by reason of…

Sec. 2607. A specific devise and a transfer under an exercise of a power of appointment that is equivalent to a specific devise, including the exercise of a right to withdraw specific property, passes subject to any mortgage or other security interest existing on the date of deat…

Sec. 2608. (1) Property a testator gave in his or her lifetime to a person is treated as a satisfaction of a devise in whole or in part only if any of the following are true: (a) The will provides for a deduction of the gift. (b) The testator declared in a contemporaneous writing…

Sec. 2701. In the absence of a finding of a contrary intention, the rules of construction in this part control the construction of a governing instrument. The rules of construction in this part apply to a governing instrument unless the application of a particular section is limi…