Title 700, ESTATES AND PROTECTED INDIVIDUALS CODE

Sec. 3710. The property liable for the payment of unsecured debts of a decedent includes all property transferred by the decedent by any means that is in law void or voidable as against the decedent's creditors, and subject to prior liens, the right to recover this property, so f…

Sec. 3711. Until termination of the appointment, a personal representative has the same power over the title to estate property that an absolute owner would have, in trust, however, for the benefit of creditors or others interested in the estate. This power may be exercised witho…

Sec. 3712. If the exercise or failure to exercise a power concerning the estate is improper, the personal representative is liable to interested persons for damage or loss resulting from breach of fiduciary duty to the same extent as a trustee of an express trust. The right of pu…

Sec. 3713. (1) A sale, encumbrance, or other transaction involving the investment or management of estate property in which the personal representative has a substantial beneficial interest or that is otherwise affected by a substantial conflict between the personal representativ…

Sec. 3714. (1) A person who in good faith either assists a personal representative or deals with the personal representative for value is protected as if the personal representative properly exercised a power. The fact that a person knowingly deals with a personal representative …

Sec. 3715. (1) Except as restricted or otherwise provided by the will or by an order in a formal proceeding, and subject to subsection (2) and to the priorities stated in section 3902, a personal representative, acting reasonably for the benefit of interested persons, may properl…

Sec. 3716. A successor personal representative has the same powers and duties as the original personal representative to complete the administration and distribution of the estate, as expeditiously as possible, but the successor personal representative shall not exercise a power …

Sec. 3717. If 2 or more persons are appointed personal corepresentatives and unless the will provides otherwise, the concurrence of all is required on an act connected with the estate's administration or distribution. This restriction does not apply if a personal corepresentative…

Sec. 3718. Unless the will provides otherwise, each power exercisable by personal corepresentatives may be exercised by the 1 or more remaining personal corepresentatives after the appointment of 1 or more is terminated. Unless the will provides otherwise, if 1 of 2 or more perso…

Sec. 3719. (1) A personal representative is entitled to reasonable compensation for services performed. A personal representative may pay the personal representative's own compensation periodically as earned without prior court approval. (2) If an attorney serves as personal repr…

Sec. 3720. If a personal representative or person nominated as personal representative defends or prosecutes a proceeding in good faith, whether successful or not, the personal representative is entitled to receive from the estate necessary expenses and disbursements including re…

Sec. 3721. After notice to all interested persons, on petition of an interested person, on appropriate motion if administration is supervised, or on the court's own motion, the court may review the propriety of employment of a person by a personal representative, including, but n…

Sec. 3722. (1) In response to an environmental concern or hazard, a personal representative may do any of the following: (a) Inspect property or the operation of a business activity on property held by the personal representative, including property held in or operated by a sole …

Sec. 3801. (1) Unless notice has already been given, upon appointment a personal representative shall publish, and a special personal representative may publish, a notice as provided by supreme court rule notifying estate creditors to present their claims within 4 months after th…

Sec. 3802. (1) Unless an estate is insolvent, the personal representative, with the consent of all interested persons whose interests would be affected, may waive a statute of limitations defense available to the estate. If a statute of limitations defense is not waived, a claim …

Sec. 3803. (1) A claim against a decedent's estate that arose before the decedent's death, including a claim of this state or a subdivision of this state, whether due or to become due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated, or based on contract, tort, or another lega…

Sec. 3804. (1) A claimant must present a claim against a decedent's estate in either of the following ways: (a) By delivering or mailing a written statement to the personal representative indicating the claim's basis, the claimant's name and address, and the amount claimed, or by…

Sec. 3805. (1) If the applicable estate property is insufficient to pay all claims and allowances in full, the personal representative shall make payment in the following order of priority: (a) Costs and expenses of administration. (b) Reasonable funeral and burial expenses. (c) …

Sec. 3806. (1) If a claim is presented in the manner described in section 3804 and within the time limit prescribed in section 3803, the personal representative may deliver or mail a notice to a claimant stating that the claim has been disallowed in whole or in part. If, after al…

Sec. 3807. (1) Upon the expiration of 4 months after the publication date of the notice to creditors, and after providing for administration costs and expenses, for reasonable funeral and burial expenses, for the homestead, family, and exempt property allowances, for claims alrea…

Sec. 3808. (1) Unless otherwise provided in the contract, a personal representative is not individually liable on a contract properly entered into in the personal representative's fiduciary capacity in the course of administration of the estate unless the personal representative …

Sec. 3809. A personal representative shall pay a secured claim on the basis of the amount allowed if the creditor surrenders the security. Otherwise, the personal representative shall pay on the basis of 1 of the following: (a) If the creditor exhausts the security before receivi…

Sec. 3810. (1) This section applies to a claim that will become due at a future time, a contingent claim, and an unliquidated claim. (2) If a claim becomes due or certain before distribution of the estate and if the claim has been allowed or established by a proceeding, the claim…

Sec. 3811. In allowing a claim, the personal representative may deduct a counterclaim that the estate has against the claimant. In determining a claim against an estate, the court shall reduce the amount allowed by the amount of a counterclaim and, if counterclaims exceed the cla…

Sec. 3812. An execution shall not issue upon nor shall a levy be made against estate property under a judgment against a decedent or personal representative. This section shall not be construed to prevent the enforcement of a mortgage, pledge, or lien upon property in an appropri…

Sec. 3813. If a claim against the estate is presented in the manner provided in section 3804 and it appears to be in the estate's best interest, the personal representative may settle the claim, whether due or not due, absolute or contingent, liquidated or unliquidated.

Sec. 3814. If property of the estate is encumbered by mortgage, pledge, lien, or other security interest and it appears to be in the estate's best interest, the personal representative may pay the encumbrance or a part of the encumbrance, renew or extend an obligation secured by …

Sec. 3815. (1) Estate property being administered in this state is subject to a claim, allowance, or charge existing or established against the personal representative wherever appointed. (2) If the estate, either in this state or as a whole, is insufficient to cover all family e…

Sec. 3901. In the absence of administration, the decedent's heirs and devisees are entitled to the estate in accordance with the terms of a probated will or the laws of intestate succession. A devisee may establish title by the probated will to devised property. An individual ent…

Sec. 3902. (1) Subject to subsections (2) and (3) and except as provided in section 2301(3) or 2302(1)(b)(iv), distributees' shares abate, without a preference or priority between real and personal property, in the following order: (a) Property not disposed of by the will. (b) Re…

Sec. 3903. The amount of a successor's noncontingent indebtedness to the estate if due, or its present value if not due, shall be offset against the successor's interest. However, the successor has the benefit of a defense that would be available to the successor in a direct proc…

Sec. 3904. Unless a contrary intent is indicated by the will, a general pecuniary devise bears interest at the legal rate beginning 1 year after the first appointment of a personal representative until payment.

Sec. 3905. In accordance with section 2518, a provision in a will purporting to penalize an interested person for contesting the will or instituting another proceeding relating to the estate shall not be given effect if probable cause exists for instituting a proceeding contestin…

Sec. 3906. (1) Unless the will indicates a contrary intention, the distributable property of a decedent's estate shall be distributed in kind to the extent possible through application of the following provisions: (a) A specific devisee is entitled to distribution of the property…

Sec. 3907. (1) This section governs a distribution in kind in satisfaction, wholly or partly, of a pecuniary bequest or transfer in trust of a pecuniary amount. (2) Whether a devise or transfer in trust is pecuniary in character depends upon the testator's or settlor's intention.…

Sec. 3908. After the probable charges against the estate are known, the personal representative may mail or deliver a proposal for distribution to all persons who have a right to object to the proposed distribution. The right of a distributee to object to the proposed distributio…

Sec. 3909. If distribution in kind is made, the personal representative shall execute an instrument or deed of distribution assigning, transferring, or releasing the property to the distributee as evidence of the distributee's title to the property.

Sec. 3910. Proof that a distributee has received an instrument or deed of distribution of property in kind, or payment in distribution, from a personal representative is conclusive evidence that the distributee has succeeded to the interest of the estate in the distributed proper…

Sec. 3911. Unless the distribution or payment no longer can be questioned because of adjudication, estoppel, or limitation, a distributee of property that is improperly distributed or paid, or a claimant that is improperly paid, is liable to return the property improperly receive…

Sec. 3912. (1) If property distributed in kind or a security interest in that property is acquired for value by a purchaser from or lender to a distributee who has received an instrument or deed of distribution from the personal representative, or is so acquired by a purchaser fr…

Sec. 3913. If 2 or more heirs or devisees are entitled to distribution of an undivided interest in estate property, the personal representative or 1 or more of the heirs or devisees may petition the court to make partition before the formal or informal closing of the estate. Afte…

Sec. 3914. (1) Subject to the rights of creditors and taxing authorities, competent successors may agree among themselves to alter the interests, shares, or amounts to which they are entitled under the will of the decedent, or under the laws of intestacy, in any way that they pro…

Sec. 3915. (1) Before distributing to a trustee, the personal representative may require that the trust be registered if the state in which it is to be administered provides for registration and that the trustee inform the beneficiaries as provided in section 7814. (2) If the ter…

Sec. 3916. (1) In exchange for suitable receipts and following a court order if the administration is supervised, a fiduciary making final distribution shall deposit with the county treasurer the money or personal property the fiduciary has that belongs to any of the following: (…

Sec. 3917. (1) The county treasurer shall receive and safely keep money deposited under authority of this act in a separate fund and keep a separate account for each distributee or claim. The county treasurer shall deposit the money in a county depository at the current rate of i…

Sec. 3918. (1) A personal representative may discharge the personal representative's obligation to distribute to an individual under legal disability by distributing in a manner expressly provided in the will. (2) Unless contrary to an express provision in the will, the personal …