$53,000 for 2026, indexed every year
One path can include the house — a rare feature
Michigan runs two distinct small-estate tracks. The Transfer by Affidavit (MCL 700.3983) stays personal property only, no court, available 28 days after death. The Petition and Order for Assignment (MCL 700.3982, Form PC 556) is a court process that has included real property since a 2024 law change — liens on that real property are deductible up to $264,000 for 2026, so a mortgaged house often still qualifies even though its market value exceeds $53,000.
The court order ignores the will
The Petition and Order for Assignment distributes the estate's assets first to pay any unpaid funeral and burial expenses, then to the surviving spouse or, if there is none, to the heirs under intestate succession — regardless of what a valid will actually says. No will is admitted to probate through this procedure at all.
Neither path appoints anyone
No Letters of Authority are issued and no personal representative is appointed through either small-estate track — a genuine contrast with full probate, where someone is formally put in charge.
Statewide threshold, county-by-county filing
Wayne, Oakland, and Kent County each process their own Petition and Order for Assignment filings, but the $53,000 threshold and lien-deduction cap apply identically statewide.