Michigan Estate & Inheritance Tax

What the Michigan Estate Data Reveals

Michigan imposes no state estate tax, so federal law under IRC § 2001 is the only estate-level levy that applies. With the federal exemption at $13,990,000 per decedent in 2025, the vast majority of Michigan estates clear probate without owing estate tax at any level — though the scheduled 2026 sunset of the TCJA could cut that exemption roughly in half. There is no separate inheritance tax, so beneficiaries receive their share without a second state-level deduction at distribution.

IRS Statistics of Income data show 157 federal estate tax returns filed by Michigan residents in the most recent available year (filing year 2023), reporting $7.30 billion in combined gross estate value. Net federal estate tax paid totaled $0.68 billion that year. Across the multi-year IRS SOI series above, Michigan averages roughly 142 taxable filings per year, with an effective federal rate on reported gross estates of about 10.8%.

Probate itself typically runs 6–12 months in Michigan (roughly 9 months on average), with court filing fees of $25–$600. Attorney fees are negotiated rather than statutory, so engagement letters and hourly-vs-flat structures matter more to the total bill. Michigan does offer a simplified small-estate track for estates under $15,000, which most families use to bypass full formal probate. Because Michigan has adopted the Uniform Probate Code (since 1979), procedures are broadly standardized across counties. As a common-law (separate property) state, Michigan treats each spouse's holdings individually unless jointly titled, so titling choices drive what actually enters the probate estate.