How to Create a Michigan Estate Plan Without an Attorney

You can build a legally complete Michigan estate plan yourself if your situation is straightforward — meaning no business interests, no taxable estate, and no anticipated family disputes. Michigan's Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC) doesn't require attorney involvement for any standard estate planning document. Here's the step-by-step process.

Step 1: Take Inventory of Every Asset You Own

Before choosing any documents, map every asset to its current ownership structure. This determines which assets will go through probate and which won't:

Already bypasses probate (no action needed):

• Retirement accounts (401k, IRA) with named beneficiaries
• Life insurance policies with named beneficiaries
• Joint bank accounts with right of survivorship
• POD (payable on death) or TOD (transfer on death) accounts

Will go through probate unless you act:

• Solely owned real estate (your home, if titled only in your name)
• Solely owned bank accounts without POD designation
• Vehicles titled in your name only
• Personal property (jewelry, art, collectibles)

Most Michigan families discover that 60% to 80% of their assets already bypass probate through beneficiary designations. The planning work focuses on the remaining 20% to 40%.

Step 2: Choose Your Probate-Avoidance Tools

For your home (typically the largest probate-exposed asset), Michigan offers a tool most states don't: the Lady Bird deed. Under Land Title Standard 9.3, this Enhanced Life Estate Deed transfers your property at death without probate while you retain full control — including the right to sell, mortgage, or revoke the deed.

Recording a Lady Bird deed with your county Register of Deeds costs $30 for the first page plus $3 per additional page. Compare that to a revocable living trust ($2,000–$3,500 through an attorney) that accomplishes the same goal with more ongoing maintenance.

For bank accounts and investment accounts, add POD or TOD designations — a free form at your financial institution.

Step 3: Draft Your Will Under MCL 700.2502

Even with probate-avoidance tools in place, you need a will to catch anything that falls through the cracks. Michigan requires:

• The testator must be 18 or older and of sound mind
• The will must be in writing
• Signed by the testator (or someone signing at the testator's direction and in their presence)
• Witnessed by two people who sign in the testator's presence

Make it self-proving under MCL 700.2504 by adding a self-proving affidavit — a notarized statement from you and your witnesses that eliminates the need for witnesses to appear in court during probate. This is optional but saves your family significant time and complication.

Michigan does recognize holographic (handwritten) wills under MCL 700.2502(2), but they require the material portions and signature to be in the testator's handwriting and create more room for challenge. A typed, witnessed, self-proving will is always the stronger choice.

Step 4: Complete Your Patient Advocate Designation

This is the document most people get wrong when using national templates. Michigan does not use "healthcare proxy" or "medical power of attorney" — the legally operative document is the Patient Advocate Designation under MCL 700.5506.

Key requirements that generic forms miss:

• Must be signed by two witnesses who are not your spouse, parent, child, grandchild, sibling, or presumptive heir
• Must include a specific statement that "This designation shall not become effective unless and until I am unable to participate in medical treatment decisions"
• Can include end-of-life preferences and organ donation wishes in the same document
• Your Patient Advocate cannot be your treating healthcare provider or an employee of your treating facility

Without this document, medical decisions during your incapacity go to the probate court — not your spouse, not your children, the court.

Step 5: Sign a Durable Financial Power of Attorney

Your Patient Advocate handles medical decisions. Your durable financial power of attorney handles money: paying bills, managing investments, filing taxes, and handling real estate transactions if you become incapacitated.

Under MCL 700.5501, a durable power of attorney must include language stating the power is not affected by your subsequent disability or incapacity. Without that clause, the power of attorney dies when you need it most.

Step 6: Nominate Guardians for Minor Children

If you have children under 18, nominate a guardian under MCL 700.5202. Without a nomination, a probate judge who has never met your family decides who raises your kids.

You can nominate guardians in your will or in a separate signed document. Name a backup in case your first choice can't serve. Also consider who will manage any inherited money — the guardian of the person (physical care) and the guardian of the estate (financial management) can be different people.

Step 7: Align Everything

This is where most DIY plans fail. You've drafted the documents, but they don't work together:

• Your will leaves everything to your spouse, but your retirement account still names your ex from a prior marriage
• You signed a Lady Bird deed for your home, but your other real property (a cottage, a vacant lot) is still solely owned
• Your POD accounts name your three children equally, but your will leaves one child a larger share

Go asset by asset and verify that every beneficiary designation, joint titling, and transfer-on-death instruction matches your overall intent.

The Michigan Basic Estate Planning Kit includes a non-probate transfer strategy map that walks through this alignment process for every asset type, plus standalone printable worksheets for Lady Bird deeds, Patient Advocate Designations, and the self-proving affidavit — all with Michigan-specific instructions and current 2026 thresholds.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Using a national template for your Patient Advocate Designation. Michigan's witness restrictions are different from most states. If a prohibited person witnesses the document, it's void.

Forgetting about digital assets. Michigan hasn't adopted the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access to Digital Assets Act, so your executor's access to email, social media, and cloud storage depends on what you authorize in your estate plan.

Not recording your Lady Bird deed. A signed but unrecorded deed is legally effective between the parties, but your heirs will have title issues that delay everything a Lady Bird deed was supposed to prevent.

Ignoring Medicaid lookback timing. If you're over 60 or have a family history of long-term care needs, the 5-year Medicaid lookback period means your planning decisions today affect eligibility five years from now.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need a notary for a Michigan will?

Not for the will itself — Michigan requires two witnesses but does not require notarization of the will. However, adding a self-proving affidavit (MCL 700.2504) does require notarization and eliminates the need for witnesses to testify in court during probate. It's worth the $5–$15 notary fee.

Can I use an online will service for Michigan?

You can, but verify that the service produces Michigan-compliant documents — particularly the Patient Advocate Designation with the correct witness restrictions and the specific EPIC language. Most national platforms produce generic healthcare directives that aren't valid Patient Advocate Designations under MCL 700.5506.

How often should I update my Michigan estate plan?

Review annually and update after any major life event: marriage, divorce, birth of a child, death of a beneficiary, major asset purchase, or moving to or from Michigan. At minimum, verify that all beneficiary designations on financial accounts still match your current intent.

What's the biggest risk of doing estate planning myself?

Missing the coordination step. Individual documents are straightforward — the risk is in the gaps between them. A will that says one thing while your beneficiary designations say another creates a conflict your family has to resolve in court.

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