Lapeer County Probate Court - Informal Estates of Decedents

PROBATE COURT

Supervised Estates of Decedents

Supervised Estates




Supervised administration of an estate is available in some limited circumstances and provides for close oversight by the court over the probate process. Supervised administration requires the Personal Representative to get court approval before taking many actions and a supervised Personal Representative may not make distributions from the estate without prior court order. Only a very small percentage of decedents estates go through supervised proceedings.

Opening a Informal Estate Proceeding

The very first step is determining in which county the estate proceedings should be filed. This is referred to as the proper venue for a proceeding. MCL 700.1302 (a) defines proper venue as being the county where the decedent was domiciled at the time of death or, if the decedent was domiciled outside of Michigan, in a county where the decedent's property was located at the time of death. Venue provisions for supervised and unsupervised proceedings are identical.

Michigan law provides that only an "interested person" may petition the court to begin an informal probate of an estate as defined in MCR 5.125(c)(1) and discussed in more detain in the informal proceedings section.

Unlike unsupervised administration, supervised administration may only be granted by the court if it finds it is necessary regardless of whether the decedent's will does not direct supervised administration, or in any other case MCL 700.3502

Any interested person may file a petition for supervised administration at any time, and any unsupervised administration may be changed to a supervised administration. Interested persons and notice requirements are the same for supervised administration as for unsupervised administration. The procedure and burdens of proof at a hearing regarding supervised administration are the same as those for unsupervised administration.

The forms which must be field with or presented to the Probate Court to commence a formal proceeding are:

Petition for Probate and/or Appointment of Personal Representative (Testate/Intestate PC 559)

Testimony of Interested Persons (PC 565)

Supplemental Testimony of Interested Persons Testate Estate (PC 566) if applicable

Original Will if any

Death Certificate

$150.00 Filing Fee

Duties of Personal Representative

The following documents must be prepared by the individual that is requesting to be personal representative.

Acceptance of Appointment (PC 571)

Letters of Authority for Personal Representative (PC 572)

Order of Appointing (PC 569)

Signature on the order officially begins the probate administration process. The court must determine the decedent's heirs in all formal proceedings. MCL 700.3409

The duties of the Personal Representative in Supervised Administration include all duties required in unsupervised administration, whether formal or informal proceedings. However, in Supervised Administration the Personal Representative is also responsible for fling an Inventory (PC 577) an Account (PC 583), a Notice of appointment and Duties of Personal Representative (PC 581), Notice to Spouse of Rights of Election and Allowances, Proof of Service and Election (PC 581), an affidavit of any required publication, Notice to Creditors (PC 574) and Publication of Notice of Hearing (PC 563). Proof of Service for all documents served (PC 5564).

The Personal Representative must close the estate by filing a Petition for Complete Estate Settlement, Testacy Previous Adjudicated (PC 593) along with Final Account & Schedule of Distribution (PC 596). Supervised administration is terminated by the order issued by the court directing complete estate distribution and discharging the personal representative. Final distributions will generally be made after the order is entered.

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