End-of-Year Estate Planning Checklist for Michigan

Fourth quarter has a way of prompting the conversations families put off all year. Everyone is together, someone mentions a neighbor whose estate turned into a mess, and the topic finally comes up.

 

Use that momentum. Most of the items below take an afternoon.

 

1. Find the Documents and Read Them

 

Locate the original will, trust, powers of attorney, and deeds. Confirm that the people named still make sense and are still living and willing to serve. A plan drafted a decade ago may name a personal representative who has since moved out of state or passed away.

 

2. Confirm the Trust Is Actually Funded

 

This is the single most common gap we see. A revocable living trust does not avoid the probate court on assets that were never transferred into it. Check the titling on your home, your bank accounts, and your investment accounts.

 

3. Review Every Beneficiary Designation

 

Retirement accounts, life insurance, annuities, and payable-on-death accounts pass by beneficiary form, not by your will. Pull the current forms and read them. Designations naming a former spouse or a deceased parent are common, and correcting them takes minutes.

 

4. Refresh Your Powers of Attorney

 

Michigan adopted the Uniform Power of Attorney Act, and powers of attorney executed on or after July 1, 2024 are presumed durable unless the document states otherwise. Older documents generally remain valid, but banks and hospitals scrutinize dated paperwork. A current durable power of attorney and patient advocate designation reduce friction at the exact moment your family cannot afford any.

 

5. Look at the Deeds

 

Real estate is where good plans quietly fail. Verify how each property is titled, whether a Lady Bird deed or trust transfer is in place, and whether the recorded legal description matches what you believe you own.

 

6. Update Guardian Nominations

 

If you have minor children, confirm that the guardian named in your will is still the right choice. Circumstances change faster than documents do.

 

7. Know the 2026 Numbers

 

A few figures worth having in mind:

• The federal estate and gift tax exemption is $15 million per person and $30 million per married couple for 2026, made permanent by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
• The annual gift tax exclusion remains $19,000 per recipient.
• Michigan imposes no state estate tax and no state inheritance tax.

For most Michigan families, this means federal estate tax is not the concern. Probate court, incapacity, and clarity are.

 

A Scenario We See Often

 

A couple signs a trust, funds the house into it, and then refinances several years later. The lender takes the property out of the trust to close the loan, and nobody puts it back. Nothing looks wrong until it matters, and by then the house is headed to probate. A short review would have caught it.

 

Make the Call Before the Calendar Fills

 

December schedules tighten quickly, and estate planning is one of those tasks that is easy to move to next year for the fifth year running.

 

Whether your plan needs a fresh look or you have been meaning to create one, this is a good time to start. Call our office at (248) 466-0303 or use our contact page to schedule a review.