Michigan: Transfer-on-Death Deed Requirements

Michigan is one of the states that does not have a transfer-on-death deed for real
estate. It never adopted the Uniform Real Property Transfer on Death Act, so there is no
statute that lets you record a deed now naming who inherits your house automatically at
your death. Some websites loosely call Michigan's substitute a "transfer-on-death deed,"
but that is not what it is — Michigan has no TOD-deed statute, and a document titled
"transfer on death deed" is not a recognized Michigan instrument.

What Michigan uses instead is close enough that most people get the same result. The tool
Michigan lawyers reach for is the Lady Bird deed, and it works well precisely because
of a quirk in how Michigan runs its Medicaid estate recovery.

What Michigan offers instead

The Lady Bird deed (enhanced life estate deed). This is Michigan's closest equivalent
to a TOD deed. You deed the property to your chosen beneficiary now but reserve an
"enhanced" life estate — you keep the right to live in, sell, mortgage, lease, or give
away the property during your life, and to revoke the deed, all without the
beneficiary's consent. The beneficiary has no present interest and cannot stop you. When
you die, whatever interest you still hold passes to the beneficiary automatically, with no
probate. Michigan courts have upheld this arrangement, and Michigan Land Title Standard
9.3 describes the owner's interest as a "life estate with power to convey," treating the
reserved power as a power of appointment under Michigan's Powers of Appointment Act.
Under that Act, § 556.115, a power to convey is exercised "by a written instrument that
would be sufficient to pass the interest intended to be appointed if the donee were the
owner of the interest" — which is why the owner keeps full power to sell or mortgage during
life, and why the "gift over" to the named beneficiary takes effect only if that power was
never used.

A Lady Bird deed is signed and recorded like any other Michigan deed. Under the recording
statute, § 565.201, an instrument must carry the owner's legibly printed name beneath
the signature, be acknowledged (the statute refers to "the acknowledgment or jurat on the
instrument" and to the notary public's signature), and meet the format and margin rules —
but Michigan requires no witnesses to record a deed. You revoke a Lady Bird deed by
recording a new deed.

A revocable living trust. You move the home into a trust you control and can change or
revoke at any time; a successor trustee distributes it at your death without probate. A
trust costs more to set up but can hold many assets, name backup beneficiaries, and plan
for incapacity — things a single deed cannot.

Survivorship co-ownership. Property held as joint tenants with right of survivorship,
or by a married couple as tenants by the entireties, passes to the surviving co-owner
outside probate. But adding a co-owner is a present gift of an interest and exposes the
property to that person's creditors, so it is a blunter tool than a Lady Bird deed.

Michigan clearly knows how to create a transfer-on-death mechanism — it enacted one for
securities. Under § 700.6307, part of Michigan's Estates and Protected Individuals
Code, stocks and brokerage accounts registered in "beneficiary form" pass at the owner's
death to the surviving beneficiary without probate. But that provision is limited to
securities; the Legislature has never extended the same idea to real property.

Michigan Medicaid and the Lady Bird deed

The reason the Lady Bird deed is so widely used in Michigan is Medicaid. If Michigan pays
for a person's long-term care, the state can later seek repayment from that person's estate
after death under the Michigan Medicaid Estate Recovery Program, § 400.112g. But
Michigan recovers only from assets that pass through probate. A properly drafted Lady
Bird deed passes the home outside probate, so it is generally beyond the reach of estate
recovery — which is why elder-law attorneys favor it over an outright gift (an outright
transfer can trigger a Medicaid penalty period; a Lady Bird deed generally does not, because
you keep control).

Two cautions. First, the statute has its own limits and exceptions: § 400.112g(6) already
bars recovery from a home while the recipient's spouse, or a minor or disabled child, is
lawfully living there, among other protections. Second, Medicaid eligibility and
estate-recovery rules are technical and change; the probate-only scope is a feature of how
Michigan administers the program, not a guarantee for every situation. Talk to an elder-law
attorney before relying on a Lady Bird deed for Medicaid planning.

What trips people up

• A form labeled "transfer on death deed" is not a Michigan instrument. Out-of-state
  TOD-deed forms and online templates that recite a "Michigan Transfer-on-Death Deed Act"
  are describing a statute that does not exist. Recording one can cloud your title without
  accomplishing the transfer. The Michigan tool is the enhanced life estate (Lady Bird)
  deed.
• Get the enhanced-life-estate language right. Leaving out the reserved powers to sell,
  mortgage, and revoke turns a Lady Bird deed into a traditional life estate — which
  freezes your control, requires the beneficiary's consent to sell or mortgage, and is the
  opposite of what you wanted. The reserved-powers wording is the whole point of the tool.
• Property-tax "uncapping" and spousal issues. A transfer at death can affect the
  property's taxable value, and transfers to close relatives are treated differently than
  transfers to others; if you own the home with a spouse as tenants by the entireties, the
  spouse generally must join in the deed. Sort these out before recording.

Common questions

I signed a "transfer on death deed" for my Michigan house. Is it good? Not as a TOD
deed — Michigan has no statute that gives such a deed effect for real estate. Have a
Michigan attorney review it and, if appropriate, replace it with a properly drafted Lady
Bird deed or a trust while you can.

Is a Lady Bird deed the same as a regular life estate deed? No. A traditional life
estate deed gives up your right to sell or mortgage without the remainder beneficiary's
consent. A Lady Bird (enhanced life estate) deed reserves those powers, so you keep full
control — that reserved-powers language is what separates the two.

Will a Lady Bird deed keep my home safe from Medicaid? It is the standard Michigan tool
for that goal, because Michigan's estate recovery reaches only probate assets and a Lady
Bird deed passes the home outside probate. But the rules are technical and can change, and
the deed does not protect the home from every claim — confirm with an elder-law attorney.

Could Michigan add a TOD deed later? Possibly — most states now allow them — but no
Michigan bill to create one is pending. Until the Legislature acts, the Lady Bird deed and
the living trust remain the tools.

Statutes and sources

• Mich. Comp. Laws § 565.201 (recording requirements: printed name, acknowledgment before a notary, format — no witnesses required) — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-565-201 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Mich. Comp. Laws § 556.115 (Powers of Appointment Act of 1967: how a retained power to convey is exercised — the statutory hook for the Lady Bird deed) — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-556-115 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.6307 (EPIC: securities registered in beneficiary form pass at death — Michigan's TOD mechanism, limited to securities) — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-700-6307 (accessed 2026-07-11)
• Mich. Comp. Laws § 400.112g (Michigan Medicaid Estate Recovery Program; residence exemptions in subsection (6)) — https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-400-112g (accessed 2026-07-11)