Michigan Laws 700.3403 – Formal testacy proceedings; notice of hearing on petition
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Terms Used In Michigan Laws 700.3403
- Attorney: means , if appointed to represent a child under the provisions referenced in section 5213, an attorney serving as the child's legal advocate in the manner defined and described in section 13a of chapter XIIA of the probate code of 1939, 1939 PA 288, MCL 712A. See Michigan Laws 700.1103
- Court: means the probate court or, when applicable, the family division of circuit court. See Michigan Laws 700.1103
- Decedent: A deceased person.
- Estate: includes the property of the decedent, trust, or other person whose affairs are subject to this act as the property is originally constituted and as it exists throughout administration. See Michigan Laws 700.1104
- Heir: means , except as controlled by section 2720, a person, including the surviving spouse or the state, that is entitled under the statutes of intestate succession to a decedent's property. See Michigan Laws 700.1104
- Intestate: Dying without leaving a will.
- Person: means an individual or an organization. See Michigan Laws 700.1106
- Personal representative: includes , but is not limited to, an executor, administrator, successor personal representative, and special personal representative, and any other person, other than a trustee of a trust subject to article VII, who performs substantially the same function under the law governing that person's status. See Michigan Laws 700.1106
- Petition: means a written request to the court for an order after notice. See Michigan Laws 700.1106
- Probate: Proving a will
- Proceeding: includes an application and a petition, and may be an action at law or a suit in equity. See Michigan Laws 700.1106
- Trust: includes , but is not limited to, an express trust, private or charitable, with additions to the trust, wherever and however created. See Michigan Laws 700.1107
(1) Upon commencement of a formal testacy proceeding, the court shall fix a time and place of hearing. The petitioner shall give notice in the manner prescribed by section 1401 to each of the following persons:
(a) The decedent‘s heirs.
(b) The devisees and personal representatives named in a will that is being, or has been, probated or offered for informal or formal probate in the county, or that is known by the petitioner to have been probated or offered for informal or formal probate elsewhere.
(c) A personal representative of the decedent whose appointment has not been terminated.
(d) A person who has filed a demand for notice under section 3205.
(e) The trustee of a trust described in section 7605(1) as to which the decedent was settlor.
(2) Notice may be given to other persons. In addition, the petitioner shall give notice by publication to each unknown person and to each known person whose address is unknown who has an interest in the matters being litigated. If the proceeding involves a request for appointment of a personal representative and it appears that the deceased died intestate without leaving a known heir, the petitioner shall give notice to the attorney general, public administration division.
(3) If it appears by the petition or otherwise that the fact of the decedent’s death may be in doubt, or on the written demand of an interested person, a copy of the notice of the hearing on the petition shall be sent by registered mail to the alleged decedent at his or her last known address. The court shall direct the petitioner to report the results of, or make and report back concerning, a reasonably diligent search for the alleged decedent in any manner that may seem advisable, including by any of the following methods:
(a) Inserting in 1 or more suitable periodicals a notice requesting information from anyone having knowledge of the alleged decedent’s whereabouts.
(b) Notifying law enforcement officials and public welfare agencies in appropriate locations of the alleged decedent’s disappearance.
(c) Engaging an investigator’s services.
(4) The costs of a search conducted under subsection (3) shall be paid by the petitioner if there is no administration or by the decedent’s estate if there is administration.