Your state’s pack. New issues arrive periodically on Mondays. Bookmark it. I built this for the Michigan T&E solo who knows the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC, Michigan’s UPC) cold but still loses an afternoon a week hunting the current homestead number, the Michigan Medicaid (MDHHS) slot posture, whether the latest State Bar of Michigan (RI-opinions) guidance changes how you scope an engagement, or whether a recent Michigan Court of Appeals decision just moved the law on capacity, undue influence, or a trustee’s duties. What’s below is what mattered in Michigan lately — the week’s developments and the recent rulings from the bench.
For licensed attorneys. This pack is general legal information and professional commentary for practicing attorneys — it is not legal advice, does not apply to any specific matter, and creates no attorney-client relationship. Verify every authority against the cited primary source before relying on it with a client. Published by Mike Moss, a Utah-admitted attorney, as an AI-enablement information product; it is not an offer of legal services and is not a representation that the author is admitted to practice in your jurisdiction.
Three developments from the last seven days that I think actually matter to a Michigan T&E solo. Each one has a read that lands on your practice specifically — and each one comes with the citation so you can verify the detail yourself before you use it with a client.
The State Treasurer’s January 30, 2026 EPIC notice sets the 2026 inflation-adjusted amounts: homestead allowance (MCL 700.2102) $301,000 / $201,000, exempt property (MCL 700.2405) $36,000, and the small-estate / summary thresholds under MCL 700.3982–3983 now $53,000 (with a $264,000 cap). These directly reset spousal-allowance and small-estate planning numbers for 2026 estates.
Because EPIC dollar figures reset every year by a Treasury notice, a number that was right last year can be wrong today. The small-estate threshold in particular reshapes which estates can skip formal probate — pull the January 30, 2026 notice and update your intake worksheets and summary-administration screens off the primary source, not a secondary summary.
Mich. Treasury EPIC notice (Jan. 30, 2026); MCL 700.2102 / 700.2405 / 700.3982–3983 · michigan.gov/treasury · EPIC notice
The Treasurer’s companion January 30, 2026 notice raises the MCL 600.5451(1)(m) homestead exemption to $51,150 (general) / $76,725 (debtor or dependent 65+ or disabled), reflecting a 10.89% three-year Detroit CPI change, effective for cases filed on or after April 1, 2026. The bankruptcy homestead indexes on a three-year cycle, separate from the annual EPIC adjustment.
Two different clocks. The bankruptcy homestead moves every three years; the EPIC figures move every year — so verify against the latest Treasury notice each time rather than carrying a number forward. For any client weighing a bankruptcy filing around the home, the April 1, 2026 step-up changes the exempt equity and can change the filing-timing advice.
MCL 600.5451(1)(m); Mich. Treasury bankruptcy notice (Jan. 30, 2026) · michigan.gov/treasury · bankruptcy notice
2024 PA 1 (effective February 21, 2024) raised the EPIC small-estate / summary figures from $15,000 to $50,000 and switched them to the ‘2023 cost-of-living adjustment factor.’ The 2026 Treasury notice now indexes them to $53,000, confirming the reform is operating and adjusting on schedule for 2026 estates.
A materially larger band of Michigan estates now qualifies for small-estate / summary administration than did two years ago. Re-screen pending and prospective matters against the $53,000 figure — estates you previously routed to formal probate on the old $15,000 line may now clear the simplified path, saving the family time and cost.
2024 PA 1; MCL 700.3982–3983 (indexed to $53,000 for 2026) · legislature.mi.gov · MCL 700
Decisions from the courts that bind a Michigan practitioner — the Michigan Supreme Court and the Michigan Court of Appeals, the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern and Western Districts of Michigan, and the Sixth Circuit — read for what actually changes how you draft, advise, and plan. Trusts and estates broadly, not Medicaid alone: wills and capacity, undue influence, fiduciary duty, trust construction, and estate recovery. One read, the holding, and the official cite.
Across the Michigan Supreme Court, the Michigan Court of Appeals, the U.S. district court(s) covering Michigan, and the relevant federal circuit, no qualifying trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision has been identified for publication this period. Per the lane’s no-invent rule, this row says so plainly rather than inflating a holding.
Nothing to re-paper from the bench this period; controlling authority is unchanged.
Awaiting verified weekly signal — CourtListener used for discovery only, never cited as authority.
This slot holds the next significant trusts-and-estates or estate-recovery decision from Michigan’s appellate courts or the federal courts covering Michigan. The lane reads each opinion before it lands here, and reads-and-discards Medicaid program/provider litigation as not T&E. When the trailing window has no new ruling, this row says so plainly rather than inventing one.
Nothing to re-paper from the bench this period; controlling authority unchanged.
Awaiting verified weekly signal — CourtListener used for discovery only, never cited as authority.
This week in Michigan for the T&E solo with Michigan Medicaid clients: the developments from the State Bar of Michigan (Probate & Estate Planning Section) and MDHHS (Michigan Medicaid) that actually moved your practice this period — each one primary-source verified.
Bar and Medicaid changes land on different schedules and aren't indexed by practice focus. Every item here was checked against its primary source, with the link, so you can verify before relying on it.