{"data":{"id":"us-mi/mich.-comp.-laws-700.3401","jurisdiction":"us-mi","citation":"Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.3401","heading":"Formal testacy proceedings; nature; commencement.","body":"Sec. 3401.\n\nA formal testacy proceeding is litigation to determine whether a decedent left a valid will. An interested person or a person that has a right or cause of action that cannot be enforced without administration may commence a formal testacy proceeding by filing 1 of the following:\n\nA petition described in section 3402(1) in which the petitioner requests that after notice and hearing, the court enter an order probating a will.\n\nA petition to set aside a will's informal probate or to prevent a will's informal probate that is the subject of a pending application.\n\nA petition in accordance with section 3402(2) for an order that the decedent died intestate.\n\nA petitioner may seek formal probate of a will without regard to whether the same or a conflicting will has been informally probated. A formal testacy proceeding may, but need not, involve a request for appointment of a personal representative.\n\nDuring the pendency of a formal testacy proceeding, the register shall not act upon an application for informal probate of a will of the decedent or an application for informal appointment of a personal representative of the decedent.\n\nUnless a petition in a formal testacy proceeding also requests confirmation of the previous informal appointment, after receipt of notice of the commencement of a formal probate proceeding, a previously appointed personal representative shall refrain from exercising the power to make any further distribution of the estate during the pendency of the formal proceeding. A petitioner who seeks the appointment of a different personal representative in a formal proceeding may also request an order restraining the acting personal representative from exercising that office's powers and may request the appointment of a special personal representative. In the absence of a request under this subsection or if the request is denied, the commencement of a formal proceeding has no effect on the powers and duties of a previously appointed personal representative other than those relating to distribution.","path":["MI Code","Chapter 700","Act Act-386-of-1998"],"source_url":"https://www.legislature.mi.gov/Laws/MCL?objectName=mcl-700-3401","current_through":"2026-08-14","vintage":"open-us-law v2026.08, retrieved 2026-09-14","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T18:32:31Z","sha256":"ec8279c6856cbfdd5188abea5092bd48fd39024d143fb2383a6cb3ce6f077694","source_id":"us-mi","stale":false,"prev":"us-mi/mich.-comp.-laws-700.3311","next":"us-mi/mich.-comp.-laws-700.3402"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}