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Michigan Lady Bird Deed

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Updated August 13, 2025

A Michigan lady bird deed, or enhanced life estate deed, is a legal document that allows an owner to automatically transfer their property to someone else upon their death.[1] The owner remains able to lease, sell, mortgage, or benefit financially from the property during their lifetime.[2]

How to File

  • Recording: Must be conducted at a Registry of Deeds office.[3]
  • Signing: Must be in blue or black ink and acknowledged by a notary public.[4]
  • Margins: 2.5 inches from the top of the first page and 0.5 inches from all sides on subsequent pages.[5]
  • Required Information:[3]
    • Preparer’s Name & Address: The person or business who drafted the deed.
    • Grantor’s Name (current owner): This must also be printed under their signature.
    • Grantee Beneciary’s Name & Address: The person who will be inheriting the property.
    • Social Security Number (SSN): If social security numbers are included to identify the parties, do not include more than four sequential numbers.

Main Benefits

  • Maintain Control: An owner retains the right to sell, lease, or finance the property while living on it.[6]
  • Revocable: Includes the right to amend or revoke the deed during the owner’s lifetime.[7]
  • Avoids Probate: Qualifies as a non-probate transfer.[8][9]
  • Preserve Residence Exemption: If the property is a homestead, it remains an unaccountable asset.[10]
  • Medicaid Recovery: Lady bird deeds are approved by the Michigan Dept. of Health & Human Services (which oversees Medicaid) to preserve the owner’s property while allowing it to pass to their heirs without estate recovery.[10]
  • Estate Creditors: The transfer of property is outside the creditors of the estate.[10] However, any liens or mortgages on the property (directly) will remain the debts of the new owner (after the grantor’s death).[11]

Sample

Download: PDF, MS Word, ODT

Sources

  1. Michigan PRE Guidelines – Updated 2022 (Page 10)
  2. Michigan BAR: Ladybird deeds: Key features and uses
  3. MCL Section 565.201(1)
  4. MCL Section 565.201(1)(c)
  5. MCL Section 565.201(1)(i)
  6. Estate of Gloria Jean Taulbee v. Amy Lynn Taulbee (2024)
  7. In re Conservatorship of Barbara A. Greer (2023)
  8. MCL Section 700.6101(1)
  9. BPG Glossary (Page 38)
  10. Michigan BAR: Ladybird Deeds – Purposes and Usefulness
  11. Thompson Legal – What Happens to Your Mortgage in Michigan When You Pass Away?