Sec. 17.
The state treasurer shall furnish to each judge of probate a book, which shall be a public record, in which the judge of probate shall enter a formal order containing the name of every decedent upon whose estate letters of administration or letters testamentary or ancillary letters have issued, the date of death, and place of residence at the time of death of the decedent, the names, places of residence and relationship to the decedent of his or her heirs at law, in case the decedent died intestate or left estate not disposed of by will; the names, places of residence, and relationship to the decedent of the legatees and devisees in the will of the decedent, in case the decedent died testate, the ages of all life tenants and beneficiaries under life estates, the clear market value of the decedent's real and personal property, the clear market value of the property, real and personal, passing to each heir, legatee and devisee, and the clear market value of annuities, life estates, terms of years, and other property of the decedent, or given by the decedent in his or her will and otherwise, as fixed and determined by the judge of probate, and the amount of tax assessed thereon, and the amount of tax assessed on the share of each heir, legatee and devisee, when from the records of the court or the testimony given there appears to be property in such estate liable to tax under this act. However, a description of real estate need not be given unless the real estate is taxable under this act, in which case a sufficiently definite description shall be given to fully identify the taxable real estate and the persons to whom the several parcels are devised. The judge of probate shall also enter in the book the name, date of death, and place of residence at time of death of every decedent, grantor, vendor or donor who has made a transfer of property in contemplation of death or intended to take effect in possession or enjoyment at or after his or her death, subject to tax under this act; the name and residence of the grantee, vendee or donee and his or her relationship to the grantor, vendor or donor, the clear market value as determined by the judge of probate of the property so transferred by him or her and the tax determined by the court payable thereon. These entries shall be made from data contained in the papers filed in the probate court and testimony taken in any proceedings relating to the estate of the decedent. The judge of probate shall also enter in the book the amount of the real and personal property of the decedent as shown by the inventory thereof when made and filed in his or her office. If the judge of probate determines the amount of tax to be paid upon any legacies or devises or upon the real estate of a decedent or upon the estate of the decedent as a whole before the final determination of the tax by him or her, only such entries need be made in the book in that particular case as refer to the partial determination, and it shall be distinctly stated in the book that it is but a partial determination by the judge of probate of the tax due from the estate. Whenever the determination of the tax in such estate by the judge of probate is general, partial or final, the deductions made by the judge of probate from the full value of the estate shall be particularly specified, so that the several reasons for the deductions made clearly appear upon the record. The record required to be furnished by the state treasurer shall be in the following form, and shall be of such size and so arranged as he or she determines will best meet the requirements of this act:
Abstract of Taxable Inheritances. Vol. No. ............... Page No. ...............
| State of Michigan. |
| The Probate Court for the County of ......................... |
At a session of said court held at ......................, in said county the ................... day of ................, A.D. ....
Present, The Honorable ............................, Probate Judge.
In the matter of the inheritance tax upon transfers in the estate of ...................., deceased.
In this matter it being represented to me and appearing that the said deceased was, at the time of his or her death on the .................... day of ..................., a resident of ........................... and possessed property the transfer of which or some interest or estate therein is taxable under the Michigan estate tax act, 1899 PA 188, MCL 205.201 to 205.256; that ............... of ................... was duly and regularly appointed ............... of the said estate and ................., and that as appears from the inventory on file in this court, the amount of property belonging to said estate is stated to be as follows:
| Personal property, $.............; real property, $.......... |
It further appears and I hereby find that the debts of said deceased owing at the time of his or her death (exclusive of interest accruing thereafter) amount to $...............; that the funeral expenses of said deceased amount to $...............; and that the expenses of administration of the estate of said decedent (exclusive of all items of disbursement for repairs to buildings or other property belonging to, or taxes accruing after death, upon the estate of said deceased, all allowances for the support of widow and children of said deceased, expenses incurred in contesting the will of said deceased, and other items of disbursement for the benefit of the beneficiaries of said estate, not strictly expenses of administration) amount to the sum of $..................; the total debts and expenses of administration being $.........
After due and careful investigation, examination and consideration, I find and determine that the clear market value of all of said decedent's personal property and real estate, at the date of his or her death, was as follows: Personal property, $.......................; real property, $..................., and that after deduction therefrom of the total debts and expenses of administration (debts secured upon realty being deducted from the value of the real estate, and debts unsecured and secured on personalty being deducted from the value of the personalty), there remains subject to taxation under the provisions of said act before deducting statutory exemptions, transfers of personal property to the amount of $..........; and transfers of real property to the amount of $..........; and that of said transfers certain interests hereinafter set forth in detail in the schedule hereto are not presently taxable by reason of the following contingency, rendering it impossible to determine presently the value of the interests passing and the amount of the tax thereon, namely ................
And I hereby find and determine that the tax upon the presently taxable transfers in said estate amounts to the sum of $.......... and find that the several names, residences, relationships and ages, where interest consists of life estates or annuities, of the several beneficiaries, together with the character and amount of the several interests or estates passing thereto, the rate of tax to which each is subject, and the portion of the tax fixed upon, apportioned to, and required to be borne by each of the several taxable transfers, is as set forth in detail in the following schedule:
(The schedule shall contain the following headings for the several columns and space for sufficient entries, remarks, etc.)
| _________________________________________________________________ |
| A B C D E |
| Name of Residence Relationship Age of Life Rate of |
| Heir at Law, Tenant or Tax |
| Legatee or Annuitant ......% |
| Devisee to |
| whom estate |
| passes |
| _____________________________________________________________ |
| F G H I J |
| Value of Value of Value of Amount of Value of |
| Legacy or Personal Legacy or Tax on Real |
| Personal Estate Personal Personal Estate |
| Estate Exempt Estate Estate Passing |
| Passing Taxable |
| _____________________________________________________________ |
| K L M N O |
| Value of Value of Amount of Value of Value of |
| Real Real Tax on Annuities, Annui- |
| Estate Estate Real Life Es- ties, |
| Exempt Taxable Estate tates, etc.Life Es- |
| Passing states, |
| etc. |
| Exempt |
| _____________________________________________________________ |
| P Q R |
| Value of Amount of Total |
| Annuities Tax on Amount |
| Life Es- Annuities, of Tax |
| tates, etc., Life Es- |
| Taxable tates, etc. |
| _____________________________________________________________ |
| Remarks: Including descriptions of real estate taxed and |
| any explanations necessary to a complete understanding of the |
| foregoing entries. |
| .............................. |
| Judge of Probate. |
The department of treasury may prescribe and furnish to the judge of probate, in lieu of the book and the form prescribed in this section, a form or forms containing such data as is required for proper determination of the tax.
History: 1899, Act 188, Eff. Sept. 23, 1899 ;-- Am. 1903, Act 195, Imd. Eff. June 9, 1903 ;-- CL 1915, 14540 ;-- CL 1929, 3689 ;-- Am. 1947, Act 273, Eff. Oct. 11, 1947 ;-- CL 1948, 205.217 ;-- Am. 1955, Act 232, Imd. Eff. June 18, 1955 ;-- Am. 2002, Act 347, Imd. Eff. May 23, 2002
Last modified: October 10, 2016