Act No. 343

Public Acts of 2004

Approved by the Governor

September 29, 2004

Filed with the Secretary of State

September 29, 2004

EFFECTIVE DATE: September 29, 2004

STATE OF MICHIGAN

92ND LEGISLATURE

REGULAR SESSION OF 2004

Introduced by Senator Cropsey

ENROLLED SENATE BILL No. 1244

AN ACT to amend 1998 PA 386, entitled "An act to codify, revise, consolidate, and classify aspects of the law relating to wills and intestacy, relating to the administration and distribution of estates of certain individuals, relating to trusts, and relating to the affairs of certain individuals under legal incapacity; to provide for the powers and procedures of the court that has jurisdiction over these matters; to provide for the validity and effect of certain transfers, contracts, and deposits that relate to death; to provide procedures to facilitate enforcement of certain trusts; and to repeal acts and parts of acts," by amending section 3614 (MCL 700.3614).

The People of the State of Michigan enact:

Sec. 3614. A special personal representative may be appointed in any of the following circumstances:

(a) Informally by the register on the application of an interested person if necessary to protect the estate of a decedent before the appointment of a general personal representative or if a prior appointment is terminated as provided in section 3609.

(b) By the court on its own motion or in a formal proceeding by court order on the petition of an interested person if in either case, after notice and hearing, the court finds that the appointment is necessary to preserve the estate or to secure its proper administration, including its administration in circumstances in which a general personal representative cannot or should not act. If it appears to the court that an emergency exists, the court may order the appointment without notice.

(c) By the court on its own motion or on petition by an interested person to supervise the disposition of the body of a decedent who died intestate, without heirs, and with insufficient assets to pay for a funeral or burial. The duties of a special personal representative appointed under this subdivision shall be specified in the order of appointment and may include making arrangements with a funeral home, securing a burial plot if needed, obtaining veteran's or pauper's funding where appropriate, and determining the disposition of the body by burial or cremation. The court may waive the bond requirement under section 3603(1)(a). The court may appoint the county public administrator if the county public administrator is willing to serve.

This act is ordered to take immediate effect.

Secretary of the Senate

Clerk of the House of Representatives

Approved

Governor