A Michigan wrongful death recovery does not simply pass to the estate and then to whoever inherits under a will. The proceeds are distributed by court order, after a hearing, among a class of people the statute defines, and a family member can be shut out of that distribution by missing a date rather than by anything about their relationship to the person who died.

MCL 600.2922 sets out both the damages and the distribution. The personal representative brings the action, but the money is divided by the court considering the relative damages sustained by each person entitled to claim, which is a different question from who the decedent named in a will.

Who the Statute Lets Claim

Subsection (3) defines the class. It reaches the deceased’s spouse, children, descendants, parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters, and, if none of those survive, the people to whom the estate would pass under the laws of intestate succession determined as of the date of death.

It also reaches the children of the deceased’s spouse, which brings in stepchildren who would take nothing under intestacy. And it reaches devisees under the will, including beneficiaries of a trust under the will, people the will designates as possibly entitled to damages under this section, and beneficiaries of a living trust where the will devises to that trust.

The class is therefore wider than the heirs and wider than the beneficiaries, and the people in it may not know they are. Our Michigan wrongful death page covers who may bring the action itself, which is a narrower question than who may share in it.

Two Deadlines That Run Against Family Members

Subsection (8) imposes a duty on anyone who may be entitled to damages. Within 60 days after service of the complaint and the statutory notice, that person must advise the attorney for the personal representative of any material fact within their knowledge that may constitute evidence of a claim for damages. A court may bar their right to claim proceeds at the hearing if they do not.

Subsection (7) sets the harder cutoff. A person who may be entitled to damages must present a claim for damages to the personal representative on or before the date set for the hearing on the motion to distribute proceeds. Failure to present a claim within that time bars the person from making a claim to any of the proceeds.

Both run against people who are usually not the ones managing the litigation, and the notice the statute requires is what tells them the clock exists. The required notice must say so expressly, including that failure to advise within 60 days may adversely affect recovery and could bar a claim at the hearing.

How the Hearing Works

The personal representative files a motion for authority to distribute the proceeds, and the court orders a hearing on it. Unless waived, notice is served on everyone who may be entitled to damages, in the manner provided by the rules applicable to probate proceedings.

Where an interested person is a minor, a disappeared person, or an incapacitated individual without a fiduciary, the court appoints a fiduciary or guardian ad litem first, and notice goes to that appointee. After the hearing, the court orders payment from the proceeds of the reasonable medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses of the decedent for which the estate is liable, and the proceeds may not be applied to any other charge against the estate.

The court then enters an order distributing the remainder among the people in subsection (3) who suffered damages, and to the estate for conscious pain and suffering, in amounts it considers fair and equitable given the relative damages of each. Where a jury returned a special verdict, damages are distributed as that verdict provides.

The Estate Has Its Own Share

The distribution order separates two things that are often treated as one. The people in subsection (3) who suffered damages take their shares directly, while compensation for the conscious pain and suffering the deceased underwent between injury and death is distributed to the estate rather than to any individual.

That share then passes as estate property, which means a will or the intestacy rules govern it, and a person who shares in the wrongful death proceeds may take nothing from it. The two paths run under different rules in the same order.

Note also that where no member of the listed family class survives, the class is filled by those to whom the estate would pass under the laws of intestate succession determined as of the date of death. The reference point is the date of death, not the date of the hearing or of any later change in circumstances.

Settlements Need Court Approval Too

A settlement of a pending wrongful death action is not concluded between the parties alone. Where the personal representative moves for leave to settle, the court conducts a hearing and approves or rejects the proposed settlement, with or without notice.

The damages the statute permits shape what a settlement is measured against. They include reasonable medical, hospital, funeral, and burial expenses for which the estate is liable, reasonable compensation for the pain and suffering the deceased consciously underwent between injury and death, and damages for loss of financial support and loss of the society and companionship of the deceased.

One shortcut exists. Where none of the people entitled to proceeds is a minor, a disappeared person, or a legally incapacitated individual, and all of them sign a verified written stipulation specifying each share, the court enters its order in accordance with that agreement.

The date set for the distribution hearing is the one families should know about early, because it is the date a claim has to be in by. If that is where your situation sits, call us at (800) 525-6386.

Before the Distribution Hearing Is Set

Families often learn how the proceeds will be divided only after the litigation is over, when the deadlines that governed their share have already passed. We handle wrongful death claims at Neumann Law Group and the distribution that follows them across Michigan, and our broader Michigan personal injury practice sits behind that work. Call our office at (800) 525-6386, or contact us online, and we will talk it through with you.