What Letters of Authority actually do — and what Michigan title companies actually want

When a parent passes and you've been named in the will to handle the estate, the world treats that role as obvious. The world is wrong. Until the probate court formally appoints you and issues Letters of Authority, you have no legal standing to act on behalf of the estate — not at the bank, not with the IRS, and certainly not at the closing table.

What Letters of Authority are

Letters of Authority are a one-page court order naming you the personal representative of the estate. In an informal proceeding the probate register issues them; in a formal proceeding a judge does. They are short. They are unceremonial. They are also, alongside the death certificate, the document that opens almost every door you'll need opened over the next year.

What they unlock

• Access to the deceased's bank and brokerage accounts held in their own name
• Authority to sign on behalf of the estate (deeds, listing agreements, contracts)
• Standing to deal with Social Security and pension administrators
• The ability to file final tax returns for the deceased
• Title insurance — Michigan title companies will want to see your Letters before they will insure a sale out of the estate

The "Letters dated within 60 days" request, and what it actually is

Michigan Letters of Authority do not expire. MCR 5.202(A) says so in terms: unless the court orders otherwise, letters of authority will not have an expiration date. So when a title company asks for Letters "dated within the last 60 days," it is not asking you to be reappointed — it is asking for a current certification. MCR 5.202(C) lets a certification, and a statement that the letters are in full force and effect on a given date, appear on the face of a copy furnished to you. That certified copy is what satisfies the request; ask the probate court for one rather than starting anything over. While you are reading yours, note that MCR 5.202(B) requires any restriction the court has placed on your powers to appear on the letters themselves — so the document also tells you what you are not allowed to do.

When Letters are not enough

Letters give you authority — they do not always give you unilateral discretion. Two situations where personal representatives most often run into trouble: (1) selling real property when other beneficiaries object, and (2) supervised administrations where the court must approve major decisions. If you sense conflict, get a Michigan attorney involved before you sign anything substantive.

A note on priority — and why 42 days is not a waiting period

You may hear that you have to wait 42 days. You do not. MCL 700.3203(1) sets an order of priority for appointment, and if the will nominates you, you are at the top of it from the day the person dies — followed by a surviving spouse who is a devisee, other devisees, the surviving spouse, and then other heirs. None of that is a waiting period; any of them may apply or petition immediately. What happens at 42 days is that a new candidate becomes eligible: the nominee of a creditor, if the court finds them suitable. At 63 days the state or county public administrator can be appointed if no interested person has applied. The pressure therefore runs the opposite way from how it is usually described — waiting does not protect your position, it adds competitors for it. If you are named and intend to serve, filing promptly is the cheapest mistake-prevention available.