Notes on Michigan Law

Ownership of land in Michigan is proven by the chain of recorded instruments at the county register of deeds, not by possession or by holding a paper deed. A defect is anything that breaks or clouds that chain, and the usual cure is a quiet title action producing a judgment that can itself be recorded.

Title insurance is frequently misunderstood. A policy is a promise to pay on a covered loss. It does not clear the record, and policies commonly except out the very defect blocking a transaction.

Michigan recognizes two doctrines that can move a boundary or transfer land without a deed. Adverse possession requires possession that is actual, visible, open, notorious, exclusive, continuous and hostile for fifteen years. Hostile means without permission, which is why written permission to a neighbor is often the cheapest protection available.

Acquiescence is distinct and frequently easier to establish. Where adjoining owners have treated a particular line as the boundary for the statutory period, a court can fix it as the legal line without the hostility element. See boundary and easement disputes.

When an owner dies, title stays in that owner's name until an instrument moves it. A will admitted to probate and a personal representative holding letters of authority. A trust that actually took title during life. A lady bird deed. Survivorship written into the deed itself. Which one applies is answered by the deed, and it determines whether probate is needed at all.

A personal representative's power to sell comes from the letters of authority, not from being the eldest or the one paying the taxes. A sale closed without that authority becomes a defect on the record that surfaces at the next transaction. Where co owners cannot agree, partition is the remedy. See probate and inherited property.

Most Michigan mortgage foreclosures proceed by advertisement rather than through a courtroom: published notice for four successive weeks, notice posted on the property, then a sheriff sale. The sale is not the end. A redemption period follows it, during which the owner generally remains in possession and retains the right to redeem. Once it expires, a court will generally not set the sale aside without fraud or irregularity in the procedure itself.

Delinquent property taxes run a separate and faster track, and when title vests in the foreclosing governmental unit it vests absolutely. Where a tax sale produces more than the taxes, interest, penalties and costs owed, the surplus belongs to the former owner rather than the county, and there is a statutory claim process with its own deadline. See foreclosure.

Michigan handles possession through summary proceedings in district court, and the statute is built for speed. Nonpayment of rent commonly runs on a seven day demand for possession. Ending a month to month tenancy generally takes thirty days. Serious damage or a health hazard runs on seven. After the notice period expires the case is filed and set quickly, and a writ issues after the statutory period once a possession judgment enters.

Self help eviction is prohibited. Changing locks, removing belongings or shutting off utilities exposes a landlord to statutory damages, costs and attorney fees. Security deposits have their own short deadlines, and missing them has consequences that fall on the landlord. See landlord tenant and evictions.

Sellers of most residential property must deliver a written disclosure statement before a binding agreement. The duty is to disclose known conditions honestly, not to inspect. Nearly every claim therefore turns on proving what the seller actually knew.

An as is clause allocates the risk of unknown defects to the buyer and defeats many complaints. It does not license concealment or false answers. See seller disclosure claims.

In a land contract the seller keeps legal title while the buyer takes possession and holds equitable title. Because both hold something, neither can act unilaterally. Ending one requires either forfeiture, through summary proceedings with a redemption period tied to how much has been paid, or judicial foreclosure. A land contract buyer is not a tenant and cannot be evicted as one. See land contracts.

Anyone who improves real property may claim against that property for what they are owed. The Act is strictly construed and runs on fixed deadlines: a notice of furnishing for parties without a direct contract with the owner, a claim of lien recorded within the statutory window measured from the last day labor or material was actually furnished, and a foreclosure action filed before the lien expires.

Two points cause most failures. The clock runs from last actual work, and returning for punch list or warranty items generally does not restart it. And an inflated claim can create liability rather than simply being reduced. See construction liens.

Money received for a construction project is impressed with a trust for the laborers, subcontractors and suppliers on that project. Applying it elsewhere before they are paid can support personal liability against the individuals who directed the funds and carries criminal exposure, and such obligations may survive a bankruptcy discharge. See builders trust fund claims.

Claims arising from improvements to real property are subject both to a limitation period and to an outer limit measured from when the improvement was completed and occupied or used. A latent defect discovered many years later may already be outside that limit. Most contracts and warranties also require written notice and an opportunity to cure before a claim may proceed. See construction defects.

A prenuptial agreement decides in advance questions that would otherwise be litigated later. What makes one hold up is procedural: full and fair disclosure of assets by both parties, independent review, no coercion, and signing well before the wedding rather than days before it. An agreement signed at the last moment without disclosure is the one most likely to be attacked. Postnuptial agreements are also possible and are scrutinized more closely. See prenuptial and postnuptial agreements.

Michigan requires only that the marriage relationship has broken down. Consent from both spouses is not required. Statutory waiting periods apply before judgment, and they are longer where there are minor children. What takes the time is property, support and the arrangements for children. See divorce.

Michigan is not a community property state. Marital property is divided equitably, meaning fairly rather than automatically in half. The analysis has two stages: characterizing each asset as marital or separate, then dividing the marital estate against statutory factors including the length of the marriage, contributions, age and health, earning ability, needs, conduct, and general principles of equity. Separate property can become marital through commingling, and can be reached in defined circumstances. See property division.

Child support follows a statewide formula, so disputes are about inputs: income, overnights, health care and child care. Income can be imputed where a parent is voluntarily underemployed. Spousal support has no formula at all and is discretionary against statutory factors, which is why it is the least predictable financial issue in a Michigan divorce and why most outcomes are negotiated. See child support and spousal support.

Custody is decided on statutory best interest factors covering emotional ties, capacity to provide care and guidance, stability and permanence, the child's record at home and school, the reasonable preference of a child old enough to express one, each parent's willingness to support the child's relationship with the other, and domestic violence.

Where an established custodial environment exists, meaning the child has looked to one parent over an appreciable time for guidance and the necessities of life, a court will not disturb it without a heightened standard of proof. This is why interim arrangements matter so much. See custody and parenting time.