Michigan Compiled Laws

Mich. Comp. Laws § 700.3701 (2026)

Powers and duties of personal representative; commencement; accrual.

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MI-LEGlegislature.mi.gov JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

ESTATES AND PROTECTED INDIVIDUALS CODE

Act 386 of 1998

700.3701 Powers and duties of personal representative; commencement; accrual.

Sec. 3701.

A personal representative's duties and powers commence on appointment. A personal representative's powers relate back in time to give acts by the person appointed that are beneficial to the estate occurring before appointment the same effect as those occurring after appointment. Subject to sections 3206 to 3207, before or after appointment, a person named as personal representative in a will may carry out the decedent's written instructions relating to the decedent's body, funeral, and burial arrangements. A personal representative may ratify and accept an act on behalf of the estate done by another if the act would have been proper for a personal representative.

History: 1998, Act 386, Eff. Apr. 1, 2000 ;-- Am. 2006, Act 299, Imd. Eff. July 20, 2006 ;-- Am. 2016, Act 57, Eff. June 27, 2016

PopularName Notes:

EPIC

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 21 cases (4 in the last 5 years), 2004–2024 · leading case: Braverman v. Garden City Hosp., 724 N.W.2d 285 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Braverman v. Garden City Hosp., 724 N.W.2d 285 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 14× “MCL 700.3701; [13] Verbrugghe, supra at 392-393 , 715 N.”

Waltz v. Wyse, 677 N.W.2d 813 (Mich. 2004). · cites it 2× “§ 700.3701, 1998 P.A. 386, effective April 1, 2000) provided that "[t]he powers of an independent personal representative relate back in time to give acts by the person appointed which are beneficial to the estate occurring before the appointment the same effect as those…”

Mullins v. St Joseph Mercy Hosp., 711 N.W.2d 448 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 4× “Moreover, we held that MCL 700.3701, which applies certain legal fictions to a personal representative's premature actions, does not transform an earlier untimely action into a timely one.”

Mcmiddleton v. Bolling, 705 N.W.2d 720 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005). · cites it 2× “Plaintiff also cites MCL 700.3701, asserting that the successor personal representative’s powers “relate back in time to give acts by the person appointed that are beneficial to the estate occurring before appointment *674 the same effect as those occurring after appointment.”

Verbrugghe v. Select Specialty Hosp.-Macomb Cnty., Inc, 715 N.W.2d 72 (Mich. Ct. App. 2006). · cites it 2× “MCL 700.3701 provides: A personal representative’s duties and powers commence upon appointment.”

Boodt v. Borgess Med. Ctr., 728 N.W.2d 471 (Mich. Ct. App. 2007). · cites it 2× “That case held that a successor personal representative cannot rely on or revive an untimely action that was filed before his or her appointment because there would be no benefit to ratifying an untimely action under MCL 700.3701. [11] Mullins v. St. Joseph Mercy Hospital, also…”

Tice Est. v. Tice, 795 N.W.2d 604 (Mich. Ct. App. 2010). · cites it 2× “MCL 700.3701 provides: A personal representative’s duties and powers commence upon appointment.”

In re Est. of Stan, 839 N.W.2d 498 (Mich. Ct. App. 2013). “” MCL 700.3701; see also MCL 700.3103. Thus, the probate court was correct when it observed that Georgiann had “act[ed] outside the law” by taking control of estate property before her appointment.”

In re DeCoste Est., 317 Mich. App. 339 (Mich. Ct. App. 2016). “MCL 700.3701 provides that the personal representative’s powers and duties to the estate commence when he or she is appointed.”

Chernoff v. Sinai Hosp. of Greater Detroit, 688 N.W.2d 284 (Mich. 2004). · cites it 2× “[1] MCL 700.3701 states that "[a] personal representative's powers relate back in time to give acts by the person appointed that are beneficial to the estate occurring before appointment the same effect as those occurring after appointment.”

Est. of Christopher P Eversole v. Janelle Nash (Mich. Ct. App. 2024). · cites it 37× “5852, and MCL 700.3701. 1. MCL 600.2922(2) Turning first to MCL 600.”

Halton v. Fawcett, 688 N.W.2d 287 (Mich. 2004). “2922(2) states that only a personal representative can bring an action for the wrongful death of a decedent. When these statutes are read together, a reasonable argument can be made that only a personal representative can file a notice of intent to sue.”

Show all 21 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.