Laura L. Brownfield
General Counsel

The EPIC Omnibus bill was signed into law on February 21, 2024, and takes immediate effect. 2024 PA 1. The new law, put forward by the Probate and Estate Planning Section of the State Bar of Michigan, streamlines Michigan probate and estate law based on surveys of appellate cases and practitioners to identify areas of clarification and adopts certain standards from the Uniform Probate Code.

Notable changes include:

• MCL 700.1216. Any estate planning instrument that directly or indirectly makes a substantial gift to an attorney who drafted the governing instrument or a person related to the attorney who drafted the governing instrument is void unless the attorney who drafted the governing instrument or the person related to the attorney who drafted the governing instrument is related to the individual making the substantial gift.
• MCL 700.7103(c). “Charitable Trust” is defined to mean a trust created for a charitable purpose as defined in Section 7405(1) if the charitable purpose is a material purpose of the trust.
• MCL 700.7103(g). “Qualified Trust Beneficiary” is modified to provide that a QTB is one whom the settlor intends to benefit as a material purpose of the trust.
• MCL 700.7409a. The provision allows settlors of noncharitable trusts, under certain circumstances, to withhold one or more items of prime disclosure information from one or more beneficiaries for a nondisclosure period of up to 25 years.

Note: This material was developed by Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan. It is published with the understanding that neither the publisher nor the author is engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional service. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a professional advisor should be sought.