Oakland County Property Records After a Death: How Heirs Check the Deed

In February 2026, WXYZ-TV talked with a woman who had just decided to sign up for Oakland County's free email alerts. "Our parents passed away and we were putting the house in our name," she said¹.

In the same story, Clerk and Register of Deeds Lisa Brown described what her office sees. "In Oakland County, we see family members that are taking advantage of a sibling or a grandma or an uncle," she said¹.

That is when Oakland County property records matter most. After an owner dies, the last deed on file shows who has the right to sign the next one. This guide covers how a Michigan home passes at death, what the county records, and how an heir can check it for free.

How does a house pass to heirs in Michigan?

It depends on the last recorded deed, and on any trust the owner set up. If neither one says who gets the house, it usually goes through probate, the court process that settles a person's estate².

A few words you will see in the records:

• Deed: the paper, signed by the owner, that hands a home to someone else.
• Personal representative: the person the probate court puts in charge of an estate.
• Lady Bird deed: also called an enhanced life estate deed. Owners keep full control for life, and the deed names who gets the home when they die³.
• Survivorship: when co-owners hold a home "jointly with rights of survivorship," it goes to the surviving owner automatically².
• Trust: a written plan that says how to handle someone's property².

Sources: State Bar of Michigan⁴, MSU Extension³, Michigan Legal Help², MCL 565.48⁵, MCL 700.3203⁶, MCL 700.3715⁷, MCL 565.431⁸, Mobile Legal Services⁹, read October 25, 2026.

Small estates have a shorter court process. For deaths in 2026, it covers estates worth $53,000 or less, and when there is a house, the only small-estate option is an "assignment of property"².

Lady Bird deeds leave the owner in charge until death. MSU Extension says owners keep "an unrestricted power to live in the house" and can "change the beneficiary, sell or otherwise convey the real estate"³. So a newer deed from the owner can replace the beneficiary named in an older one⁴.

Survivorship words can decide a family dispute. Under Michigan law, a deed to two or more people who are not married makes them tenants in common, unless it clearly declares a joint tenancy¹⁰.

Here is how that played out in Troy. In 2012, an owner there signed and recorded a quitclaim deed, which passes whatever share the signer has, to herself and a younger woman who saw her as a grandmother. The two were not related, and the deed said "not as tenants in common, but with full rights of survivorship"¹¹.

The owner died in 2023, and her daughter, the only legal heir, argued that the deed made a tenancy in common. On October 14, 2026, the Michigan Court of Appeals agreed with the trial court that the plain words created a joint tenancy with survivorship rights. That left the house with the co-owner¹¹.

This is general information, not legal advice. If a family deed is unclear, ask a probate or real estate lawyer before anyone signs.

What does the Oakland County Register of Deeds record after a death?

It records the papers that move or prove ownership, such as deeds and death certificates. It does not decide whether a deed is genuine. Michigan law says a register of deeds "shall not reject an instrument for recording because of the content of the instrument" if it meets the recording rules¹².

So the office checks the paperwork, not the facts behind it. A deed needs original signatures with printed names and a notary's acknowledgment. It must also list the new owner's name and address and leave a 2 1/2-inch blank margin at the top of the first page¹³.

When the signer is a "survivor", proof of death must be recorded first or filed with the deed^5,13. Recording costs $30.00 per document¹⁴.

Three other offices handle the rest of an estate home's paperwork. There is no single Oakland County assessor, because most cities and townships have their own.

How do you check Oakland County property records for an estate home?

Start with the county's free Super Index, then read the last deed and everything recorded after the death. Searching and viewing the index is free for everyone. You pay only to view or download a document image¹⁹.

The Super Index home page shows how current it is. On October 25, 2026, the banner read "Indexed: Oct 15, 2026 | Verified: Oct 14, 2026."

New documents can be found by date or document number right away, but names and legal descriptions appear only after staff finish indexing¹⁹. A deed from the last week or two may not show up in a name search yet.

Property Records Notification (PRN) is free, with no limit on alerts. It emails you, and texts you if you add a mobile number, each time a new recording matches your search²².

PRN reports a document after it is recorded, so it tells you about a problem rather than heading one off. The county's own tip is calm: an alert "does not necessarily mean a fraudulent document has been recorded."²²

Did your parents also own a home in another state? Our guide to finding the deed to your house works for any county, and this list of free county alerts shows which recorders offer one like PRN.

The differenceAlerts tell you after. We ask you first.Protect my homestill my home.

Why do estate homes draw forged deeds?

Title professionals rank the homes of recently deceased owners among the common targets of seller impersonation fraud. That is when someone poses as the owner to sell a house that isn't theirs²³.

Still, keep the risk in proportion. The county's fraud page puts it this way: "Though rare, the threat of property fraud is all-too-real"²¹. Oakland County publishes no count of forged-deed cases.

In the local cases we found, the trouble started close to home: a deed that surfaced after a death, or an estate opened without the family. For how forged deeds work in general, read our deed theft guide.

What happened in Oakland County estate cases?

Two documented cases show how a deed recorded after a death, or an estate opened by a stranger, can put an heir's home in question. We found no criminal charge in either one.

Michigan has since tightened the rules. A creditor's pick can ask to run an estate 42 days after a death.

A public administrator must wait 63 days unless a court finds an emergency. Even then, the court can name one only if no one else asked to serve, no heir is known or no heir lives in the United States⁶.

A public administrator also needs a judge's approval, after a hearing with notice to the family, before selling the home⁷. If you are an heir, talk with a probate lawyer within those first two months.

Who can help if a forged deed shows up in Oakland County?

Call the police first, then a lawyer. Undoing a forged deed in Michigan usually takes a court order. A judge can declare who owns the home in a quiet title action, a lawsuit in circuit court²⁶.

Forging a deed is a felony with up to 14 years in prison. After a conviction, the court must also declare the forged document invalid in an order recorded with the Register of Deeds²⁷.

• Police: your city or township police, or the Oakland County Sheriff's non-emergency line, 248-858-4950. Call 911 in an emergency²⁸. The county says a police report is the first step²¹.
• Prosecutor: the Prosecutor's Office says it "is not an investigative agency" and sends people to local police or the Michigan State Police²⁹.
• Register of Deeds: 248-858-0597 or deeds@oaklandcountymi.gov, 1200 North Telegraph Road, Pontiac²¹.
• Legal help: Lakeshore Legal Aid gives free civil legal help to people with low incomes and older adults. Call (888) 783-8190, or visit its office at 35 W. Huron in Pontiac³⁰. The Oakland County Bar Association's Lawyer Referral Service, (248) 338-2100, connects you with lawyers who agree to a free 30-minute first meeting³¹.

Frequently asked questions

Sign-up pages, fees and phone numbers on this page were checked on October 25, 2026.