Bill Text: MI HB4417 | 2023-2024 | 102nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Vehicles: title; transfer of ownership of vehicle to surviving spouse or heir after owner's death; modify maximum value and adjust for cost of living. Amends sec. 236 of 1949 PA 300 (MCL 257.236).
Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-1)
Status: (Passed) 2024-02-21 - Assigned Pa 2'24 With Immediate Effect [HB4417 Detail]
Download: Michigan-2023-HB4417-Introduced.html
HOUSE BILL NO. 4417
A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled
"Michigan vehicle code,"
by amending section 236 (MCL 257.236), as amended by 2000 PA 64.
the people of the state of michigan enact:
Sec. 236. (1) If ownership of a vehicle passes by operation of law, upon furnishing satisfactory proof of that ownership to the secretary of state, the person acquiring the vehicle may procure a title to the vehicle regardless of whether a certificate of title has ever been issued. Upon death of an owner of a registered vehicle, the license plate assigned to the vehicle, unless the vehicle is destroyed, is a valid registration until the end of the registration year or until the personal representative of the owner's estate transfers ownership of the vehicle.
(2) If an owner of 1 or more vehicles , which vehicles do not have a total value of more than $60,000.00, dies and the owner does not leave other property that requires the issuance of letters as provided in under section 3103 of the estates and protected individuals code, 1998 PA 386, MCL 700.3103, the owner's surviving spouse, or an heir of the owner in the order specified in section 2103 of the estates and protected individuals code, 1998 PA 386, MCL 700.2103, may apply for a title, after furnishing providing the secretary of state with proper proof of the death of the registered owner, attaching to the proof a certification setting forth the fact that the applicant is the surviving spouse or an heir. Upon proper petition, the secretary of state shall furnish provide the applicant with a certificate of title for that vehicle or vehicles, if the total value of the vehicle or vehicles, based on the calendar year of the deceased owner's death, does not exceed the following dollar amount, as applicable:
(a) For the calendar years beginning January 1, 2024 and January 1, 2025, $100,000.00.
(b) For the calendar year beginning January 1, 2026 and each calendar year thereafter, a dollar amount equal to the product of the dollar amount applicable to the immediately preceding calendar year multiplied by the cost-of-living adjustment factor, rounded to the nearest $1,000.00. Beginning with the dollar amount in effect on January 1, 2026 and annually thereafter, the department of treasury shall certify and publish the dollar amount applicable for each calendar year no later than December 1 of the prior calendar year.
(3) As used in this section:
(a) "Cost-of-living adjustment factor" means a fraction in which the numerator is the United States Consumer Price Index for the year before the prior calendar year and the denominator is the United States Consumer Price Index for the 2023 calendar year.
(b) "United States Consumer Price Index" means the annual average of the United States Consumer Price Index for all urban consumers as defined and reported by the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or its successor agency.
Enacting section 1. This amendatory act takes effect 90 days after the date it is enacted into law.
