HOUSE BILL NO. 4674

A bill to amend 1949 PA 300, entitled

"Michigan vehicle code,"

by amending section 236 (MCL 257.236), as amended by 2024 PA 2.

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, both of the following apply:

(a) The license plate assigned to the vehicle, unless the vehicle is destroyed, is a valid registration until the soonest of the following:

(i) The end of the registration year. or until the

(ii) The personal representative of the owner's estate or the secured party transfers ownership of the vehicle.

(iii) If the owner was a lessee of the vehicle, the lessee is changed.

(iv) The owner's next of kin renews the registration under subdivision (b).

(b) The owner's next of kin may renew the registration of the vehicle subject to all of the following:

(i) The next of kin may not renew the registration under this subsection more than 1 time.

(ii) The next of kin may not renew the registration if on the date of the owner's death the registration had been expired for 6 months or longer.

(iii) The next of kin may not renew the registration after the soonest of the following:

(A) 1 year after the secretary of state is notified of the death of the owner.

(B) The date described in subdivision (a)(ii).

(C) The date described in subdivision (a)(iii).

(2) If an owner of 1 or more vehicles dies and does not leave other property that requires the issuance of letters 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 providing the secretary of state with proper proof of the death of the registered owner and attaching to the proof a certification that sets forth the fact that the applicant is the surviving spouse or an heir. Upon proper petition, the secretary of state shall 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 date of the presented title transfer application, does not exceed the following dollar amount, as applicable:

(a) For calendar years through 2023, $60,000.00.

(b) For the 2024 and 2025 calendar years, $100,000.00.

(c) For the 2026 calendar year 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 for the 2026 calendar year and annually thereafter, the department of treasury shall certify and publish the dollar amount applicable for each calendar year no later than September 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 Bureau of Labor Statistics of the United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, or its successor agency.