If you're married and setting up a living trust in Michigan, one of the first questions is whether you need one trust for both of you or two separate trusts. Both work. Both avoid probate if they're funded. The right choice depends on how your property is titled, whether either of you has children from a prior relationship, and how much you care about creditor protection. Here's a plain-English comparison with the Michigan rules that matter.
The Short Version
- Joint trust: one document, both spouses as settlors and trustees, all the property in one place. Simple to manage.
- Separate trusts: each spouse has their own trust and their own assets. Cleaner records of who owns what, and more control for each spouse.
- Federal estate tax affects very few couples in 2026: the basic exclusion is $15 million per person.
- If your home is held as tenants by the entirety, think before retitling it. That form of ownership has its own creditor protection.
- Second marriages usually point toward separate trusts.
How Each Option Works
One joint trust
Both spouses sign one trust agreement and usually serve as co-trustees. Your house, bank accounts, and investments go into the single trust. While you're both alive, you manage everything together. When the first spouse dies, the survivor typically keeps control. When the second spouse dies, the successor trustee distributes everything according to the trust.
The appeal is simplicity: one document, one set of account titles, one place for everything.
Two separate trusts
Each spouse creates a trust and funds it with their own property. Jointly owned assets can be split between the trusts or kept outside them with beneficiary or survivorship designations that point to the trusts. Each trust names its own beneficiaries and successor trustees, which are often the same people.
The appeal is clarity and control: everyone can see whose property is whose, and each spouse's plan stands on its own.
Who Can Change or Cancel the Trust
This is the rule that surprises couples with joint trusts. Michigan is not a community property state, so for most couples MCL 700.7602(2)(b) applies: when a revocable trust is created or funded by more than one settlor, "each settlor may revoke or amend the trust with regard to the portion of the trust property attributable to that settlor's contribution."
In other words, either spouse can pull their own share out of a joint trust or change the terms for it. If one spouse does, MCL 700.7602(2)(c) requires the trustee to "promptly notify the other settlors."
Two practical takeaways:
- Keep records of who contributed what. Years later, "whose share is this?" can be hard to answer if all your property sits in one trust.
- Decide what happens after the first death. Many joint trusts let the surviving spouse change everything. Others lock in the deceased spouse's share. Make sure your document says what you want.
With separate trusts, each spouse controls only their own trust, so there's less room for confusion. See also how to amend a Michigan trust.
Estate Tax: Mostly a Non-Issue in 2026
For years, the main reason to choose separate trusts was federal estate tax planning. That matters far less now. According to the IRS, for deaths in 2026 an estate tax return is required only when the gross estate exceeds $15,000,000. Michigan has no state estate tax of its own.
Married couples can also use "portability." The IRS Form 706 instructions explain that the executor of the first spouse to die can elect to transfer the deceased spousal unused exclusion (DSUE) amount to the surviving spouse by filing Form 706, regardless of the size of the estate, and that executors filing only to elect portability may do so on or before the fifth anniversary of death. Portability lets a couple shelter up to roughly double the per-person amount without needing two separate trusts for tax reasons.
Bottom line: for most Michigan families buying a DIY trust, estate tax shouldn't drive the joint-vs-separate decision.
Creditor Protection and Tenancy by the Entirety
Most Michigan married couples own their home as "tenants by the entirety," the default when a deed goes to a husband and wife. This ownership has a valuable feature: under MCL 600.6023a, real property "held jointly by a husband and wife as a tenancy by the entirety is exempt from execution under a judgment entered against only 1 spouse." If only one of you is sued and loses, that creditor generally can't take the house.
When you deed the house into a revocable trust, the house is no longer titled as tenancy by the entirety. Whether and how that protection carries over is a technical question that depends on the trust's terms and on Michigan law. If one spouse has meaningful liability exposure (a business, a high-risk profession, significant personal debts), get legal advice before retitling the home. Many couples in that situation keep the home as tenants by the entirety and use other tools, such as a Lady Bird deed, to avoid probate.
This is not an issue for every couple. If neither of you has real creditor risk, the convenience of a trust usually wins.
Property Taxes When You Fund the Trust
Good news on either path: moving your home into your own revocable trust does not uncap your taxable value. According to the Michigan Treasury Transfer of Ownership Guidelines, a conveyance to a trust is not a transfer of ownership when the grantor is the settlor or the settlor's spouse (or both) and the sole present beneficiary is the settlor or the settlor's spouse (or both). The same guidelines say a transfer from one spouse to the other is generally not a transfer of ownership. See our guide on keeping your homestead exemption in a trust.
Second Marriages and Blended Families
If either spouse has children from a prior relationship, separate trusts are often the better fit. Each spouse can provide for the survivor while making sure their own children eventually inherit their share. With a joint trust that gives the survivor full control, the first spouse's children may be left out if the survivor later changes the plan or remarries.
A joint trust can be drafted to lock in each spouse's share at the first death, but the document gets complicated, and keeping track of each share over decades is harder than keeping two trusts apart. See estate planning for blended families.
Which One Fits You?
A joint trust often fits when:
- It's a first marriage and all your children are shared.
- Nearly everything is already owned jointly.
- Neither spouse has significant creditor exposure.
- You want the simplest possible setup.
Separate trusts often fit when:
- Either spouse has children from a prior relationship.
- One spouse has significant separate property (an inheritance, a pre-marriage home, a business).
- One spouse has liability exposure and you want to keep assets clearly separated.
- You want each spouse to control their own plan independently.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a joint trust avoid probate at both deaths?
Yes, for property that is actually titled in the trust. Unfunded property still goes through probate. See how to fund a Michigan living trust.
Can we name each other as successor trustee in separate trusts?
Yes. That's common: each spouse is the first successor trustee of the other's trust, with a child or other trusted person as backup. See how to choose a successor trustee.
If we divorce, what happens to a joint trust?
Each spouse can revoke as to their own contribution (MCL 700.7602(2)(b)), and the property is typically divided as part of the divorce. See updating your estate plan after divorce.
Do we still need wills?
Yes. Each spouse should have a pour-over will to catch anything left outside a trust. See Michigan pour-over wills.
Setting Up Separate Trusts Yourself
The CreateMIWill Trust Kit ($197) is an attorney-drafted Michigan revocable living trust for one grantor, with a married or unmarried option, a certificate of trust, and instruction and signing guides. Because it's written for one grantor, a married couple using it would each complete their own trust, which is the separate-trust approach described above. If you want a joint trust, or creditor protection is a concern, talk with a Michigan estate planning attorney. The Complete Bundle ($349) adds a Michigan will, durable power of attorney, and patient advocate designation.
Michigan Trust Kit or Complete Bundle
Attorney-drafted Michigan revocable living trust with certificate of trust, funding instructions, and signing guide. Instant download.
Sources: MCL 700.7602; MCL 600.6023a; IRS, Frequently Asked Questions on Estate Taxes; IRS, Instructions for Form 706; Michigan Department of Treasury, Transfer of Ownership Guidelines.