A few days ago Governor Snyder signed into law 21 Bills, including Senate Bills 588 and 560 that abolish a surviving wife’s dower right.
The measures are now Public Acts 489 and 490 of 2016.
This is good news since dower right is a relic of the past, sometimes referred to as an “inchoate dower interest” (You can look it up in Black’s Law Dictionary if you are interested.)
I have previously written about the consequences for failing to account for a wife’s dower right in real estate transactions. It appears that there won’t be any Michigan case law developing over this issue in the years to come.
Lawyers will no longer be including in transferring deeds from marital couples the magic words “and his wife for purposes of dower only.” Something to get used to.
e-mail: Jeshua@dwlawpc.com
Twitter: @JeshuaTLauka
Purpose Driven General Counsel 