Michigan House Bill HB4611

Michigan 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 6/10/25
• Refer: 6/10/25

Caption

Property tax: other; act regarding the right to manage and contract entireties property; revise gender-specific language. Amends title & sec. 1 of 1975 PA 288 (MCL 557.71). TIE BAR WITH: HJR F'25

Summary

House Bill 4611 amends Michigan’s 1975 PA 288, which governs the rights of spouses in property held as tenants by the entirety. The bill updates the statute’s title and operative language to replace the gender-specific terms “husband and wife” with the gender-neutral term “spouses.” It preserves the existing rule that spouses are equally entitled to the rents, products, income, profits, control, and management of real or personal property held in this form of ownership. The bill is also tie-barred to a proposed constitutional amendment, meaning it would not take effect unless either Senate Joint Resolution ____ (S00781’25) or House Joint Resolution F (H00781’25) becomes part of the Michigan Constitution. In practical terms, the bill is a conforming statutory change intended to align state law with the constitutional change referenced in the tie-bar.

Impact

If enacted and triggered by the related constitutional amendment, the bill would revise MCL 557.71 to modernize terminology without changing the substantive property rights of spouses holding property as tenants by the entirety. It would affect Michigan property law by making the statute gender-neutral while continuing to guarantee equal rights to income and management of entireties property for both spouses. The change would primarily affect married property owners, title and estate planning practices, and legal references to tenancy by the entirety.

Sentiment

The available materials suggest generally neutral to favorable sentiment, as the bill appears to be a technical and modernizing update rather than a policy shift. No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no evidence of significant opposition or debate in the available record. The tie-bar indicates the bill is part of a broader constitutional and statutory package, which suggests it is being advanced as a coordinated legal update.

Contention

The main point of potential contention is not the substance of the property-rights rule, which remains unchanged, but the dependency on the related constitutional amendment. Any disagreement would likely center on whether the constitutional change should be adopted, since this bill cannot take effect independently. Another possible issue is the broader policy choice to revise longstanding gendered statutory language, though the bill itself simply updates terminology and does not alter the underlying rights of spouses.