To start probate proceedings in Michigan, you only need to file a two-page document.
A guardianship and/or conservatorship in Michigan begins when a petition is filed in a probate court. The two-page document can be filed by anyone, such as a relative, spouse, friend or neighbor of a prospective ward, as well as an outside agency including Michigan’s Adult Protective Services (APS), a nursing facility or hospital.
Once filed, the probate court contracts and assigns a Guardian ad Litem (GAL) to investigate and determine what actions are in his/her best interests.
In Oakland County, the GAL is an estate and probate attorney who not only files and verbally delivers a report to a judge, but acts as a surrogate prosecutor questioning witnesses and cross- examining wards and family members, regardless of whether they are represented by an attorney.
For their services, GALs are paid directly from the ward’s estate.
In its last statewide caseload statistics for 2018, the Michigan State Supreme Court listed a total of 60,712 adults and developmentally disabled individuals under guardianship and 10,912 adults with a conservator.
With the exception of Veterans (limited to ten), the number of wards each guardian can have is not mandated by state law and varies depending on the size of the county. However, figures which have showed one guardian or guardianship company with over 400 wards caused Nessel’s Elder Abuse Task Force to propose limits, a measure the Michigan Guardianship Association announced they intend to fight.
As of December 31, 2018, the Oakland County Probate Court had 7,064 open adult and developmentally disabled guardianship cases and 1,417 conservatorships.
In Michigan and the U.S. at large, once you have been assigned a guardian and/or conservator, you are unable to manage your own affairs. More often than not, the court appoints a complete stranger that assumes control over every aspect of your life.
Just as throughout the U.S., every last possession, penny and decision is handed over to one of Michigan’s professional guardians and conservators culled from a pool of county public administrators, estate and probate attorneys or private guardianship companies.
In as little as a year, wards have been rendered completely indigent and reliant upon social services and benefits such as Medicaid. Their homes are gone, as are their savings accounts, IRAs, investment accounts, cars, personal belongings, keepsakes, heirlooms, jewelry and even their clothing. Every dollar of their social security, disability income or pensions falls under the control of their guardians with the exception of an allowance as low as $60 per month.
Don’t let this happen to you. Put your documents in place today.
