COA Contorts Itself to Hold that a Conservator and Next Friend can Coexist

By Doug Chalgian on January 18, 2022

In this recently released unpublished opinion, Spouse A is conservator over Spouse B.  Niece has herself appointed next friend for Spouse B and initiates a divorce proceeding against...

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Published Case Addresses Terminating an Adult Guardian

By Doug Chalgian on May 17, 2021

  The case of In Re Guardianship of Roderick Gordon is about an effort to terminate an adult guardianship established under EPIC. The ward petitioned to have the...

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Another Stop at the Last Resort

By Doug Chalgian on May 18, 2020

Suitability to serve as guardian and conservator of an impaired adult is the topic of this unpublished Court of Appeals decision. To read In Re Guardianship and Conservatorship...

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Capacity to Nominate

By Doug Chalgian on December 16, 2018

The question is this: When a person who is the subject of a petition for guardianship or conservatorship nominates an individual they want to serve in those capacities,...

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Medicaid Planners Get Rare Win from COA

By Doug Chalgian on May 23, 2018

The Michigan Court of Appeals has issued an opinion regarding the appropriateness of using probate court protective orders to obtain spousal support orders in situations where such orders...

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Seeing Redd

By Doug Chalgian on September 21, 2017

  Here’s another important published opinion on the topic of adult guardianships. The case is about the removal of a guardian of an adult ward appointed under EPIC. The case...

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Civil Actions versus Proceedings in Probate Court

By Doug Chalgian on August 10, 2017

When starting a new litigation matter in probate court, a threshold issue is to determine whether the matter should be characterized as a probate “proceeding” or a “civil...

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Attorney-Fiduciary Relationships

By Doug Chalgian on January 27, 2017

A new published circuit court case addresses the often confused issue of who an attorney hired by a fiduciary represents and is accountable to. This is technical stuff,...

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Medical Experts Carry Conservatorship Case

By Doug Chalgian on December 2, 2016

Nice analysis in this recent unpublished COA opinion. Click here to read In Re Conservatorship of Stephen Michalak.  Congrats to my colleague Valerie Kutz-Otway for her successful advocacy...

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Bittner’s Bite

By Doug Chalgian on September 13, 2015

So we have a new published opinion on a probate court case – something unusual these days.  In Re Conservatorship of Shirley Bittner was published September 8, 2015. ...

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Doug Chalgian

About The Author: Doug Chalgian

I am an estate planning, probate litigating, elder law attorney. This is a blog for clients and professional colleagues. In it I offer my ideas about the state of the law and the practice of law. I believe we are living through a unique period during which the law (which is traditionally slow to change) and society are attempting to evolve to address the explosion of people living long lives. I find these developments fascinating and enjoy being involved in this evolution.