5.4Minors and Legally Incapacitated Individuals as Parties to Personal Protection Proceeding

A.Minor or Legally Incapacitated Individual as Petitioner

The court cannot issue a PPO if the petitioner is the respondent’s unemancipated minor child. MCL 600.2950(26)(b);MCL 600.2950a(27)(b).

If a minor or legally incapacitated individual is petitioning for a PPO, MCR 3.703(F)(1) requires:

• “the petitioner [to] proceed through a next friend[,]” and

•“[t]he petitioner [to] certify that the next friend is not disqualified by statute and that the next friend is an adult.”

“Unless the court determines appointment is necessary, the next friend may act on behalf of the minor or legally incapacitated person without appointment.” MCR 3.703(F)(2). However, if the petitioner is a minor under the age of 14, the court must appoint a next friend. Id.

“The next friend is not responsible for the costs of the action.” MCR 3.703(F)(2).

For purposes of MCL 600.2950(26)(b), “emancipated minor” includes “a minor child where the parental rights of one or both parents have been terminated.” SP v BEK, 339 Mich App 171, 179 (2021) (affirming the trial court’s conclusion that MCL 600.2950(26)(b) did not preclude it from issuing a personal protection order on behalf of a minor child against the child’s natural parent, the respondent, because the minor child was considered emancipated as to the respondent when the respondent’s parental rights to the minor were terminated). See also MCL 722.1(c).

B.Minor as Respondent

The issuance, dismissal, modification, or recision of a minor PPO is governed by the same rules applicable to adult PPOs. See MCR 3.981. Those issues are discussed throughout this benchbook, and unless specifically noted otherwise, apply to all types of PPO proceedings. However, “[p]roceedings to enforce a minor [PPO] where the respondent is under 18 are governed by subchapter 3.900[, and] . . . [p]roceedings . . . to enforce a minor [PPO] still in effect when the respondent is 18 or older, are governed by [MCR 3.708].” MCR 3.708(A)(2). See Section 5.12 for additional information on enforcement proceedings under MCR 3.708. Discussion of enforcement proceedings under subchapter 3.900 are beyond the scope of this benchbook. For a complete discussion of the enforcement of minor PPOs, see the Michigan Judicial Institute’s Juvenile Justice Benchbook, Chapter 13.

Issuance of a minor PPO is subject to the Juvenile Code, MCL 712A.1 et seq. MCL 600.2950(27); MCL 600.2950a(28). MCL 712A.2(h) provides the family division of circuit court with “[j]urisdiction over a proceeding under . . . MCL 600.2950 and [MCL] 600.2950a, in which a minor less than 18 years of age is the respondent, or a proceeding to enforce a valid foreign protection order[1] issued against a respondent who is a minor less than 18 years of age.” “If the court exercise[s] jurisdiction over a child under [MCL 712A.2(h)], jurisdiction of the court [will] continue[] until the [PPO] expires[,] but action regarding the [PPO] after the respondent’s eighteenth birthday is not subject to the [Juvenile Code].”2 MCL 712A.2a(6).

A minor PPO petition must conform to the same requirements as an adult PPO petition, and it must also satisfy the additional requirements set out in MCR 3.703(C). See MCR 3.703(B)-(C). See Section 5.7(A) for a detailed discussion.

The court cannot issue a minor PPO if:

• the respondent is the petitioner’s unemancipated minor child. MCL 600.2950(26)(a); MCL 600.2950a(27)(a).

• the respondent is a child under the age of 10. MCL 600.2950(26)(c); MCL 600.2950a(27)(c); MCL 712A.2(h).

“A judge must preside at[] . . . a proceeding on the issuance, modification, or termination of a minor [PPO].” MCR 3.912(A)(4). Note, however, that a nonattorney referee may conduct a preliminary hearing for the enforcement of a PPO, and a referee licensed to practice law in Michigan may preside at a hearing to enforce a minor PPO. MCR 3.913(A)(2)(d).

MCL 712A.17c(10) provides the court with the general authority to appoint a guardian ad litem3 for a minor involved as a respondent in a PPO proceeding under MCL 712A.2(h):4

“To assist the court in determining a child’s best interests, the court may appoint a guardian ad litem for a child involved in a proceeding under [the Juvenile Code].”

1    For information on foreign protection orders, see Section 5.16.

2    For purposes of the Juvenile Code, the terms “‘child’, ‘minor’, ‘youth’ or any other term signifying a person under the age of 18 applies to a person 18 years of age or older concerning whom proceedings are commenced in the court under [MCL 712A.2] and over whom the court has continuing jurisdiction under [MCL 712A.2a(1)-(6)].” MCL 712A.2a(8). For purposes of MCL 712A.2a, the term “‘juvenile’ applies to a person 18 years of age or older concerning whom proceedings are commenced in the court under [MCL 712A.2] and over whom the court has continuing jurisdiction under [MCL 712A.2a(1)-(6)].” MCL 712A.2a(9).

3    For information on guardian ad litems, see MCR 3.916.

4    See also MCR 3.916(A), which provides the court with the authority to “appoint a guardian ad litem for a party if the court finds that the welfare of the party requests it.”