In
2015, the maternal grandmother (respondent) of two young children obtained full
guardianship over the children after the children’s mother (petitioner) agreed
to leave the children in her care for a month and later agreed to extend that
stay until the petitioner could get into an apartment. The trial court denied the petitioner’s petitions
to terminate the guardianship in 2016 and 2018.
In an unpublished opinion, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial
court’s most recent order denying the petitioner’s petition to terminate the
guardianship. In so doing, the Court of
Appeals relied on In re Ferranti, 504 Mich 1
(2019), to permit the petitioner to attack the initial 2015 guardianship
determination. The court found that
because the term “reside” in MCL 700.5204(2)(b) requires that the petitioner
intend that the children permanently reside with the respondent and because
there was no such intent here, the initial guardianship was invalid. The
Supreme Court has ordered oral argument on the application to address: (1) whether In re Ferranti, 504 Mich 1
(2019), applies to guardianship proceedings; and (2) whether, to establish a
guardianship under MCL 700.5204(2)(b), a parent must intend that his or her
child permanently reside with another person.