Probate Court memo focuses on filing procedures during pandemic

‌The following memorandum was issued this week by Robert Szalka, director of legal services at Macomb County Probate Court:

Thank you for your patience as the Macomb County Probate Court struggles to process your filings during this Covid-19 health care crisis.

We in the court are continuing to evaluate reasonable steps we can take to help speed up our filing procedures to allow us to serve all of you better.

With limited staff and current difficulties in having staff work remotely, we are taking steps to help process our current backlog in filings.

One of those steps is to request that parties only file documents required by EPIC and the Michigan Court Rules to be placed in court files.

As an example, discovery documents in civil, trust or decedent’s estate matters do not need to be filed in the court file (this includes interrogatories, subpoenas, request to produce, etc.)

Other examples of documents that do not need to be forwarded to the court for filing include:

  • PC form 572 proposed Letters of Authority — Macomb County generates its own;
  • PC form 573 Notice of Appointment and Duties of Personal Representative;
  • PC form 576 Notice Regarding Attorney Fees;
  • PC form 591 Certificate of Completion — Macomb County generates its own;
  • PC form 618 Personal Representative Notice to Friend of Court.

Certainly parties can file proofs of service of sending the above type of documents to interested persons if they feel the need.

Our staff images all court filings under our present Courtview software system. They will begin returning documents that need not be filed in our court files.

Also, it is important that parties who have hearings scheduled before either of the two judges fax their required documents (proposed orders and proofs of service of the notice of hearing and document set for hearing — i.e petition for guardian, petition for conservator, petition to appoint personal representative, etc.) to the analysts only at 586.783.0929 at least seven days prior to the hearing date.

Failure to provide proper orders and/or proofs of service could result in your matters being adjourned or dismissed.

Currently, the court is only accepting new filings by mail or by individuals placing the filing in an envelope in the drop box located on the first floor of the Court building.

Fax filings are strongly discouraged.

The court has an email address for emergency use only probatevirtualdesk@gmail.com.

The above steps will assist our staff in processing the backlog in filings and to serve you more efficiently.

This health care crisis has certainly been challenging for all and we at the court will continue to persevere. However, we need your help.

Further memos from the court will be sent as we go through further stages of this Covid-19 health care crisis.

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