700.5204 Court appointment of guardian of minor; conditions for appointment.

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Sec. 5204.

(1)A person interested in the welfare of a minor, or a minor if 14 years of age or older, may petition for the appointment of a guardian for the minor. The court may order the department of health and human services or a court employee or agent to conduct an investigation of the proposed guardianship and file a written report of the investigation.

(2)The court may appoint a guardian for a minor if any of the following circumstances exist:

(a)The parental rights of both parents or the surviving parent are terminated or suspended by prior court order, by judgment of divorce or separate maintenance, by death, by judicial determination of mental incompetency, by disappearance, or by confinement in a place of detention.

(b)The parent or parents permit the minor to reside with another person and do not provide the other person with legal authority for the minor's care and maintenance, and the minor is not residing with his or her parent or parents when the petition is filed.

(c)All of the following:

(i)The minor's biological parents have never been married to one another.

(ii)The minor's parent who has custody of the minor dies or is missing and the other parent has not been granted legal custody under court order.

(iii)The person whom the petition asks to be appointed guardian is related to the minor within the fifth degree by marriage, blood, or adoption.

(3)A minor's limited guardian may petition to be appointed a guardian for that minor, except that the petition must not be based on suspension of parental rights by the order that appointed that person the limited guardian for that minor.

(4)A guardian appointed under section 5202 whose appointment is not prevented or nullified under section 5203 has priority over a guardian who may be appointed by the court. The court may proceed with an appointment on a finding that a guardian appointed in a manner described in section 5202 has failed to accept the appointment within 28 days after the notice of the guardianship proceeding.

(5)For the minor ward's welfare, the court may at any time order the minor ward's parents to pay reasonable support and order reasonable parenting time and contact of the minor ward with his or her parents.

History: 1998, Act 386 , Eff. Apr. 1, 2000 ;-- Am. 2000, Act 54 , Eff. Apr. 1, 2000 ;-- Am. 2005, Act 204 , Imd. Eff. Nov. 10, 2005 ;-- Am. 2023, Act 72 , Imd. Eff. July 12, 2023

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