MiFILE Michigan Probate Court: How to File Guardianship Papers Electronically

Filing a guardianship or conservatorship petition used to mean driving to your county probate court, standing in line at the clerk's window, and hand-delivering a stack of SCAO forms. Michigan's MiFILE system changed that — most counties now accept (and many require) electronic filing for probate cases. But the system has specific formatting requirements and pitfalls that catch first-time filers.

Which Counties Require MiFILE

Michigan's largest counties — Wayne, Oakland, Kent, Macomb, Washtenaw, Genesee, and Ingham among them — mandate electronic filing for all new probate cases through MiFILE. Smaller counties may still accept paper filings at the clerk's window. Check your county's probate court website or call the register's office to confirm whether e-filing is required or optional.

The MiFILE portal is at mifile.courts.michigan.gov. You need to create an account with a valid email address before you can file anything.

Step-by-Step Filing Process

Register and select your court. After creating your MiFILE account, select "Probate Court" as the court type and choose the county where your parent resides or is currently located. This determines jurisdiction under MCL 700.5303.

Open a new case. Select "New Case Filing" and choose the appropriate case type — guardianship of an incapacitated individual or conservatorship/protective order. The system will prompt you for basic party information: the proposed ward's name, date of birth, and address, plus the petitioner's contact details.

Upload SCAO forms as PDFs. MiFILE requires documents in PDF format. For a guardianship petition, you need at minimum:

• SCAO Form PC 625 — Petition for Appointment of Guardian of Incapacitated Individual
• SCAO Form MC 97a — Protected Personal Identifying Information (shields your parent's Social Security number and date of birth from public access)
• SCAO Form PC 626 — Notice of Rights to Alleged Incapacitated Individual (you serve this on your parent, but file a copy with the court)

For conservatorship, add:

• SCAO Form PC 639 — Petition for Appointment of Conservator and/or Protective Order

Pay the filing fee. MiFILE accepts credit card payments. The filing fee is $175 per petition — $350 total if you're filing for both guardianship and conservatorship simultaneously. If you cannot afford the fee, file SCAO Form MC 20 (Fee Waiver Request) as part of your initial filing.

Receive your case number. After the court processes your filing (typically within 1-2 business days), you receive a case number and the judge assignment. The court will schedule a hearing date, which you'll need for the Notice of Hearing (Form PC 562) that must be served on all interested persons.

Common MiFILE Mistakes That Delay Cases

Wrong PDF format. MiFILE rejects scanned images that aren't OCR'd or exceed file size limits. Download fillable SCAO forms directly from courts.michigan.gov, complete them digitally, and export as PDF. This produces clean, searchable documents that the court can process without issues.

Missing the MC 97a. The Protected Personal Identifying Information form is frequently forgotten because it seems administrative rather than substantive. Without it, the clerk will reject your filing — your parent's Social Security number cannot appear on publicly accessible court documents.

Incomplete address fields. If you cannot locate all interested parties (siblings, other relatives entitled to notice), you must note this on the petition. Missing addresses may require service by publication using SCAO Form PC 617, which adds time and cost but prevents the case from stalling.

Filing in the wrong county. Jurisdiction lies in the county where the proposed ward resides — not where you live, and not where the hospital is located (unless your parent has no other residence). Filing in the wrong county means starting over.

After Filing: What Happens Next

The court appoints a Guardian ad Litem within days of receiving your petition. You're responsible for the GAL's fee (typically $150-$300). The GAL visits your parent, explains their rights, and files a recommendation with the court.

You must then serve notice on all interested persons — the proposed ward (personally, with Form PC 626), their spouse, adult children, and current care facility. Service must be completed at least 7 days before the hearing (personal service) or 14 days before (first-class mail).

If the situation is an emergency — a parent needs surgery and cannot consent, or financial exploitation is ongoing — check the emergency box on Form PC 625. The judge can conduct an ex parte hearing within days and issue Temporary Letters of Guardianship (Form PC 633TEMP) that expire in 28 days, bridging the gap until the permanent hearing.

Getting the Filing Right the First Time

The Michigan Power of Attorney & Guardianship Kit includes a complete SCAO form checklist organized by petition type, with filing sequence diagrams showing exactly which forms to submit, which to serve, and which to keep for the hearing. The kit covers both the electronic MiFILE workflow and in-person paper filing for counties that still accept it.

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