SCAO form PC-560 is the document you will use to file for supervised probate administration. This particular petition is used during the probate process in a very narrow context. Usually, the determination of whether an estate will be supervised or unsupervised occurs at the first petition for probate. At that hearing, the court may determine that supervision is needed either because the will has required it, or an interested person has demanded it. This petition is used after that’s already been determined.
The highly qualified probate attorneys on our team can be your voice when going through supervised probate administration in Royal Oak, which is not as common as unsupervised probate, but will receive more scrutiny from the court.
During the probate process, there can be a request for supervised administration by an interested person for a particular purpose, after an adjudication. This form is guided by Michigan Compiled Laws 700.3502, and the court rule MCR 5.310. Court rule MCR 5.310 provides that a request for supervision in a decedent’s estate may be made in the petition for formal testacy, which is the original petition. However, it can also be made afterwards, and that’s what gives rise to this particular petition during the estate administrative proceedings, if testacy has not previously been adjudicated.
If the admission of a will and the appointment of a personal representative had been previously adjudicated, then this petition would be used at any time during the administration of the estate. The court must always determine heirs if they had not previously been determined in any proceedings with a request for supervision.
Supervision can give a voice to somebody within an estate, such as a creditor, heir-at-law, or a devisee, to come before the court and say they would like these proceedings to be supervised.
If probate administration is supervised, each step in the personal representative’s role and duties are now overseen by the court, and it is generally required that each step requires a petition for approval.
For example, the sale of real estate, the accounting of assets, and the formal closing of the probate estate will each require a petition. In an unsupervised probate administration, many of these steps can be done without involving the court. When it is supervised, you get greater accountability.
Let’s work our way through this particular form for supervised probate. At the top is the spot to write in the county, case number, the estate name, the name of the deceased estate, the person making the petition, and their connection to the petition, such as the spouse, a creditor, a child, an heir, a devisee, et cetera.
Section 2 provides that the administration of the estate is pending before the court, to show that this petition is not your initial petition to open the estate, but rather the administration is already pending before the court.
Section 3 declares whether a personal representative has already been determined and a valid will is present.
Section 4 provides whether there’s a will that directs supervised administration. But the more common situation is that somebody within the estate administration feels like they’re not getting good information from the personal representative; maybe there’s a lack of transparency or the personal representative is not performing the role correctly. This gives the interested person the opportunity to request court-supervised administration.
Section 5 provides for a determination or a restatement of the interested persons, their addresses, and any representatives. Here, the court simply wants an update as to the interested persons so that notice is provided to all of these people.
Section 6 is the request for supervised administration, with a place to sign their name and provide their address. All in all, the form is pretty straightforward and is maybe the most succinct that you will run into while going through probate.
With every petition, there’s a process. You file the petition, you pay the filing fee, it gets scheduled for hearing, notice is provided or waived by all of the interested persons, and then there’s an adjudication in the form of a court order.
These SCAO forms are not always easy to navigate through. That’s why we strongly urge people to work with a skilled probate lawyer to guide you through the process. The Probate Pro knows everything there is to know about this topic and we can take the burden off your shoulders when it comes to supervised probate administration in Royal Oak. Call us now.