Filing Procedures -

Trust - Petition for Supervision

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What is a petition for supervision of a trust?

A petition for supervision of a trust is any petition brought to the probate court regarding a trust. There are several circumstances under which a petition for supervision of a trust would be filed. The most common are:

• Requests for ongoing supervision (in other words, ongoing oversight of the court) by a trust beneficiary who believes the trustee is not acting correctly.
• Request for ongoing supervision by a trustee pursuant to requirements of a court order or the trust terms itself, such as in a special needs trust for a disabled beneficiary.
• Request for partial/limited supervision by a trustee who is seeking approval to alter, reform, or terminate a trust.
• Request for partial/limited supervision by a trustee or beneficiary seeking interpretation or clarification of a trust agreement’s terms.
• Request for partial/limited supervision for the court to appoint a successor trustee.
• Request for partial/limited supervision to obtain the release of trust document(s), distributions of money, to compel an accounting, object to attorney and/or trustee fees, etc.
• Request for partial/limited supervision by a Trustee seeking formal approval of exercise of power under trust (i.e., make distribution, tax election, change of investments, etc.).

Trust - Petition for Supervision (including requests for partial or limited supervision)

1. Forms Used:
   1. Self-drafted petition: there is no SCAO-required form, rather the petition is prepared by the petitioner or petitioner’s attorney. The petition should include a copy of the Trust and any other exhibits.
   2. Petitioner filing coversheet, wcpc99;
   3. MC 505, Contact Information Contact Information; and
   4. If protected personal identifying information (PPII) is redacted and necessary for the petition, use the appropriate form, either MC97 or MC97a, to list the PPII.
2. Case Type: There are two possible case types that will apply to these petitions:
   1. TT – if the trust was created through a will (this is referred to as a testamentary trust), or
   2. TV – for all other trust types.
3. Types of supervision: There are different types of supervision (in other words, oversight by the court) that can be ordered by the Court:
   1. Ongoing supervision – this type of supervision by the court provides that the trust is thereafter “supervised” until the trust administration is fully completed, or a court order stops the supervision. Once the court orders that a trust is supervised, the trustee is required to regularly report to the court (and beneficiaries), which may include any or all of the following: the filing of an inventory of all trust assets, annual (and final) accountings of all income and distributions, restrictions on transactions or actions of the trustee, the filing of a fiduciary bond by the trustee, etc.
   2. Limited or Partial supervision – this type of supervision can either be:
      1. A one-time involvement with the court, where once the court issues the order resolving the petition, the case is closed, often only requiring one hearing. Examples of this type of supervision might occur with petitions seeking the appointment of a successor trustee when the current trustee resigns or dies and there is no successor named in the trust agreement, or the reformation of a trust to be consistent with current law, or for the clarification of ambiguous trust terms, or for the authorization of a trustee to exercise a trust power.
      2. A short period of involvement by the court, where once all of the issues raised in the petition are resolved, the partial supervision of the trust is stopped. This situation may require multiple hearings but would ultimately be resolved and the case then closed with the trust administration continuing thereafter without court oversight. A common example of this is where one trustee is removed, but required to file accounts and the court is involved to assist with resolving concerns raised, and once these matters are resolved, the trust supervision by the court ends.
   • NOTE: Under EPIC, Letters of Authority are not issued to Trustees of any Trusts.
     
4. Click here to find out how you can file your petition.
5. Submit your completed documents to the Court in the following order (as one PDF if submitting electronically, or as one document if submitted via fax):
1. WCPC99, Petitioner Filing Coversheet
2. MC 505, Contact Information
3. Petition for supervision with trust agreement and exhibits
4. MC 97, Protected Personal Identifying Information or MC 97a, Addendum to Protected Personal Identifying Information, if being used for submitting PPII to the court
6. Filing Fee - $175 Filing Fee – You will receive written notification from the court (via email if provided or mail if you do not provide your email address) to pay the filing fee once your submission has been accepted. The fee can be paid:
   1. Electronically via ePayment online through the court’s website, or
   2. At the court, through the cashier on the 13th Floor, or
   3. Via mail by CHECK (no out-of-state checks) or MONEY ORDER
      1. Make check payable to: “Wayne County Probate Court”
      2. Mail check/money order along with a letter with your case # referencing what the payment is for to:
   4. A fee waiver request can be submitted together with your petition. Click here to learn about the fee waiver process.
      • 1305 Coleman A. Young Municipal Center
        2 Woodward Ave.
        Detroit, MI. 48226
7. Hearing Date
   1. Once the filing fee is paid, the matter will be set for hearing and you will be sent notice of hearing information, including ZOOM instructions.
   2. You must serve a copy of the petition and the hearing information on all the interested persons.
   3. Hearings are conducted by ZOOM unless otherwise indicated. See: ZoomNoticeOfHearing and if applicable, Request to Physically Appear In-Person for A Hearing
   4. You must attend the hearing, or your petition will be dismissed.

Rev 12/2024