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Walterhouse v. Ackley

Supreme Court of Michigan
Dec 22, 1998
589 N.W.2d 780 (Mich. 1998)

Opinion

No. 110839.

November 12, 1998

December 22, 1998.


Summary Dispositions December 22, 1998.

Leave to appeal having been granted at 457 Mich. 853, and the case having been submitted for consideration on the briefs, the decision of the Court of Appeals is reversed. The Legislature enacted the 1990 version of § 6b of the Child Custody Act, MCL 722.266; MSA 25.312(6b). In response to the ramifications of our decision in In re Rankin, 433 Mich. 592 (1989). These statutory changes eliminated a parent's unfettered right to terminate a limited guardianship and instituted a mechanism whereby limited guardians were granted standing to pursue a child custody action. It is clear that the Legislature intended these new requirements to apply to guardianships already in place. The only exception to the new rule is where the parents of the child have substantially complied with an approved placement plan. There is no indication the Legislature intended for the exception to its newly stated rule of standing to apply to such prior guardianships, lacking a placement plan, that might remain in existence after its enactment. Accordingly, the Court of Appeals erred in failing to apply the provisions of § 6b to a guardianship entered intoprior to the effective date of the statutory revisions. The constitutional questions raised by the amici curiae are not properly before the Court, and hence the Court does not address those matters today. This case is remanded to the Court of Appeals to address the constitutional questions not reached in its prior decision. Reported below: 226 Mich. App. 67.


Summaries of

Walterhouse v. Ackley

Supreme Court of Michigan
Dec 22, 1998
589 N.W.2d 780 (Mich. 1998)
Case details for

Walterhouse v. Ackley

Case Details

Full title:WALTERHOUSE v. ACKLEY

Court:Supreme Court of Michigan

Date published: Dec 22, 1998

Citations

589 N.W.2d 780 (Mich. 1998)
459 Mich. 920