LANSING, Mich. — Michigan's attorney is praising the state legislature for its passage of two bills that were recently signed into law and designed to stop probate abuse and also make critical changes to Michigan's public administrator system.
Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, who appoints county public administrators to serve as representatives for estates that have no heirs, says the new legislation was needed to help fix the state's nearly 40-year-old laws relating to the public administrator system.
“Actions that came to light last year made it clear that now is the time to make changes to the public administration system,” Schuette said in a news release. “What has happened in the system is unacceptable, and these changes to an almost 40-year-old law help ensure this never happens again. By creating a clear, current and direct path for public administrators to follow in the probate process we can better protect Michigan citizens and weed out any bad actors.”
According to the attorney general's office, the new legislation stemmed from the firing and discovery that a few public administrators were using controversial practices involving tax and mortgage foreclosure properties where no heirs opened the estate.