(Source: MIRS.news, Published 11/15/2023) The Michigan Supreme Court today clarified court rules regarding redacting personal identifying information (PII), in a case involving an Eastpointe woman who claims her mother’s death certificate contains inaccurate information provided by an “unethical attorney.”
Karen Mouradjian said an “extremely unethical” attorney who had power of attorney for her mother listed her address as Mouradjian’s mother’s address, even though she had never lived there.
“If it weren’t for the PII, I wouldn’t have been able to discover that information,” she said. “… This is critical that family members are able to have this PII information because there are unscrupulous attorneys out there who unfortunately counsel their clients: ‘Don’t share your estate planning, your wills, your trusts with family members.’ . . .
“Families suffer when that information is withheld from them. … How can they report fraud or waste or power of attorneys that are violating their fiduciary duties to the principle?” Mouradjian asked.
Effective April 1, 2022, the court rule was changed to provide that PII “shall not be included in any public document or attachment filed with the court.” That information includes date of birth, Social Security numbers, driver’s license or state-ID card numbers, passport numbers and financial account numbers.
The Supreme Court today held a hearing to consider proposed amendments to those court rules – MCR 1.109, MCR 5.302 and MCR 8.108 – to provide “clear direction on the process for protecting personal identifying information in transcripts, wills and death certificates.”
The proposed change, which was adopted and takes effect Jan. 1, calls for unredacted PII to be redacted on transcripts if a written request to do so is submitted and to redact the information on death certificates and wills filed with the court to begin an estate case.
The court also adopted a rule change that allows a mental examination to be recorded by video or audio under certain circumstances. It is also effective Jan. 1.
