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STATE OF MICHIGAN 

COURT OF APPEALS 

In re Conservatorship of STEPHEN MICHALAK. 

STEPHAN PP MICHALAK, 

 Petitioner-Appellant, 

UNPUBLISHED 

December 1, 2016 

v No. 329198 

Saginaw Probate Court 

CIRCLE OF LIFE SERVICES CONSERVATOR, LC No. 15-132724-CA 

 Respondent-Appellee. 

Before: OWENS, P.J., and HOEKSTRA and BECKERING, JJ. 

OWENS, P.J., (DISSENTING.) 

 I respectfully dissent. The issue before the trial court was whether Mr. Michalak’s 

disability had ceased. If it had, the trial court would be required to terminate the 

conservatorship. MCL 700.5431. 

 The majority asserts that “there is no evidence that Michalak ever mismanaged his 

finances.” To the contrary, there was evidence that, prior to the appointment of a conservator, 

Michalak did not know the extent of his assets, claiming they were worth about $70,000, rather 

than the actual value of about $1,000,000, and that the bank would not cash a check he had 

written because “the name and the date were so far off.” Subsequent to the appointment of a 

conservator, Michalak told Dr. Movva that he “used to have [one] million dollar, now it is less 

than 90,000,” he “paid the same bill three times in one month,” and he claimed “that someone 

else has used his credit card,” which subsequent credit card statements showed was untrue. Dr. 

MacInnes found Michalak to require “some intervention and compensatory devises [sic] to 

manage his finances. 

 Based on the foregoing, it is clear that there was insufficient evidence presented that 

Michalak’s previously established disability had ceased, and, in fact, the evidence showed that it 

continued. Therefore, the court did not err in declining to terminate the conservatorship. 

 The majority vacates and remands with instructions to the trial court to “determine the 

least restrictive means of protecting Michalak’s assets in light of Michalak’s specific capabilities 

and incapacities”; in other words, to consider a limited conservatorship or other protective order. 
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Indeed, had I been the trial judge I probably would have appointed a limited conservator with 

authority over all of Michalak’s assets, reserving to Michalak the right to spend a limited 

amount, such as $25 or $50 per week, without approval of the conservator.1

 However, I was not 

the trial judge and did not observe Michalak and the witnesses as did he. 

 Based on the evidence before the trial court that Michalak’s disability continued rather 

than ceased, I cannot find that the trial judge abused his discretion. Therefore, I would affirm. 

/s/ Donald S. Owens 

 

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 It appears from the evidence that while this is a full conservatorship in law, it is a limited 

conservatorship in practice, thanks to the efforts of the conservator to encourage Michalak’s 

maximum self-reliance and independence by permitting him to have use of a checkbook and 

credit card. While “90% of the [credit card] charges are from restaurants,” this shows that his 

conservator has given him the opportunity to exercise discretion in the spending of money for his 

day-to-day living expenses (primarily restaurant meals) while his very significant assets are 

protected and important bills are paid for him by his conservator.