If this opinion indicates that it is “FOR PUBLICATION,” it is subject to 

revision until final publication in the Michigan Appeals Reports.

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S T A T E O F M I C H I G A N

C O U R T O F A P P E A L S

In re ADW, minor.

AMBER MILLION,

Petitioner-Appellee,

FOR PUBLICATION

March 14, 2024

9:10 a.m.

v No. 368361

Lenawee Probate Court

DALE WARNER, LC No. 23-052933-GM

Respondent-Appellant.

Before: FEENEY, P.J., and REDFORD and YATES, JJ.

YATES, J.

In this minor-guardianship proceeding under MCL 700.5204(2)(b), which is contained in 

the Estates and Protected Individuals Code (EPIC), MCL 700.1101 et seq., the probate court chose 

to appoint the son of respondent Dale Warner (Dale) as temporary guardian for ADW, who is the 

daughter of Dale and his missing wife, Dee Warner (Dee). The probate court further ordered that 

ADW should have visits with Dee’s children from a prior relationship, including petitioner, Amber 

Million (Amber). Dale contends the probate court lacked subject-matter jurisdiction to enter those 

orders and violated his constitutional rights as a parent by ordering that ADW should have visits 

with Dee’s children from a prior relationship. We affirm the probate court’s decision to exercise 

jurisdiction under MCL 700.5204(2)(b), but we reverse the order requiring ADW to participate in 

visits with her maternal siblings.

I. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

After Dale and Dee both had children from earlier relationships with others, they married. 

In 2012, they had a daughter, ADW, who is the subject of this proceeding. The evidence indicates 

that ADW had good relationships with Dee’s children, but Dee disappeared on April 24, 2021, and 

then those relationships became strained because Dee’s children thought that Dale was responsible 

for Dee’s disappearance. ADW, who was nine years old at the time, began living exclusively with 

Dale in the wake of Dee’s disappearance, and Dale prevented ADW from having any contact with 
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Dee’s children. After ADW started attending counseling in 2022, her therapist described ADW as 

“well cared for” and “strongly bonded” with Dale. The therapist opined that, because of “the 

contention between” Dee’s children and Dale, it was not in ADW’s best interests to have “face to 

face, in person contact with her maternal half siblings.”

On May 3, 2022, Dale executed an “Appointment of Guardian and Conservator for Minor 

Child of Dale J. Warner” stating: “If for any reason I fail to serve, I request that the Court appoint 

my son, Jaron D. Warner, . . . as guardian and conservator for my minor daughter, [ADW].” Then, 

on September 12, 2023, Dale executed a “Consent to Treat Minor Children” form that permitted a 

doctor to make decisions about ADW’s medical care from September 12, 2023, to January 1, 2024. 

The timing of Dale’s consent was significant because, one day later, on September 13, 2023, Dale 

was found in contempt of court for not cooperating with a conservatorship regarding the assets of 

Dee’s estate and sentenced to serve 93 days in jail for that contempt.

On September 19, 2023, while Dale was in jail, Dee’s adult daughter Amber filed a petition 

asking the probate court to appoint her as ADW’s guardian. The probate court promptly appointed 

a lawyer-guardian ad litem (LGAL) for ADW and instructed the Department of Health and Human 

Services (DHHS) to review the matter. Five days later, on September 24, 2023, Dale executed a 

notarized power of attorney, which stated:

I, Dale Warner, of Tecumseh, MI appoint Jaron Warner of Tipton, MI, as 

my agent and legal guardian of my minor child, [ADW], . . . 

I appoint and vest in my agent full powers as a substitute parent, giving them the 

authority to do anything and everything required for my child’s care. I also 

authorize my agent to do any of the things that I, as a parent, could do on behalf of 

my child. I specifically authorize Jaron Warner to:

(1) Consent to medical and/or dental care for my child;

(2) Enroll my minor child in appropriate schools and/or educational programs;

(3) Act or consent to any and all acts with respect to my child’s health and wellbeing, except the power to consent to guardianship, adoption, or marriage.

This delegation of parental powers is given pursuant to MCL 700.5103, and will 

become effective on the day I sign it. This power expires six (6) months from the 

date it begins or on my declaration, whichever comes first. 

On September 29, 2023, Jaron accepted the appointment.

While Amber’s petition for appointment of a minor guardian for ADW was pending in the 

probate court, Amanda Jones (who worked for the DHHS) spoke to Dale, Jaron, ADW, and Amber. 

On October 9, 2023, Jones testified that ADW wanted to have a relationship with Dee’s children, 

but she preferred to remain in Jaron’s care. Similarly, LGAL Suzanne Wilhelm stated during the

hearing on October 9, 2023, that ADW has “a really good bond with her brother” Jaron. Although 

ADW “also loves her maternal siblings,” ADW “hasn’t actually interacted with them in a couple 

years” because Dale “has thwarted their attempts to interact with” ADW. Significantly, ADW told 
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the LGAL that it “would hurt her brain way too much to move in with her sister” Amber, so ADW

wanted to stay where she was. Nevertheless, the LGAL explained that ADW “needs to have this 

relationship with her . . . maternal adult siblings.”

After the LGAL spoke and the DHHS representative testified at the hearing on October 9, 

2023, the court invited the attorneys for Dale and Amber to present their competing arguments on 

the issue of guardianship for ADW. The court then addressed the petition for minor guardianship 

in a ruling from the bench. First, the court explained that, despite the documents Dale had signed, 

when Amber filed her petition on September 19, 2023, “there was no valid execution of a [p]ower 

of [a]ttorney that would, in fact, allow for legal enforcement.” Second, the court ordered “that a 

temporary guardianship will be issued for [ADW],” and “it will be with the person who has been 

providing that care for her since the incarceration of Dale Warner,” specifically, Dale’s son, Jaron. 

Third, the court chose to “follow the recommendations made by our LGAL” for ADW “to be able 

to visit with both sides of the family,” but left open the issue of how best to accomplish that goal. 

Finally, the court scheduled a hearing on November 30, 2023, to consider whether to modify or to 

render more permanent the temporary minor guardianship.

On October 11, 2023, the probate court memorialized its rulings in an order that appointed 

Jaron as the temporary minor guardian for ADW, but set forth an expiration date of November 30, 

2023. One day later, Jaron accepted the appointment along with letters of temporary guardianship 

from the court. Next, the issue of ADW’s visits with Dee’s adult children was resolved in an order 

rendered on October 25, 2023, that directed Jaron to contact Brenea Moore to enable her “to make 

recommendations regarding the [o]rdered supervised visitation between [ADW] and her maternal 

siblings at the earliest available time Ms. Moore offers.” That order decreed “that as soon as Ms. 

Moore has conducted her initial appointment with [ADW] and makes recommendations regarding 

supervised visits,” the “supervised visits shall immediately commence[.]”

What happened after the entry of the order on October 25, 2023, is murky. Dale wrote in 

an emergency petition to terminate the guardianship filed on November 7, 2023, that he had been 

“released from [the] Lenawee County Jail.” But Dale’s freedom was short-lived. He was charged 

with murdering Dee, arrested on that charge, and detained on a $15 million bond before the hearing 

in the guardianship case scheduled for November 30, 2023. Unfortunately, we cannot tell what, if 

anything, happened in the probate matter on November 30, 2023, but the circumstances known to 

this Court leave no doubt that Dale is not able to provide care and maintenance for ADW. Despite 

that fact, Dale has appealed the probate-court orders entered on October 11 and 25, 2023, asserting 

that both of those orders must be vacated on jurisdictional and constitutional grounds.

II. LEGAL ANALYSIS

Dale challenges both of the probate court’s orders, contending that the court lacked subjectmatter jurisdiction and violated his constitutional rights as a parent. “A claim that the lower court 

lacks jurisdiction is a question of law, which this Court reviews de novo.” Reed v Reed, 265 Mich 

App 131, 157; 693 NW2d 825 (2005). Similarly, this Court reviews constitutional issues de novo. 

In re MS, 291 Mich App 439, 442; 805 NW2d 460 (2011). In addition, this Court reviews de novo 

“the interpretation and application of statutes and court rules.” In re Mason, 486 Mich 142, 152; 

782 NW2d 747 (2010). But “[w]e review the probate court’s findings of fact for clear error[,]” In 

re Redd Guardianship, 321 Mich App 398, 403; 909 NW2d 289 (2017), and this Court “review[s] 
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the probate court’s dispositional rulings for an abuse of discretion.” Id. With all of these standards 

in mind, we shall take up Dale’s jurisdictional and constitutional challenges to the probate court’s 

orders entered on October 11 and 25, 2023.

A. SUBJECT-MATTER JURISDICTION

The probate court appointed a temporary guardian for ADW under MCL 700.5204(2)(b),1

which allows the probate court to “appoint a guardian for a minor” if “[t]he parent or parents permit 

the minor to reside with another person and do not provide the other person with legal authority 

for the minor’s care and maintenance, and the minor is not residing with his or her parent or parents 

when the petition is filed.” In re Guardianship of Versalle, 334 Mich App 173, 181; 963 NW2d 

701 (2020). To invoke that authority of the probate court, “[a] person interested in the welfare of 

a minor . . . may petition for the appointment of a guardian for the minor” under MCL 700.5204(1). 

Here, Amber filed a petition on September 19, 2023, when Dale was in jail serving a sentence for 

contempt of court and ADW was residing with Dale’s son, Jaron. Consequently, Amber properly 

filed a petition as a person interested in the welfare of ADW while Dale permitted ADW to reside 

with Jaron, so the only potential jurisdictional defect concerns whether Dale provided Jaron “with 

legal authority for [ADW]’s care and maintenance.” See MCL 700.5204(1). Dale asserts that he 

provided his son, Jaron, with sufficient legal authority over ADW by signing three documents: (1)

the “Appointment of Guardian and Conservator for Minor Child of Dale J. Warner” that he signed 

on May 3, 2022; (2) the “Consent to Treat Minor Children” form that he signed on September 12, 

2023; and (3) the “Power of Attorney for Minor Child” that he signed on September 24, 2023.

According to MCL 700.5103(1), “[b]y a properly executed power of attorney, a parent or 

guardian of a minor . . . may delegate to another person, for a period not exceeding 180 days, any 

of the parent’s or guardian’s powers regarding care, custody, or property of the minor child . . . .” 

Thus, EPIC includes a statutory method for enabling a parent to provide another person “with legal 

authority for the minor’s care and maintenance,” as contemplated by MCL 700.5204(2)(b). Here, 

Dale cites three separate documents to support his contention that he provided his son, Jaron, with 

legal authority for ADW’s care and maintenance, thereby divesting the probate court of statutory 

authority to conduct minor-guardianship proceedings concerning ADW. We shall discuss each of 

those three documents in turn.

The “Appointment of Guardian and Conservator for Minor Child of Dale J. Warner,” which 

Dale signed on May 3, 2022, simply states that: “If for any reason I fail to serve, I request that the 

Court appoint my son, Jaron D. Warner, . . . as guardian and conservator for my minor daughter, 

[ADW].” In that document, Dale did not grant Jaron authority to take care of ADW; Dale merely 

set forth the condition that would prompt “the Court” at a future date to appoint Jaron “as guardian 

 

1 Amber’s petition asked the probate court to act pursuant to MCL 700.5204(2)(a), which provides 

for jurisdiction when “[t]he parental rights of both parents or the surviving parent are terminated 

or suspended by prior court order, by judgment of divorce or separate maintenance, by death, by 

judicial determination of mental incompetency, by disappearance, or by confinement in a place of 

detention.” But the trial court’s order entered on October 11, 2023, relied instead on the authority 

of MCL 700.5204(2)(b), so we must focus on that provision as the basis for jurisdiction.
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and conservator” for ADW. And in the fullness of time, the probate court did just that. Moreover, 

Dale signed that document 16 months before he gave ADW to Jaron on September 13, 2023, when 

Dale went to jail.2 To be sure, under EPIC, “[a] person may become a minor’s guardian by parental 

appointment[,]” MCL 700.5201, but that document did not make such a parental appointment. To 

the contrary, it contemplated that “the Court” would appoint Jaron to serve as ADW’s guardian.3

The “Consent to Treat Minor Children” that Dale signed on September 12, 2023, fares no 

better. In that document, Dale gave “consent to any medical care determined by a physician to be 

necessary for the welfare of [ADW] while said child is under the care of Jaron Warner of Tipton, 

MI and I am not reasonably available by telephone to give consent.” Significantly, nothing in that 

document gave Jaron authority to do anything at all for ADW. Instead, the document allowed “a 

physician” to provide care to ADW based on a unilateral decision if Dale was not available to give 

his consent. Therefore, that document did not provide Jaron “with legal authority for the minor’s 

care and maintenance,” as contemplated by MCL 700.5204(2)(b). 

Finally, five days after Amber filed the petition for appointment of a guardian that brought 

the matter of ADW before the probate court, Dale signed a power of attorney that gave Jaron broad 

powers to provide for the care and maintenance of ADW. That comprehensive grant of authority 

satisfied the standard for “delegation of powers by a parent” prescribed by MCL 700.5103(1), and 

thus undermined the contention that Dale did not provide Jaron “with legal authority for [ADW]’s 

care and maintenance,” as contemplated by MCL 700.5204(2)(b). But by then, the probate court 

had been invested with jurisdiction over ADW by dint of Amber’s petition filed on September 19, 

2023. “[T]he Legislature intended courts to analyze the requirements [of MCL 700.5204(2)(b)] 

on the basis of the facts existing at the time of filing[,]” In re Guardianship of Versalle, 509 Mich 

961, 961 (2022) (WELCH, J, concurring); see also Guardianship of Versalle, 334 Mich App at 186

(the analysis is based on the facts “at the time that the petition was filed”), so the power of attorney 

that Dale signed five days after Amber’s filing of the petition did not divest the probate court of 

jurisdiction to conduct the guardianship proceedings. Thus, the trial court was entitled to continue 

proceedings concerning ADW under MCL 700.5204(2)(b) once jurisdiction existed, Guardianship

of Versalle, 334 Mich App at 186, so Dale’s jurisdictional challenge is unavailing.

B. CONSTITUTIONAL CHALLENGES

Dale insists that the probate court impermissibly infringed upon his constitutional rights by 

issuing an order on October 25, 2023, directing ADW to participate in visits with Dee’s children. 

A core principle of due process holds that parents have a constitutionally protected right “to make 

decisions concerning the care, custody, and control of their children.” In re Sanders, 495 Mich 

 

2 The parties debate whether that 16-month delay rendered the document signed on May 3, 2022, 

inoperative under MCL 700.5103, which states that, “[b]y a properly executed power of attorney, 

a parent or guardian of a minor . . . may delegate to another person, for a period not exceeding 180 

days, any of the parent’s or guardian’s powers regarding care, custody, or property of the minor 

child . . . .” Under our analysis, however, that debate about the document is immaterial.

3 Under MCL 700.5201, “[a] person may become a minor’s guardian by parental appointment or 

court appointment.” The document Dale signed on May 3, 2022, required a court appointment. 
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394, 409; 852 NW2d 524 (2014). “[A] parent’s constitutional right to raise his or her child is also 

applicable in the guardianship context.” Guardianship of Versalle, 334 Mich App at 179. In this 

case, Dale asserts that his due-process rights, applicable in the guardianship context, entitle him to 

block visits between ADW and her maternal siblings. But the appointment of Dale’s son, Jaron, 

as ADW’s guardian changes the analysis in a significant manner.

According to MCL 700.5215, “[a] minor’s guardian has the powers and responsibilities of 

a parent who is not deprived of custody of the parent’s minor and unemancipated child[.]” Here, 

the probate court’s order appointing Dale’s son, Jaron, as ADW’s guardian satisfied Dale’s choice 

that Jaron should serve as ADW’s guardian if Dale could not care for ADW. In his capacity as the 

guardian for ADW, Jaron has “the powers and responsibilities of a parent[.]” See MCL 700.5215. 

Those powers include the authority to prohibit visits between ADW and nearly all of her relatives. 

This Court said precisely that in D’Allessandro v Ely, 173 Mich App 788; 434 NW2d 662 (1988), 

where we explained: “The guardian, not the probate court, has the parental power which includes 

decisions over visitation. Therefore, the probate court does not have jurisdiction to enter an order 

concerning visitation in guardianship matters.” Id. at 795. Much more recently, in the context of 

a juvenile-guardian case,4this Court ruled that “[t]he trial court committed a clear legal error when 

it determined that it had the authority to order visitation with [the child]’s paternal relatives[.]” In 

re Prepodnik, 337 Mich App 238, 243; 975 NW2d 66 (2021). Interpreting MCL 700.5215(c), this 

Court explained that a “guardian, like a parent, is typically provided the right to choose what third 

parties interact with their child or ward.” Id. at 246. Carving out grandparents as an exception to 

that rule because of their statutory rights under Michigan law, see id. at 246-247, this Court noted: 

“The parties have not identified any statutes, court rules, or caselaw that suggest a relative who is 

not a parent or grandparent has authority to request court-ordered visitation, nor does there appear 

to be any.” Id. at 247. Similarly, the probate court in this case “lacked legal authority” to enter an 

order directing ADW to have visits with her maternal siblings. See id. at 248.

Having defined the narrow limits of the probate court’s authority to order visits with ADW, 

we nonetheless acknowledge that the LGAL and the DHHS worker both opined that visits between 

ADW and her maternal siblings would be in ADW’s best interests. The probate court “may review 

a guardianship for a minor” and consider “[w]hether the guardian has adequately provided for the 

minor’s welfare.” MCL 700.5207(1)(b). A court-appointed guardian has a duty to “facilitate the 

ward’s education and social or other activities,” MCL 700.5215, and the court, at a review hearing, 

may address a failure to satisfy that duty by ordering “the parties to follow a court-structured plan 

designed to resolve the conditions identified at the review hearing.” MCL 700.5207(3)(b)(ii)(B). 

To be sure, the probate court lacks the authority to require ADW to visit with her maternal siblings, 

but the probate court is not completely powerless to address that issue in a manner short of ordering 

such visits to take place. On the record before us at this point, however, we must affirm the probate 

 

4 A minor guardianship under EPIC, MCL 700.5204(2), is not the same as a juvenile guardianship 

under MCL 712A.19a(9)(c), which “allows the child to keep a relationship with the parent when 

placement with the parent is not possible.” In re TK, 306 Mich App 698, 705; 859 NW2d 208 

(2014). The two types of guardianship, though, share many common traits. In re Prepodnik, 337 

Mich App 238, 244; 975 NW2d 66 (2021).
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court’s appointment of Jaron as ADW’s guardian under MCL 700.5204(2)(b), but reverse the order 

directing ADW to have visits with her maternal siblings.

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Affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded for further proceedings consistent with 

this opinion. We do no retain jurisdiction.

/s/ Christopher P. Yates

/s/ Kathleen A. Feeney

/s/ James Robert Redford

 

5 Nothing in this opinion limits the ability of Jaron, as ADW’s appointed guardian, from permitting 

ADW to have contact—including in-person visits—with ADW’s maternal siblings in any manner 

that he deems appropriate.