Jurisdiction is with the Circuit Court for interlocutoy appeals of a probate court interlocutory order.

In Button v Oakland Livingston Human Service Agency, Unpub Per Curiam Opinion of the Court of Appeals, (#314952, 8/14/2014) the Court of Appeals held that the circuit court had jurisdiction to decide OLHSA’s application for leave to appeal the probate court order denying defendants’ motions for summary disposition. The order that OLHSA sought to appeal to the circuit court was an interlocutory order. See Mossing v Demlow Prods, Inc, 287 Mich App 87 780 (2010) (stating that an order denying summary disposition “is inherently interlocutory.).

 

The court rules governing probate court proceedings contain a subchapter on appeals, 5.800. MCR 5.801(D) addresses appeals from interlocutory orders of the probate court, and provides in pertinent part: An interlocutory order, such as an order regarding discovery; ruling on evidence; appointing a guardian ad litem; or suspending a fiduciary for failure to give a new bond, to file an inventory, or to render an account, may be appealed only to the circuit court and only by leave of that court. . . . [Emphasis added.]  The court rules governing appeals to the circuit court similarly provide that the circuit court has appellate jurisdiction over interlocutory orders of the probate court. MCR 7.103(B)(1)(a) provides that a “circuit court may grant leave to appeal from . . . a judgment or order of a trial court when . . . no appeal of right exists.” (Emphasis added; paragraph structure omitted). For the purposes of subchapter 7.100, “trial court” is defined as “the district, probate, or municipal court from which the ‘appeal’ is taken.” MCR 7.102(9).