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REAL ESTATE 77: The trial court determined plaintiff was not the real party in interest.

In this dispute over real property in Detroit, plaintiff filed a two-count complaint against defendants asserting that defendants sold property belonging to plaintiff, the Church, without plaintiff’s authorization or consent.

Selling of Property

Defendants countered plaintiff’s assertions by seeking dismissal on the basis that plaintiff was comprised of imposters who were former members of the actual Church that left to form a different church in 2017. Defendants presented evidence to the trial court demonstrating that they had been the officers, directors, and resident agent for the Church since 1978. Defendants also presented evidence showing that certain individuals, who defendants claimed were behind the lawsuit, were public about their departure from the Church.

Summary Disposition

Plaintiff moved for summary disposition, arguing that defendants’ failure to respond to its requests to admit resulted in binding admissions entitling plaintiff to judgment as a matter of law. The trial court denied plaintiff’s motion and granted defendants’ motion, concluding plaintiff was not the real party in interest.

The trial court determined, based on documentary evidence provided by the parties, that plaintiff was not the real party in interest, but was instead comprised of former members of the Church that had joined an affiliated, but legally distinct church.

Documentary Evidence

Through documentary evidence, defendants demonstrated that the Church was formed in 1975, and continued to exist. Defendants also demonstrated that the filings with the State of Michigan listed defendants as the officers, directors, and resident agent of the Church. These official documents were not controverted or disputed by plaintiff, other than through conclusory allegations that the documents were improperly filed with the State.

Real Estate Litigation

Are you involved in a real estate dispute in Michigan? If you are facing a commercial real estate dispute, seek the advice of an experienced and skilled real estate litigation attorney at Aldrich Legal Services.

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REAL ESTATE 89: RM had not included any language in the deed providing that the property was a joint tenancy with full rights of survivorship, the property instead became a tenancy in common.

RM drafted the deed without seeking counsel and mistakenly believed that, if either she or FK died, the property would fully pass to the surviving tenant. FK’s will provided that if his wife predeceased him—which she did—the personal representative of his estate should sell any residual property that he owned and divide the cash proceeds equally among his surviving children.

FAMILY LAW 83: A trial court can terminate a parent’s rights and permit a stepparent to adopt a child.

A trial court has discretion to terminate a parent’s rights and permit a stepparent to adopt a child when the conditions of MCL 710.51(6) are met. MCL 710.51(6)(b) requires the petitioner to establish that the other parent had the ability to visit, contact, or communicate with the children, and substantially failed or neglected to do so for a period of two years.

PROBATE 53: The trust agreement included an Incontestability Provision.

A settlor’s intent is to be carried out as nearly as possible. Generally, in terrorem clauses are valid and enforceable. However, a provision in a trust that purports to penalize an interested person for contesting the trust or instituting another proceeding relating to the trust shall not be given effect if probable cause exists for instituting a proceeding contesting the trust or another proceeding relating to the trust.

FAMILY LAW 82: Court stated it would terminate the personal protection order (PPO) after the parties present documentation of the initiation of the divorce proceedings.

However, the trial court concluded that these matters should, in fact, be in the province and the jurisdiction of the Family Division and in that respect, having issued a personal protection order, the Court stated it would terminate the personal protection order after the parties present documentation of the initiation of the divorce proceedings.

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