In re Beck – Supreme Court Grants Leave

The Supreme Court has granted leave to appeal in In re Beck, so it looks like last month’s published opinion is not the final word on the issue.  In that opinion, the Court of Appeals held that a parent’s obligation to pay child support does not end upon an involuntary termination of parental rights. (You can view my post on the Court of Appeals opinion here.)  In its order granting leave, the Supreme Court framed the issue  presented as follows: “The parties shall address whether a parent whose rights to his children have been involuntarily terminated in a child protective proceeding under the Juvenile Code can nonetheless be ordered to pay child support for those children.”  The Court also granted leave to file amicus briefs to the Children’s Law Section and Family Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan and the Friend of the Court Association.

The Court of Appeals decision in In re Beck seemed consistent with the previous line of cases on the subject: Bradley v. Folgum and Evink v. Evink.  For this reason, I am a little surprised the Supremes decided to take this one up.  Stay tuned.

You can view or download the Supreme Court’s order granting leave here: In re Beck – Granting Leave to Appeal