A PPO may not be issued if the petitioner and respondent have a parent-child relationship, and the child is an unemancipated minor. MCL 600.2950(26); MCL 600.2950a(27).1
Alternative remedies may be available in these situations. For example, if an unemancipated minor under 18 years old violates a criminal law or ordinance, jurisdiction may be proper under MCL 712A.2(a)(1).2 Jurisdiction may also be proper under MCL 712A.2(a)(3) if the minor is under 18 years old and “is repeatedly disobedient to the reasonable and lawful commands of his or her parents, guardian, or custodian, and the court finds on the record by clear and convincing evidence that court-accessed services are necessary.”3
The court must not issue mutual personal protection orders. MCL 600.2950(8); MCL 600.2950a(8); MCR 3.706(B). However, correlative separate orders are permitted if both parties properly petition the court under MCL 600.2950(1), and the court makes separate findings that support an order against each party. MCL 600.2950(8); MCL 600.2950a(8); MCR 3.706(B).
A PPO may not be issued against a minor child under age 10. MCL 600.2950(26)(c); MCL 600.2950a(27)(c); MCL 712A.2(h).
1 “Given the definitions provided by MCL 722.1, . . . ‘emancipated minor’ as it relates to MCL 600.2950(26)(b) applies to a minor child where the parental rights of one or both parents have been terminated.” SP v BEK, 339 Mich App 171, 180 (2021) (holding that “[t]he trial court did not err when it concluded that MCL 600.2950(26)(b) did not preclude it from issuing the PPOs against respondent” father, whose parental rights had been terminated even though the non-respondent mother’s rights had not been terminated).
2 See Section 2.4 for discussion of jurisdiction over delinquency cases.
3 See Section 2.3 for discussion of jurisdiction over status offenses.