County Probate/Family Court (Probate, Adoptions)

COUNTY OF HILLSDALE, MICHIGAN

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~ NOTICE ~

With the decrease in the number of Covid-19 cases in Hillsdale County over the month of February, the Courts in Hillsdale County have now moved from Phase 1 to Phase 2. This means that certain court cases may be held in-person, including preliminary exams and felony sentencing. We are still not able to hold in-person jury trials at this time. With this in mind, all court offices are now open to the public and you do not need an appointment to contact them. All other Hillsdale County offices including the County Clerk and the County Prosecutor’s Office continue to be fully open as they have been since late January 2021.

Honorable Michelle A. Bianchi, Probate Court Judge

Office Information

Chief Deputy Register
Brennon Balcom

Probate Register
Gwen Dunton

Online Docket & Video Court Hearings

Click to view Probate Court Online Docket hosted by the State of Michigan SCAO/JIS.

In response to the Coronavirus outbreak, on April 7, 2020 the Michigan Supreme Court implemented Administrative Order 2020-6 which expanded the authority of judicial officers to conduct proceedings remotely. AO 2020-6 is designed to help courts manage remote proceedings, including:

Allowing for confidential communication between a party and their lawyer;
Providing access to the public during the proceeding or immediately after via a video recording, unless the proceeding is closed or limited by court rule or statute; and,
Recording of the proceeding must be sufficient to produce a verbatim written transcript.

If you have questions about the posted video court proceedings for Probate Court, please call (517) 437-4643.

Probate Court YouTube Channel for court hearings conducted through Zoom.