How to Fight, Modify, or Terminate a PPO in Michigan

A Michigan personal protection order (PPO) is challenged or ended by motion in the PPO case. A respondent may file a motion to modify or terminate an ex parte PPO and request a hearing within 14 days after being served with, or receiving actual notice of, the order; any other motion by the respondent requires a showing of good cause.^[1][2] The petitioner may file a motion to modify or terminate the order at any time.^[7]

This page explains the motion procedure for both sides, the hearing, and the appeal that follows. If you have just been served, start with Served with a PPO: what to do.

The deadlines at a glance

Event	Time limit	Who it applies to
Motion to modify or terminate an ex parte PPO, or an ex parte order extending a PPO	Within 14 days after service or actual notice[1]	Respondent
Motion after that period, or against a PPO issued after a hearing	No fixed deadline, but good cause must be shown[2]	Respondent
Motion to modify or terminate	At any time after the PPO is issued[7]	Petitioner
Hearing on a motion to modify or rescind an ex parte PPO	Scheduled within 14 days after the motion is filed[3]	The court
Hearing when the PPO prohibits firearms and the respondent is in a listed occupation, such as a police officer	Scheduled within 5 days after the motion is filed[3]	The court
Service of the motion and notice of hearing	At least 7 days before the hearing date[8]	The moving party

A 21-day deadline for respondents is sometimes quoted online. The respondent's period under MCR 3.707(A)(1)(b) is 14 days.^[1] The 21-day periods in the PPO rules are the petitioner's time to request a hearing after an ex parte request is denied, and the time for holding a hearing on a motion to change a custody or parenting time order.^[9][10]

How a respondent files the motion

1. Get the form. The State Court Administrative Office form is CC 379, Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order.^[11] An ex parte PPO must itself state that motion forms and filing instructions are available from the clerk of the court.^[12]
2. Count the days. The 14 days run from service or from actual notice of the order.^[1] Notice can come from a police officer or court clerk who tells the respondent about the order, as well as from formal service.^[13]
3. File it and request a hearing. There are no motion fees for modifying or terminating a PPO.^[4]
4. Serve the petitioner. The moving party must serve the motion and the notice of hearing at least 7 days before the hearing date, by registered or certified mail with restricted delivery, at the mailing address provided to the court.^[8] A respondent in one of the listed gun-carrying occupations may give notice one day before the hearing.^[8]
5. Keep following the order. The PPO stays in force until it expires or a judge terminates it.^[7]

Do not deliver the motion to the petitioner yourself or contact the petitioner about it if the order restrains contact. Court clerks can explain how service by mail is done.

What happens if the 14 days have passed?

The motion can still be filed. MCL 600.2950(13) says a motion to modify or rescind must be filed within 14 days "unless good cause is shown for filing the motion after the 14 days have elapsed."^[1] MCR 3.707(A)(1)(b) puts it this way: "Any motion otherwise to modify or terminate a personal protection order by the respondent requires a showing of good cause."^[2] The same good-cause requirement applies when the PPO was issued after a full hearing.^[2] What a particular judge accepts as good cause is decided case by case.

What happens at the hearing?

The court must schedule a hearing on a motion to modify or rescind an ex parte PPO within 14 days after the motion is filed.^[3] Two rules shape that hearing.

The petitioner keeps the burden

The Court of Appeals has held that a petitioner bears the burden of proof when seeking an ex parte PPO, and that on a motion to terminate or modify it "the burden of proof remains with a petitioner who seeks to establish a justification for the continuance of a PPO."^[5] So the question for the judge on a timely motion is whether the petitioner has shown what the statute calls for. For a domestic relationship PPO, that is reasonable cause to believe the respondent may commit one or more of the listed acts.^[14] For a later motion, the rule places the showing of good cause on the respondent.^[2]

The respondent gets to be heard

The Court of Appeals has said that "due process necessarily mandates an opportunity for the respondent to present evidence at a hearing to terminate a PPO." Orders denying termination have been reversed or vacated where the trial court refused to receive the respondent's evidence or cut off cross-examination of the petitioner.^[15]

In a case involving a nondomestic sexual assault PPO, the rape-shield statute applies, and a written motion and offer of proof under it must be filed at the same time as the motion to modify or terminate.^[16]

The courtroom procedure is described in What to expect at a PPO hearing, and practical preparation in Preparing for a PPO hearing as the respondent.

Modify or terminate: what is the difference?

Terminating a PPO ends it. Modifying a PPO changes its terms and leaves the rest in place. The same motion form covers both.^[11] A respondent who accepts that an order will remain may still ask the judge to change a specific term, such as one affecting a shared home or contact with children.

Some issues that come up on a motion to modify:

• Premises. A court shall not bar a respondent from premises where the respondent is not the petitioner's spouse, the respondent has a property interest in the premises, and the petitioner has none.^[17]
• Parenting time. If a PPO will adversely affect the respondent's custody or parenting time rights, the issuing court must determine whether to include conditions that accommodate those rights.^[18] A party who wants the existing custody or parenting time order changed must file a motion in the court that has jurisdiction over that order.^[10] See PPOs, children, and parenting time.
• Speech. The Court of Appeals has rejected a PPO whose restriction on speech was much too broad and not confined to the boundaries of MCL 750.411s.^[19]
• Firearms. A firearm restriction is a term the judge chooses to include.^[20] See PPOs and firearms.

How a petitioner ends or changes a PPO

The route depends on timing. Before an order is issued, a PPO action may be dismissed on the petitioner's motion.^[21] After a PPO is issued, the petitioner may file a motion to modify or terminate it and request a hearing at any time.^[7] Neither motion carries a fee.^[4]

Telling the respondent that the order is "dropped" does not end it. The order binds the respondent until a judge terminates it or it expires, and at a contempt hearing the court looks only at the respondent's behavior.^[7][22] See When the protected person wants contact.

After the judge rules

If a PPO is modified or terminated, the clerk must immediately notify the law enforcement agency specified in the order of the change.^[23] What that means for records is covered in Does a PPO show up on a background check?

If the motion is denied, the PPO continues to its expiration date. The petitioner may ask to extend it, and a respondent may file a motion to modify or terminate an ex parte order extending a PPO within 14 days after service or actual notice of that order.^[24][1] See How long a PPO lasts.

Appealing a PPO ruling

Under MCR 3.709(B), either party has an appeal of right to the Court of Appeals from an order granting or denying a PPO after a hearing, or from the ruling on the respondent's first motion to rescind or modify an ex parte order. Appeals of all other orders are by leave to appeal.^[6]

The practical effect for a respondent served with an ex parte PPO is that the motion to terminate comes first, because the ruling on that motion is what can be appealed as of right.^[6]

An appeal does not become pointless when the order runs out. The Michigan Supreme Court held in TM v MZ that an appeal from the entry of a PPO is not moot merely because the PPO expired.^[25]

What if the petition was untrue?

A person who knowingly and intentionally makes a false statement to the court in support of a PPO petition is subject to the contempt powers of the court.^[26] A respondent's remedy against the order itself is the motion to terminate and, after that, the appeal.^[1][6] This subject has its own guide: False or retaliatory PPO petitions. A respondent cannot obtain a "mutual" order in response; a second order requires its own proper petition.^[27]

How this differs from an extreme risk protection order

The rules above are for PPOs. For an extreme risk protection order, the restrained person carries the burden at a hearing on a motion to modify or rescind and is limited in how often such a motion may be filed.^[28] See Extreme risk protection orders.