Meeting takes place at the State Bar in Lansing at the Michael Franck Building located at 306 Townsend St. Lansing, MI. 58933

TESTIMONY BEFORE THE MICHIGAN STATE ATTORNEY BOARD OF COMMISIONERS

BY CYNTHIA MIFSUD

JANUARY 23, 2026

I am here to ask the Board of Commissioners to confront a serious and growing problem within Michigan’s probate and guardianship system—systemic abuse enabled by silence within the legal profession.

Probate and guardianship cases involve our most vulnerable citizens: the elderly, disabled, and cognitively impaired.

I want to be clear from the outset: the probate and guardianship abuse occurring in Michigan is not primarily the result of untrained bad actors. It is being committed by licensed attorneys acting as conservators, guardians, court-appointed counsel, and fiduciaries—often shielded by their professional status.

When attorneys occupy these roles, they are not just advocates. They are fiduciaries with control over human beings and their assets, and that power is routinely abused.

Misconduct is minimized as “court discretion,” and attorneys remain silent—even when clear red flags are present.

We see attorneys:

– Appointing themselves or associates into paid fiduciary roles

– Isolating “wards” from family without lawful findings

– Dismantling estate plans for financial benefit

– Billing excessive and unreasonable fees from incapacitated clients

– Retaliating against families who object or attempt oversight

These are not gray areas. These are ethical violations, fiduciary breaches, and in many cases criminal acts.

The problem is compounded because other attorneys—those who witness this misconduct—do not report it. Rule 8.3 of the Michigan Rules of Professional Conduct does not say “report if convenient” or “report unless the attorney is powerful.” It requires reporting when misconduct raises substantial questions of honesty, trustworthiness, or fitness.

When lawyers exploit “wards” and other lawyers stay silent, the profession is no longer regulating itself—it is protecting itself.

I am asking this Board to confront a systemic failure: attorneys committing abuse in probate court, and attorneys failing to report it.

If the State Bar does not act decisively, public trust in the profession will continue to erode—especially among families who entered probate court seeking protection and instead found exploitation.

Silence is not neutrality. Silence is complicity.

If this Board does not enforce its own ethical rules against attorneys who exploit wards, then guardianship abuse is no longer a failure of the courts—it is a failure of the legal profession itself.

Thank you.

Sincerely Cynthia Mifsud

Director of the Michigan Judicial Probate Integrity Project