In 2012, Michigan SB 557 (known as the “revocation of paternity act”) established a process through which an individual can file to revoke his acknowledgement of parentage of a child. As a part of the process, the person filing for parental revocation must post a court bond or other form of financial collateral to ensure the payment of associated costs (attorney fees, etc.) if the revocation of parentage is not successful.

This bond requirement is explained in Section 13 of Michigan SB 557.

“(11) A court, in its discretion, may order a person who files an action or motion under this act to post an amount of money with the court, obtain a surety, or provide other assurances that in the court’s determination will secure the costs of the action and attorney fees if the person does not prevail. The court, in its discretion, may order a nonprevailing party to pay the reasonable attorney fees and costs of a prevailing party.”

The type of surety bond required here is an appeal bond, which guarantees the original judgment will be paid if the appeal fails. Appeal bonds discourage people from filing appeals that ultimately do nothing more than waste the court’s time and money.

Gov. Rick Snyder signed Michigan SB 557 on June 12, 2012, and it went into effect immediately. Click here to read in its entirety.

If you need a surety bond in Michigan or any other state, you can contact a surety expert online 24/7 or by phone at 1 (800) 308-4358 Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m CST.