How to File a Motion to Modify or Terminate Your Personal Protection Order

Complete the forms using our Do-It-Yourself Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate a Personal Protection Order (PPO) tool. Date and sign the completed motion at line F.

If you are filing a motion to terminate your PPO, you will get the following forms:

• A Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order
• An Order on Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order
• A Proof of Service

If you are filing a motion to modify your PPO, you will get the following forms:

• A Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order
• An Order on Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order
• A Personal Protection Order
• A Proof of Service

Only the top part of your proposed order(s) will be filled in. Leave the rest of the proposed order(s) blank. The judge will complete them.

Some of the steps after this one may have different information for you depending on how you will file with the court, so you may want to learn more about the choices in your area.

Each court decides how it will accept documents for filing. Contact your court to find out which methods are available. Depending on your court, you may be able to file by:  

• In-person filing
• E-mail
• E-Filing using MiFILE
• Mailing or dropping off documents
• Fax

You can find contact information for your court on the Courts & Agencies page of Michigan Legal Help.

MiFILE is only available for some courts. Even in courts where it is available, you can only use it for some case types. The State Court Administrative Office keeps a chart of courts that use e-Filing. To learn more, read What Is E-Filing?.

If you are filing either by e-mail or using MiFILE, you will not need to make copies.

If you are filing in person, make three copies of the Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order and any attachments.

In some counties the court clerk’s office will make the copies for you. Call the clerk’s office ahead of time to ask if you need to make your own copies.

Take your forms to the circuit court clerk’s office in the county where you filed your PPO case, or call the clerk's office. Ask the court clerk for a hearing date and time. Fill in the Notice of Hearing on all copies of your motion. Include the judge's name and the date, time, and location of the hearing.

Contact your court to find out which filing methods are available. Depending on your court, you may be able to file by:   

• In-person filing
• E-mail
• E-Filing using MiFILE
• Mailing or dropping off documents
• Fax

You can find contact information for your court on the Courts & Agencies page of Michigan Legal Help. 

If you are filing in person, give the original and copies of your motion (including attachments) to the court clerk. The clerk will give you back the copies that the court doesn’t need.

MiFILE is only available for some courts. Even in courts where it is available, you can only use it for some case types. The State Court Administrative Office keeps a chart of courts that use e-Filing. To learn more, read What Is E-Filing?.

Please note that completing the documents on Michigan Legal Help or Law Help Interactive does not file anything with the court. 

You must have the Respondent served with the motion and any attachments you filed. Make sure the Notice of Hearing is complete.

Send a copy of the motion and any attachments to the Respondent by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested and delivery restricted to the Respondent. The Respondent must sign the return receipt (the green card) and send it back. You should receive the return receipt in the mail. Make sure it was signed, and save it to attach to the Proof of Service.

The Respondent must be served at least seven days before the hearing, but you may want to give yourself more time to receive the return receipt.

If the Respondent does not send back the return receipt after they are served by mail, you can file a motion asking the judge to let you have the Respondent personally served. You can use this Notice of Hearing and Motion form to file a motion. For more information, read How to Fill Out, Serve, and File Court Forms.

Complete the Proof of Service that printed out directly after your Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order. The Proof of Service tells the court how and where the Respondent was served with the papers. You must sign the Proof of Service in front of a notary public. Leave the Acknowledgment of Service portion blank.

Attach the green card signed by the Respondent (the return receipt) to the Proof of Service before filing.

If you are filing electronically, make sure you have scanned and attached an image of the green card along with the Proof of Service.

If the Respondent is at the hearing, the court may serve the Respondent with the order(s) there. If not, get a copy of the order(s) to send to the Respondent.

Send a copy of each of the following forms to the Respondent within seven days:

• Order on Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order
• Personal Protection Order (if the judge signed a new PPO)

If your county has e-Filing for PPOs, your documents will be served (sent to the other party) electronically as long as the other party is also using MiFILE. If the other party is not using MiFILE, you will need to serve copies of the documents another way.

MiFILE is only available for some courts. Even in courts where it is available, you can only use it for some case types. The State Court Administrative Office keeps a chart of courts that use e-Filing. To learn more, read What Is E-Filing?.

If MiFILE is not an option in your court, you can serve the copies by e-mail if you feel safe doing so. But if sending them through e-mail would put you at risk of harassment, then mail the copies by first class mail to the Respondent's last known address instead.

If you are serving documents by e-mail, keep the following rules in mind:

• All documents must be in PDF format;
• The e-mail subject line must include the name of the court, case name, case number, and the title of each document being sent;
• If you e-mail a document at or before 11:59 p.m., it is considered served on that day. If you send the e-mail on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, it is considered served on the next business day;
• Do not delete any e-mails you send to the other party, especially e-mails that served court documents. You must keep a record of sent items until a judgment or final order is entered and all appeals have been completed.

Get a copy of the Order on Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate Personal Protection Order for your own records. If the judge also signed a modified PPO, get as many extra copies of the order as you think you will need for yourself. You may want a copy for your employer, your child’s school or childcare provider, and several copies to keep in your home, your car, etc.  

When you used the Do-It-Yourself Motion to Modify, Extend, or Terminate a Personal Protection Order (PPO) tool, the last form in your packet was a blank Proof of Service. Complete the Proof of Service and file it. If you filed your motion with the court electronically (through MiFILE or e-mail), file the same way now.

Fill in the following items on the Proof of Service:

• The judge's name
• The date and time that you mailed the papers
• The Respondent's name
• The Respondent's address

Check the boxes next to the forms that you mailed. Then check the box indicating the method of service you used (example: e-mail or first class mail). Sign the Proof of Service in front of a notary public. You can usually find a notary at the clerk's office. File the Proof of Service and get a copy for your records.

You can enforce your PPO by calling the police if the Respondent ever violates it. It is a good idea to keep a copy of your PPO and Proof of Service with you at all times. This will make enforcement easier if it becomes necessary.