My great-grandmother was born in Michigan in 1908, out of wedlock. A number of years later (I'm not 100% certain yet just how much later), she was adopted by her stepfather. Apparently the way this works, her birth certificate is refiled, with the new information, and the original is sealed.

I'm told that if she were still alive, she HERSELF could have petitioned the court to unseal it. However, since she's deceased, NOBODY has access to that information, until the end of time. Is there REALLY no workaround for this? If I am a legal heir, with the right to access her "regular" birth record just as she would have when she was alive, is there really no way I could petition the court for access? And if so, is there any way to go about doing that without being present in person? (I live out of state.)