2005 Wisconsin Act 387

387,277 Section 277. 867.03 (1c) of the statutes is amended to read:

867.03 (1c) Definition. In this section, "guardian" has the meaning given in s. 54.01 (10) or s. 880.01 (3), 2003 stats.

387,278 Section 278. 878.07 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

878.07 (4) Separate and joint actions; action by ward; accounting, when unnecessary. An action upon a bond by or in behalf of one person interested does not bar or in any way affect the right of any other person interested to maintain an action thereon, but separate actions or a joint action may be maintained thereon by or in behalf of any or all persons interested, but the action does not impair any other remedy of the ward. An accounting is not necessary before bringing an action against sureties when if the personal representative, special administrator, guardian, or trustee dies or, moves out of the state, or becomes is adjudicated incompetent.

387,279 Section 279. 879.09 of the statutes is amended to read:

879.09 Notice requirement satisfied by waiver of notice. Persons who are not minors or individuals adjudicated incompetent, on behalf of themselves, and appointed guardians ad litem and guardians of the estate on behalf of themselves and those whom they represent, may in writing waive the service of notice upon them and consent to the hearing of any matter without notice, except that guardians ad litem cannot waive the notice of a hearing to prove a will or for administration on behalf of those whom they represent. An attorney, or attorney-in-fact, for a person in the military service may waive notice on behalf of himself or herself but cannot waive notice on behalf of the person in the military service. Waiver of notice by any person is equivalent to timely service of notice.

387,280 Section 280. 879.11 of the statutes is amended to read:

879.11 Notice requirement satisfied by appearance. An appearance by a person who is not a minor or an individual adjudicated incompetent is equivalent to timely service of notice upon the person. An appearance by a guardian of the estate is equivalent to timely service of notice upon the guardian and upon the guardian's ward. An appearance by a guardian ad litem is equivalent to timely service of notice upon the guardian ad litem and except at a hearing to prove a will or for administration is equivalent to timely service of notice upon those whom the guardian ad litem represents. An appearance by an attorney, or an attorney-in-fact, for a person in the military service is equivalent to timely service of notice upon the attorney or attorney-in-fact but does not satisfy a requirement for notice to the person in the military service.

387,281 Section 281. 879.13 of the statutes is amended to read:

879.13 Delayed service of notice. If for any reason notice to any person, including a minor or an individual adjudicated incompetent, is insufficient, the court may at any time order service of notice together with documents required under ss. 858.03 and 862.09 and, where required, appoint a guardian ad litem under s. 879.23 and require the person or the person's guardian ad litem to show cause why the person should not be bound by the action already taken in the proceedings as though the person had been timely served with notice. Such person may consent in writing to be bound.

387,282 Section 282. 879.15 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

879.15 (1) A minor or individual adjudicated incompetent person shall appear by a guardian ad litem or by the guardian of his or her estate, who may appear by attorney, or by another person under the doctrine of virtual representation as provided in s. 879.23 (5);

387,283 Section 283. 879.19 of the statutes is amended to read:

879.19 Attorney, notice to. Except for a person in the military service, as provided in s. 879.09, if a person interested who is not a minor or an individual adjudicated incompetent has retained an attorney to represent him or her and the attorney has mailed a notice of retainer and request for service to the attorney for the personal representative and filed a copy with the court, any notice which that would be given to the person interested shall instead be given to the attorney, and the attorney may waive notice for the person interested under s. 879.09.

387,284 Section 284. 879.23 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:

879.23 (1) Virtual representation. A guardian ad litem shall be appointed for any person interested who is a minor or an individual adjudicated incompetent and has no guardian of his or her estate, or where the guardian of the minor's or incompetent's individual's estate fails to appear on the minor's or incompetent's individual's behalf or where the interest of the minor or incompetent individual is adverse to that of the guardian of the minor's or incompetent's individual's estate. A guardian ad litem may be appointed for persons not in being or presently unascertainable. A guardian ad litem shall not be appointed or appear in the same matter for different persons whose interests are conflicting.

387,285 Section 285. 879.23 (4) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:

879.23 (4) (a) Except as provided in par. (b) or (c), the guardian ad litem appointed under this section shall be either an attorney admitted to practice in this state or a parent or child of the minor or individual adjudicated incompetent to be represented by the guardian ad litem. A parent or child of the person to be represented may be appointed the guardian ad litem under this section only if the court finds either that the prospective guardian ad litem is an attorney admitted to practice in this state or is otherwise suitably qualified to perform the functions of the guardian ad litem.

387,286 Section 286. 879.23 (4) (c) of the statutes is amended to read:

879.23 (4) (c) In matters relating to the probate of an estate in which an individual adjudicated incompetent has an interest that is unlikely to exceed $1,000 in value, the guardian ad litem shall be a surviving parent, unless the court finds that no surviving parent is qualified and willing to serve as the guardian ad litem. If the court finds that no surviving parent is qualified and willing to serve, the guardian ad litem shall be an adult child of the incompetent individual, unless the court finds that no adult child of the incompetent individual is qualified and willing to serve as the guardian ad litem. If the court finds that neither a parent nor an adult child of the individual adjudicated incompetent is qualified and willing to serve as the guardian ad litem, the court shall appoint an attorney as provided in par. (a).

387,287 Section 287. 879.23 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

879.23 (5) Virtual representation. The court may dispense with or terminate the appointment of a guardian ad litem for an interested person who is a minor, an individual adjudicated incompetent, not in being, or presently unascertainable, if there is a living person, of full legal rights and capacity, who is a party to the proceeding and has a substantially identical interest in it.

387,288 Section 288. 879.26 of the statutes is amended to read:

879.26 Waiver of right to certain documents. Any person who is not a minor or an individual adjudicated incompetent may in writing waive the person's right to be given a statement that the inventory has been filed under s. 858.03 and a copy of accounts under s. 862.11.

387,289 Section 289. 879.27 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:

879.27 (4) Who may appeal on behalf of minor or individual adjudicated incompetent. In all cases the appeal on behalf of any minor or individual adjudicated incompetent person may be taken and prosecuted by the guardian of the minor's or incompetent's individual's estate or by a guardian ad litem.

387,290 Section 290. 879.27 (5) of the statutes is amended to read:

879.27 (5) Limitation on bond and costs. On appeals from courts assigned to exercise probate jurisdiction to the court of appeals no bond may be required of, or costs awarded against, any alleged incompetent individual or person acting in behalf of an alleged incompetent individual on an appeal from an adjudication of incompetency, and no bond may be required of any personal representative, guardian, or trustee of a testamentary trust.

387,291 Section 291. 879.57 of the statutes is amended to read:

879.57 Special administrator; personal representative, guardian. If it is found by the court to be necessary to appoint a personal representative or guardian and there appears to be no person in the state to petition for the appointment or there appears to be no suitable person to be so appointed, the court shall, upon its own motion or upon the petition of any interested party, grant administration of an estate of a decedent or guardianship of the estate of a minor or incompetent person individual who is adjudicated incompetent to the interested party or a special administrator, and he or she shall thereupon take possession of the estate and protect and preserve it, and proceed with the administration and with the care and management of the estate. The authority of a special administrator in the administration or guardianship may be revoked at any time upon the appointment and qualification of a personal representative or guardian, or when for any other cause the court deems it just or expedient. Revocation of authority does not invalidate the special administrator's acts performed prior to revocation and does not impair the special administrator's rights to receive from the estate his or her legal charges and disbursements, to be determined by the court.

387,292 Section 292. Chapter 880 (title) of the statutes is repealed.

387,293 Section 293. Subchapter I (title) of chapter 880 [precedes 880.01] of the statutes is repealed.

387,294 Section 294. 880.01 (intro.) of the statutes is repealed.

387,295 Section 295. 880.01 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 54.01 (2) and amended to read:

54.01 (2) "Agency" means any public or private board, corporation, or association which , including a county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437, that is concerned with the specific needs and problems of mentally retarded, developmentally disabled, mentally ill, alcoholic, drug dependent and aging persons, including a county department under s. 51.42 or 51.437 individuals with developmental disability, mental illness, alcoholism, or drug dependency and of aging individuals.

387,296 Section 296. 880.01 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 54.01 (8) and amended to read:

54.01 (8) "Developmentally disabled person Developmental disability" means any individual having a disability attributable to mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, autism, or another neurological condition closely related to mental retardation or requiring treatment similar to that required for mentally retarded individuals with mental retardation, which has continued or can be expected to continue indefinitely, substantially impairs the an individual from adequately providing for his or her own care or custody, and constitutes a substantial handicap to the afflicted individual. The term does not include a person affected by senility which dementia that is primarily caused by the process of aging or the infirmities of aging degenerative brain disorder.

387,297 Section 297. 880.01 (3) of the statutes is renumbered 54.01 (10) and amended to read:

54.01 (10) "Guardian" means one a person appointed by a court under s. 54.10 to have care, custody and control of the person of a minor or an incompetent or the management of the estate manage the income and assets and provide for the essential requirements for health and safety and the personal needs of a minor, an individual found incompetent, or a spendthrift.

387,298 Section 298. 880.01 (4) of the statutes is repealed.

387,299 Section 299. 880.01 (5) of the statutes is repealed.

387,300 Section 300. 880.01 (6) of the statutes is repealed.

387,301 Section 301. 880.01 (7) of the statutes is renumbered 54.01 (20) and amended to read:

54.01 (20) "Minor" means a person an individual who has not attained the age of 18 years.

387,302 Section 302. 880.01 (7m) of the statutes is renumbered 55.14 (1) (b) and amended to read:

55.14 (1) (b) "Not competent to refuse psychotropic medication" means that, because of chronic mental illness, as defined in s. 51.01 (3g) for an individual with developmental disability or as a result of degenerative brain disorder, serious and persistent mental illness, or other like incapacities, and after the advantages and disadvantages of and alternatives to accepting the particular psychotropic medication have been explained to an individual, one of the following is true:

1. The individual is incapable of expressing an understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of accepting treatment and the alternatives to accepting treatment.

2. The individual is substantially incapable of applying an understanding of the advantages, disadvantages and alternatives to his or her chronic mental illness condition in order to make an informed choice as to whether to accept or refuse psychotropic medication.

387,303 Section 303. 880.01 (8) of the statutes is renumbered 54.01 (22) and amended to read:

54.01 (22) "Other like incapacities" means those conditions incurred at any age which that are the result of accident, organic brain damage, mental or physical disability, or continued consumption or absorption of substances, producing and that produce a condition which that substantially impairs an individual from providing for the individual's his or her own care or custody.

387,304 Section 304. 880.01 (9) of the statutes is renumbered 54.01 (31) and amended to read:

54.01 (31) "Spendthrift" means a person who, because of the use of intoxicants alcohol or other drugs or because of gambling, idleness or debauchery or other wasteful course of conduct, is unable to attend to business or thereby manage effectively his or her financial affairs or is likely to affect the health, life, or property of the person himself, herself, or others so as to endanger the his or her support of the person and the person's support of his or her dependents, if any, or expose the public to such responsibility for his or her support.

387,305 Section 305. 880.01 (10) of the statutes is renumbered 54.01 (37) and amended to read:

54.01 (37) "Ward" means a subject an individual for whom a guardian has been appointed.

387,306 Section 306. 880.02 of the statutes is renumbered 54.30 (1) and amended to read:

54.30 (1) Jurisdiction in circuit court. The Except as provided in s. 54.38 (1), the circuit court shall have has subject matter jurisdiction over all petitions for guardianship. A guardianship of the estate of any person individual, once granted, shall extend to all of his or her estate the ward's income and assets in this state and shall exclude the jurisdiction of every other circuit court, except as provided in ch. 786. Jurisdiction under this subsection also extends to the petition by a foreign guardian for the receipt and acceptance of a foreign guardianship, except as provided in s. 54.38 (1m) and, if the petition is granted, to the accepted guardianship.

387,307 Section 307. 880.03 of the statutes is repealed.

387,308 Section 308. 880.04 (title) of the statutes is renumbered 54.12 (title) and amended to read:

54.12 (title) Exceptions to appointment of guardian.

387,309 Section 309. 880.04 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 54.46 (6) and amended to read:

54.46 (6) Emancipation of married minors. Except for minors a minor found to be incompetent, upon marriage, a minor shall is no longer be a proper subject for guardianship of the person and a guardianship of the person is revoked by the marriage of a minor ward. Upon application, the court may release in whole or in part the estate income and assets of a minor ward to the ward upon the ward's marriage. Upon marriage, the guardianship of an incompetent is subject to review under s. 880.34.

387,310 Section 310. 880.04 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 54.12 (1) and amended to read:

54.12 (1) Small estates. If a minor or an individual found incompetent, except for his or her incapacity, is entitled to possession of personal property of a value of $10,000 possess assets valued at the amount specified in s 867.03 (1g) (intro.) or less, any court wherein in which an action or proceeding involving said property the assets is pending may, in its discretion, without requiring the appointment of a guardian, order that the register i probate do one of the following:

(a) Deposit the property in a savings an interest-bearing account in a bank, the payment of whose accounts in cash immediately upon default of the bank are or other financial institution insured by an agency of the federal deposit insurance corporation; deposit in a savings account in a savings bank or a savings and loan association that has its deposits insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation; deposit in a savings account in a credit union having its deposits guaranteed by the Wisconsin credit union savings insurance corporation or by the national board, as defined in s. 186.01 (3m); government or invest the property in interest-bearing obligations of the United States. The fee for the clerk's services of the register in probate in depositing and disbursing the funds under this paragraph is prescribed in s. 814.61 (12) (a) 814.66 (1) (n).

(b) Payment Make payment to the natural guardian parent of the minor or to the person having actual custody of the minor.

(c) Payment Make payment to the minor.

(d) Payment Make payment to the person having actual or legal custody of the incompetent or to the person providing for the incompetent's care and maintenance of the individual found incompetent for the benefit of the individual found incompetent.

387,311 Section 311. 880.04 (2m) of the statutes is renumbered 54.12 (2) and amended to read:

54.12 (2) Informal administration. If a minor or an individual found incompetent, except for his or her incapacity, a minor, or a spendthrift is entitled to possession of personal property assets of a value of $5,000 the amount specified in s. 867.03 (1g) (intro.) or less from an estate administered through informal administration under ch. 865, the personal representative may, without the appointment of a guardian, do any of the following:

(a) With the approval of the register in probate, take one of the actions under specified in sub. (2) (1) (a) to (f).

(b) With the approval of the guardian ad litem of the minor or individual found incompetent, take one of the actions under specified in sub. (2) (1) (a) to (f) and file proof of the action taken and of the approval of the guardian ad litem with the probate registrar instead of filing a receipt under s. 865.21.

387,312 Section 312. 880.04 (3) of the statutes is renumbered 54.12 (3) and amended to read:

54.12 (3) Uniform gifts and transfers to minors. If a minor, except for his or her incapacity, is entitled to possession of personal property of any value, any court wherein in which an action or proceeding involving the property is pending may, without requiring the appointment of a guardian, order payment, subject to any limitations the court may impose, to a custodian for the minor designated by the court under ss. 880.61 to 880.72 54.854 to 54.898 or under the uniform gifts to minors act or uniform transfers to minors act of any other state.

387,313 Section 313. 880.05 of the statutes is renumbered 54.30 (2) and amended to read:

54.30 (2) Venue. All petitions for guardianship of residents of the state shall be directed to the circuit court of the county of residence of the person subject to guardianship proposed ward or of the county in which the person proposed ward is physically present. A petition for guardianship of the person or estate of a nonresident may be directed to the circuit court of any county where in which the person nonresident or any property assets of the nonresident may be found or of the county in which the petitioner proposes that the proposed ward resides. A petition for receipt and acceptance of a foreign guardianship shall be directed to the circuit court of the county in which the foreign ward resides or intends to reside.

387,314 Section 314. 880.06 (title) of the statutes is renumbered 54.30 (3) (title).

387,315 Section 315. 880.06 (1) of the statutes is renumbered 54.30 (3) (a) and amended to read:

54.30 (3) (a) Original proceeding. The court wherein in which a petition is first filed shall determine venue. The court shall direct that proper notice be given to any potentially responsible or affected county. Proper notice is given to a potentially responsible or affected county if written notice of the proceeding is sent by certified mail to the county's clerk and corporation counsel. After all potentially responsible or affected counties and parties have been given an opportunity to be heard, the court shall determine that venue lies in the county in which the petition is filed under sub. (2) or in another county, as appropriate. If it is determined the court determines that venue lies in another county, the court shall order the entire record certified to the proper court. A court wherein in which a subsequent petition is filed shall, upon being if it is satisfied of that an earlier filing took place in another court, summarily dismiss such the petition. If any potentially responsible or affected county or party objects to the court's finding of venue, the court may refer the issue to the department for a determination of the county of residence under s. 51.40 (2) (g) and may suspend ruling on the motion for change of venue until the determination under s. 51.40 (2) (g) is final.

387,316 Section 316. 880.06 (2) of the statutes is renumbered 54.30 (3) (b) (intro.) and amended to read:

54.30 (3) (b) (intro.) Change of residence of ward or guardian. If a guardian removes from the county where appointed to another county within the state or a ward removes from the county in which he or she has resided changes residence from one county to another county within the state, the circuit court for the county in which the ward resides may appoint a new guardian as provided by law for the appointment of a guardian. Upon verified petition of the new guardian, accompanied by a certified copy of appointment and bond if the appointment is in another county, and upon the notice prescribed by s. 879.05 to the originally appointed guardian, unless he or she is the same person, and to any other persons that the court shall order, the court of original appointment may order the guardianship accounts settled and the property delivered to the new guardian. venue may be transferred to the ward's new county of residence under the following procedure:

387,317 Section 317. 880.07 (title) of the statutes is renumbered 54.34 (title) and amended to read:

54.34 (title) Petition; fees for guardianship or for receipt and acceptance of a foreign guardianship.

387,318 Section 318. 880.07 (1) (intro.) of the statutes is renumbered 54.34 (1) (intro.) and amended to read:

54.34 (1) (intro.) Any relative, public official or other person, may petition for the appointment of a guardian of a person subject to guardianship. Such for an individual. The petition shall state, so far as may be all of the following, if known to the petitioner:

387,319 Section 319. 880.07 (1) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 54.34 (1) (a).

387,320 Section 320. 880.07 (1) (b) of the statutes is renumbered 54.34 (1) (b) and amended to read:

54.34 (1) (b) The specific nature of the proposed ward's alleged incapacity with specification of the incompetency or spendthrift habits.

387,321 Section 321. 880.07 (1) (c) of the statutes is renumbered 54.34 (1) (c).

387,322 Section 322. 880.07 (1) (d) of the statutes is renumbered 54.34 (1) (d) and amended to read: