54.34 Petition for guardianship or for receipt and acceptance of a foreign guardianship.

(1) Subject to ch. 53, any person may petition for the appointment of a guardian for an individual. The petition shall state all of the following, if known to the petitioner:

(a) The name, date of birth, residence, and post-office address of the proposed ward and, if the proposed ward is a minor, whether the minor has been adopted.

(b) The specific nature of the proposed ward's alleged incapacity or spendthrift habits.

(c) The approximate value of the proposed ward's property and a general description of its nature.

(d) Any assets of the proposed ward previously derived from or benefits of the proposed ward now due and payable from the U.S. department of veterans affairs.

(e) Any other claim, income, compensation, pension, insurance or allowance to which the proposed ward may be entitled.

(f) Whether the proposed ward has any guardian presently.

(g) The name and post-office address of any person nominated as guardian by the petitioner.

(h) The names and post-office addresses of all interested parties.

(i) The name and post-office address of the person or institution, if any, that has care and custody of the proposed ward or the facility, if any, that is providing care to the proposed ward.

(j) The interest of the petitioner, and, if a public official is the petitioner, the authority of the petitioner to act.

(k) Whether the proposed ward is a recipient of a public benefit, including medical assistance.

(L) The agent under any current, valid power of attorney for health care or durable power of attorney that the proposed ward has executed.

(m) Whether the petitioner is requesting a full or limited guardianship and, if limited, the specific authority sought by the petitioner for the guardian or the specific rights of the individual that the petitioner seeks to have removed or transferred.

(n) Whether the proposed ward, if married, has children who are not children of the current marriage.

(p) Whether the petitioner is aware of any guardianship or conservatorship or related pending or ordered proceeding involving the proposed ward in another state or county and, if so, the details of the guardianship, conservationship, or related processings.

(2) A petition for guardianship may include an application for protective placement or protective services or both under ch. 55.

(2m) Whenever a petition for guardianship on the ground of incompetency is filed with respect to an individual who resides in a facility licensed for 16 or more beds, a petition for protective placement of the individual shall also be filed.

(3) A petition for the receipt and acceptance by this state of a foreign guardianship of a foreign ward who resides in or intends to move to this state may include other petitions related to the foreign guardianship, such as a petition to modify the terms of the foreign guardianship.

History: 1971 c. 41 s. 8; Stats. 1971 s. 880.07; 1973 c. 284; 1977 c. 394; 1979 c. 32, 110, 355; 1981 c. 317; 1987 a. 366; 1989 a. 56; 1993 a. 316, 486; 2005 a. 264; 2005 a. 387 ss. 100, 317 to 328, 330; 2007 a. 97 s. 232; 2015 a. 381; 2017 a. 187; 2019 a. 9.

Failure of a petitioner for a guardianship to name persons who obviously had an interest does not cancel the jurisdiction of the court, and when the interested persons had actual knowledge of the hearing and contested it, the court could appoint a guardian. Guardianship of Marak, 59 Wis. 2d 139, 207 N.W.2d 648 (1973).

Sub. (1) (e) is broad enough to include a claim for support. By providing that a guardianship petition include such a potential claim, it follows that the legislature envisioned that the circuit court has the authority to adjudicate such a claim. As ch. 880 does not otherwise address support nor provide guidelines as to how to determine support, a circuit court conducting a ch. 880 [now ch. 54] proceeding may look to ch. 767 for guidance. Amy Z. v. Jon T., 2004 WI App 73, 272 Wis. 2d 662, 679 N.W.2d 903, 03-0606.

NOTE: The above annotations relate to guardianships under ch. 880, stats., prior to the revision of and renumbering of that chapter to ch. 54 by 2005 Wis. Act 387.

Someone's Afoot: Wisconsin's Foreign Guardianship Transfer Law. Simatic. 95 MLR (No. 3 2012).