69.12 Entry of true facts by court order.

(1) If the state registrar cannot make an amendment to a vital record under s. 69.11 and a person with a direct and tangible interest in the vital record alleges that information on the vital record does not represent the actual facts in effect at the time the record was filed, the person may petition the circuit court of the county in which the event which is the subject of the vital record is alleged to have occurred. The petition shall be accompanied by a certified copy of the original vital record. If the court finds that the petitioner has established the actual facts of the event in effect when the record was filed, the clerk of court shall report the court's determination to the state registrar in the manner prescribed by the state registrar, along with the fee required under s. 69.22 (5) (a) 2. Upon receipt of the report, the state registrar shall, if information as to the cause of death on a death record is changed or if information on a marriage record concerning the identity of a parent of a party to a marriage is changed, act under sub. (4), or shall change the record under s. 69.11 (5) and if the record is not enabled in the state system of vital records, send the amended record to the local registrar who shall replace the record filed in his or her office. This subsection does not apply to a name change prohibited under s. 301.47.

(2) A court may not order amendment of the names of the parents of a registrant on a birth record on the grounds of termination of parental rights or termination of custody.

(3) The state registrar shall amend under s. 69.11 (5) an item on a birth record as directed by an order under this section.

(4)

(a) If a court's determination under sub. (1) changes information as to the cause of death on a death record or changes information on a marriage record concerning the identity of a parent of a party to the marriage and the court in accordance with the petition orders the creation of a new death or marriage record, the state registrar shall do all of the following:

1. Prepare a new death or marriage record, whichever is applicable. On a new death record, the state registrar shall omit the changed information, including the name of the physician, coroner or medical examiner who certified the cause of death and enter any other original and any new information, including the name of the judge and the date of the order, sign the new information, enter any notation of support in the margin of the record and insert a note that the death record has been amended. On a new marriage record, the state registrar shall omit the changed information concerning the identity of a parent of a party to the marriage, enter the unchanged information from the original record, and enter any new information included in the court order concerning the identity of a parent of a party to the marriage, but shall not note that the record is amended.

2. Register a new death or marriage record created under this subsection and impound the original death or marriage record and all correspondence, affidavits, court orders, and other related materials and prohibit access except by court order or except by the state registrar for processing purposes.

3. Send a copy of any new death or marriage record registered under this subsection to the local registrar who filed the original, if the record is not enabled in the state system of vital records.

(b) Upon receipt of the copy under par. (a) 3., the local registrar shall destroy his or her copy of the replaced death or marriage record and file the new death or marriage record.

(5) A change in the marital status on the record of birth may be requested under this section only if the marital status is inconsistent with father or husband information appearing on the birth record. This section may not be used to add or delete the name of a parent on the record of birth or change the identity of either parent named on the birth record.

History: 1985 a. 315; 1993 a. 346; 1995 a. 225; 2001 a. 16; 2003 a. 52; 2005 a. 69; 2017 a. 334.

A court acting under sub. (1) acts as a fact finder, independently reviewing the evidence presented by the petitioner. There is a presumption of validity in the findings in a death certificate; the petitioner has the burden of rebutting the presumption by the greater weight of the credible evidence. Sullivan v. Waukesha County, 218 Wis. 2d 458, 578 N.W.2d 596 (1998), 96-3376.