Practice Tips
Mandatory Forms in Civil, Family, Probate
The mandatory use of standard forms in civil,
family, and probate cases in circuit court became effective on July 1,
2000, and in criminal and juvenile cases on Jan. 1, 2000.
by John B. Murphy
On July 1, 2000, the second phase of Wisconsin's mandatory forms law
took effect. Wisconsin Statutes section
758.18 requires that all civil, probate, and family forms created by
the Judicial Conference's Forms Committee will be required for use after
July 1. Criminal and juvenile forms became mandatory on Jan. 1,
2000.
This column supplements and updates the information contained in David Nispel's article on
mandatory forms found in the December 1999 Wisconsin Lawyer.
That article explains the provisions of Supreme Court Order
98-01, which requires the use of standard forms; discusses the forms
availability; and reviews the arguments for and against the use of
mandatory forms.
Forms Mandatory on July 1
Civil, family, and probate forms became mandatory on July 1, 2000.
Those in the civil category probably impact the least on the practicing
bar. Other than forms for use in the various injunctions (harassment,
domestic abuse, and so on) and the forms relating to garnishment and
small claims, there are few other civil forms commonly used by
attorneys. Some of the forms mentioned recently were revised.
Probate Forms. Probate forms created by the Forms
Committee are widely used by attorneys and pro se parties in actions
related to the opening and closing of estates. Under section
879.47, probate forms have been mandatory since 1969. Therefore,
there should be little impact on probate form users as a result of the
July 1 requirements. The committee is reviewing and revising some 90
probate forms. The review and revision process is a joint effort between
the Forms Committee and a committee of the Registers in Probate
Association. Thirty forms have been completed to date, including
informal probate, summary procedure, and summary assignment forms. The
remaining 60 probate and guardianship forms will be completed by year's
end.
Family Law Forms. Family law-related forms also
became mandatory July 1. At present there are only seven forms directly
related to family practice. One of the seven is the standard minutes
form used by the clerk during a hearing and the other six are a
stipulation modifying a judgment, a funds disbursement order, a family
medical questionnaire, and a petition, a notice, and an order to enforce
placement (three forms). The last four forms are or will be used in
family law practice.
Parenting Plan Forms. One family form that is of particular
interest to the practicing bar is a new parenting plan form. Under
recent modifications to the family code, parties in a divorce may be
required to file with the court a document referred to as a parenting
plan. Such plans would be required for divorces filed after May 1, 2000,
when custody and/or placement is contested.
At its meeting in April 2000, the Forms Committee voted to create a
standard parenting plan for distribution, responding to requests the
committee had received from Wisconsin judges, court commissioners, and
family practitioners. To meet these requests by May 1, the committee
adopted a parenting plan developed by a former Forms Committee
member.
After adopting the parenting plan as a mandatory form, the committee
received several objections to having a mandatory parenting plan. The
committee, at its May meeting, invited members of the State Bar Family
Law Section and representatives of the Court Commissioners Association
to speak to these objections. Following the discussion, the committee
withdrew the parenting plan as a mandatory form. The committee agreed to
meet further with members of the Bar and the Commissioners Association
to determine whether a mandatory plan is needed. The committee also
agreed to work with the Family Law Section and the Commissioners
Association to develop a parenting plan should the committee determine
that a mandatory plan is required.
Forms Availability
The committee continues to develop methods of meeting the needs of
the form users. Almost all of the forms are now available at the Wisconsin court system Web
site, and may be accessed via a link on WisBar, the Bar's Web site.
The only exceptions are those probate forms still under revision. By the
end of the year, all forms will be available in both a print ready
format (PDF) or in a fillable (.doc) format. The fillable format forms
are only available for MS Word®. A review of the need for fillable
forms in Word Perfect® format is still underway. Hard copies of
forms are still distributed to clerks of court, registers in probate,
and juvenile clerks. To access a form online, users must go to the court
system Web site. From that page, users may go directly to Forms
Directory Listing if they know the form number. If the form number
is not known, it can be found in one of three indexes. (For more
information on using the online indexes, please see .)
For those users not wanting to access the court's Web site, at least
one private company has put the forms into a universal fillable format
usable on any operating system. The company is Info-Pro and is located
in Fond du Lac. The new informal probate forms also are included as part
of the State Bar's updated Wisconsin Probate Document Assembly Program
(see accompanying sidebar).
Form users may not modify a form. This means that the language of the
form must not change. No words may be substituted or crossed out. Users
may, however, supplement any form by attaching supplementary
information. Users may make minor formatting modifications to the form
where necessary to meet the requirements of a computer operating system.
For example, if you cannot create check boxes, using a line or other
indicator is permitted. Any substantive change to a form must be done
through the committee.
User Input is Welcome
Form users are encouraged to contact me or any member of the Forms
Subcommittee with suggestions or comments. The State Bar is represented
by attorneys Jim Fullin and Chris Olsen. Fullin can be reached in
Madison at (608) 267-5176. Olsen
can be reached in Wausau at (715) 842-7510. The District Attorneys
Association is represented by Tim Scobie of Chippewa
Falls.
The committee continues to view every form as a work in progress, and
wants the input of members of the Bar, judicial officers, clerks of
courts, registers in probate, and any other user. The committee will
continue to develop new forms and revise the old ones based on user
input, changes in the law, and the need for format modification. To keep
current with new and revised forms, users should periodically visit the
forms indexes online.
Members of the bar and bench are welcome to attend the committee's
meetings. Anyone interested should contact me or Judy Mahlkuch, court
forms officer, to arrange to be placed on our agenda. Contact me by email or
phone (920) 459-0393. Contact Mahlkuch by email.
To learn more...
For answers to frequently asked questions about the mandatory court
forms, go to the Wisconsin Court System Circuit Court Forms FAQ
page. There you'll find answers to: How do I find and download
forms? Can I modify the forms? How do I know if a specific standard form
has been adopted (or revised)? How do I make suggestions to change a
standard court form? The FAQ page also lists the dates and locations for
upcoming Forms Committee meetings. The next meetings are Aug. 29-30 in
Madison and Oct. 18-19 in Wausau.
See David Nispel's article, "Court Orders Use of Standard
Court Forms," in the December 1999 Wisconsin Lawyer. The
article explains the provisions of Supreme Court Order 98-01, which requires
the use of standard forms; discusses the forms availability; and reviews
the arguments for and against the use of mandatory forms.
Supreme Court Order
98-01: Relating to the Creation and Use of Forms in the Circuit
Courts (amended order and petition) was published in the August 1998
Wisconsin Lawyer.
Also on WisBar, go to the forms page for a link
to the mandatory circuit court forms. You also will find links to other
law-related downloadable forms, such as several real estate and lien
forms, and a limited liability legal practice registration form.
Hon. John B. Murphy, Marquette 1983, is a Sheboygan County
Circuit Court judge. He chairs the Forms Subcommittee of the Records
Management Committee, which is an advisory committee to the Director of
State Courts Office.
Wisconsin
Lawyer
