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Vol. 73, No. 8, August 2000

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 the accompanying sidebar.)

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.