Wisconsin Statutes

Wis. Stat. § 53.31 (2026)

Transfer of guardianship to another state

✓ current as of July 2026
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53.3153.31Transfer of guardianship to another state.
53.31(1)(1)A guardian of the person or guardian of the estate appointed in this state may petition the court to transfer the guardianship to another state.
53.31(2)(2)Notice of a petition under sub. (1) must be given to the persons that would be entitled to notice of a petition in this state for the appointment of a guardian under s. 54.38.
53.31(3)(3)On the court’s own motion or on request of the guardian of the person or guardian of the estate, the individual subject to a guardianship of the person or of the estate, or other person required to be notified of the petition, the court shall hold a hearing on a petition filed under sub. (1).
53.31(4)(4)The court shall issue an order provisionally granting a petition to transfer a guardianship and shall direct the guardian of the person or guardian of the estate to petition for guardianship in the other state if the court is satisfied that the guardianship will be accepted by the court in the other state and the court finds that all of the following are satisfied:
53.31(4)(a)(a) The individual subject to the guardianship of the person or of the estate is physically present in or is reasonably expected to move permanently to the other state.
53.31(4)(b)(b) An objection to the transfer has not been made or, if an objection has been made, the objector has not established that the transfer would be contrary to the interests of the individual subject to the guardianship of the person or of the estate.
53.31(4)(c)(c) For guardianship of the person, plans for care and services for the individual subject to the guardianship of the person in the other state are reasonable and sufficient.
53.31(4)(d)(d) For guardianship of the estate, adequate arrangements will be made for management of the property of the individual subject to a guardianship of the estate.
53.31(5)(5)The court shall issue a final order confirming the transfer and terminating the guardianship upon its receipt of all of the following:
53.31(5)(a)(a) A provisional order accepting the proceeding from the court to which the proceeding is to be transferred which is issued under provisions similar to s. 53.32.
53.31(5)(b)(b) The documents required to terminate a guardianship in this state.
53.31(6)(6)The court may at any time appoint a guardian ad litem to represent the interests of the respondent. The court shall appoint a guardian ad litem if an objection is made under sub. (4) (b).
53.31 HistoryHistory: 2017 a. 187.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 2 cases, 1988–1997 · leading case: Wisconsin Dep't of Corr. v. Kliesmet, 564 N.W.2d 742 (Wis. 1997).
Wisconsin Dep't of Corr. v. Kliesmet, 564 N.W.2d 742 (Wis. 1997). · cites it 2× “31 is the statutory successor to Wis. Stat. § 53.31 . For purposes of our inquiry, the language at issue is identical in both versions of the statute, and the statute will be cited throughout the opinion as "§ 302.”
Opinion No. Oag 56-88, (1988), 77 Op. Att'y Gen. 249 (Wis. Att'y Gen. 1988). · cites it 4× “23 (1) in conjunction with section 53.31, governing use of jails, and with the case law, commentary and opinions of my predecessors that touch upon this question, I conclude that a sheriff may not refuse to book a person lawfully arrested and brought to the county jail by any…”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.