767.01.Jurisdiction.
Subch. I: Definitions, Scope, Jurisdiction, and Recognition of Judgments · Last amended 2015 · Current through 2025 Wisconsin Act 247 · Last verified September 8, 2026
Full Text of Section 767.01
Official Notes
Wisconsin prints certain labelled notes with the statute — effective-date notes, cross-references, and notes of the Judicial Council. They are reproduced verbatim below. The unlabelled digest of court decisions that the Legislative Reference Bureau prints after them is annotation rather than statute, and is not reproduced.
NOTE: 2005 Wis. Act 443 contains explanatory notes.
Cross-reference: See s. 765.001 for provision as to intent and construction of this chapter.
Amendment History
Wisconsin prints each section’s legislative history as a single “History” line naming every act that created or amended it, and every renumbering. It is reproduced verbatim below.
History: 1975 c. 39; 1977 c. 449; 1979 c. 32 s. 50; 1979 c. 196, 352; Stats. 1979 s. 767.01; 1987 a. 27; 1993 a. 326; 2005 a. 443 ss. 10 to 13; 2009 a. 321; 2015 a. 82 s. 12.
Plain-English Summary
The circuit courts have jurisdiction of all actions affecting the family, and the authority to do everything necessary and proper in them — including carrying their own orders and judgments into execution. That last clause is what family courts rely on when an order has to be enforced rather than merely entered.
How jurisdiction over a person is obtained depends on the case. In general it is exercised as provided under ch. 801, the ordinary long-arm chapter. In an action to establish paternity, or to establish or enforce child support, a person is subject to the courts of this state on the wider bases the interstate support statute and the long-arm statute supply — a deliberate reach, because the child is here even when the parent is not.
Custody is different again: all proceedings relating to the custody of children must comply with ch. 822, the uniform child custody jurisdiction chapter. A Wisconsin court's power over a custody question is decided there, not here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Wisconsin court hears a divorce?
The circuit court. It has jurisdiction of all actions affecting the family and authority to do all acts necessary and proper in them.
Can Wisconsin reach an out-of-state parent for child support?
In an action to establish paternity or to establish or enforce child support, a person is subject to the jurisdiction of Wisconsin courts on the bases the interstate support and long-arm statutes provide, rather than only the ordinary ones.
What decides whether Wisconsin can rule on custody?
Chapter 822. This section requires all proceedings relating to child custody to comply with it.