767.865.Deceased respondent.
Subch. IX: Paternity · Last amended 2013 · Current through 2025 Wisconsin Act 247 · Last verified September 8, 2026
Full Text of Section 767.865
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.
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: 1993 a. 481; 2005 a. 443 ss. 199, 200, 255 to 257; Stats. 2005 s. 767.865; 2013 a. 170.
Plain-English Summary
Paternity can be established after the alleged father's death, and this section says how the case proceeds without him.
Who stands in. The personal representative, or, if there is none, a guardian ad litem the court appoints, appears whenever the respondent's appearance is required, and the summons and petition are served on them. The guardian ad litem represents the deceased respondent's interests and is compensated at a rate the court finds reasonable, paid from the estate. If the estate cannot cover it, the county of venue may be directed to pay — and then the amount may not exceed what private attorneys are paid under the public defender rate.
Genetic material. If it is available without undue hardship from the deceased respondent or a relative, tests are administered in the ordinary way. The section then supplies the answer to the obvious question: there is a rebuttable presumption that exhuming the body to obtain material is an undue hardship.
Rebuttable, not absolute. The presumption sets the default against disturbing a grave while leaving room for the case where nothing else will do.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can paternity be established after the father dies in Wisconsin?
Yes. The personal representative, or a guardian ad litem appointed by the court, appears for the deceased respondent and is served with the summons and petition.
Can a body be exhumed for DNA in a paternity case?
There is a rebuttable presumption that exhumation of the deceased respondent's body to obtain genetic material is an undue hardship.
Whose relatives can be tested?
Genetic tests are administered where material is available without undue hardship from the deceased respondent or a relative of the deceased respondent.
Who pays the guardian ad litem?
The deceased respondent's estate. If its moneys are insufficient, the court may direct the county of venue to pay, capped at the rate paid to private attorneys under the public defender provision.