767.88.Pretrial paternity proceedings.
Subch. IX: Paternity · Last amended 2005 · Current through 2025 Wisconsin Act 247 · Last verified September 8, 2026
Full Text of Section 767.88
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.
Judicial Council Note, 1988: This section mandates pretrial hearings in paternity proceedings. Under sub. (6), the informal hearing may be terminated and set for trial if the judge or family court commissioner finds it unlikely that all parties would accept a recommendation under this section and similarly, under sub. (5), if the guardian ad litem or any party refuses to accept the final recommendation. This amends sub. (1), to emphasize that this is an informal hearing before a judge, not a court in session, or before a court commissioner and that, while the hearing may be on the record, minutes alone are sufficient. [Re Order effective Jan. 1, 1988]
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: 1979 c. 352; 1983 a. 447; 1987 a. 27; Sup. Ct. Order, 141 Wis. 2d xxxix (1987); 1987 a. 355; 1993 a. 481; 1995 a. 100; 2001 a. 61; 2005 a. 443 ss. 201, 259; Stats. 2005 s. 767.88.
Plain-English Summary
An unusual provision: the court is required to tell the parties what it thinks will happen.
The hearing. Held before the court or a supplemental court commissioner, with a record or minutes kept. The parties may present and cross-examine witnesses, request genetic tests, and put in any other relevant evidence.
The evaluation. On the basis of what came out, the court evaluates the probability of determining the existence or nonexistence of paternity at a trial and so advises the parties. It may then recommend a settlement: that the action be dismissed with or without prejudice; that the alleged father voluntarily acknowledge paternity; and, if he does, that he agree to support, legal custody, placement and whatever else the court finds is in the child's best interests.
What follows. If the parties accept, judgment is entered accordingly. If a party or the guardian ad litem refuses and genetic tests have not been taken, the court must order the appropriate parties to submit to them, and then make a final recommendation on the new evidence. If anyone refuses the final recommendation, the action is set for trial. And the court may cut the informal hearing short and set the case down if it finds acceptance unlikely.
The design is a funnel. Most paternity cases are resolved by a test result and an acknowledgment, and this section is built to reach that outcome without a trial while leaving the trial available to anyone who insists.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a pretrial hearing in a Wisconsin paternity case?
A hearing before the court or a supplemental court commissioner at which the parties may present and cross-examine witnesses, request genetic tests, and offer other evidence, after which the court evaluates the probability of proving paternity and may recommend a settlement.
Does the judge say what they think?
Yes. The court evaluates the probability of determining the existence or nonexistence of paternity at a trial and shall so advise the parties.
What if I refuse the recommendation?
If genetic tests have not been taken, the court shall require the appropriate parties to submit to them and then make a final recommendation. If anyone refuses the final recommendation, the action is set for trial.